Wimbledon Championships

Wimbledon Championships
Official website
Founded1877; 149 years ago (1877)
Editions137 (2024)
LocationLondon
England, United Kingdom
VenueAll England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Worple Road (1877–1921)
Church Road (since 1922)
SurfaceGrass outdoors
Prize money£50,000,000 (2024)
Men's
DrawS (128Q) / 64D (16Q)
Current championsCarlos Alcaraz (singles)
Harri Heliövaara
Henry Patten (doubles)
Most singles titlesRoger Federer (8)
Most doubles titlesTodd Woodbridge (9)
Women's
DrawS (128Q) / 64D (16Q)
Current championsBarbora Krejčíková (singles)
Kateřina Siniaková
Taylor Townsend (doubles)
Most singles titlesMartina Navratilova (9)
Most doubles titlesElizabeth Ryan (12)
Mixed doubles
Draw32
Current championsJan Zieliński
Hsieh Su-wei
Most titles (male)Leander Paes (4)
Vic Seixas (4)
Owen Davidson (4)
Ken Fletcher (4)
Most titles (female)Elizabeth Ryan (7)
Grand Slam
Last completed
2024 Wimbledon

The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. It is played in Wimbledon, a suburb of London in England, Great Britain. The Championships are unique because they are the only Grand Slam played on a grass court. Wimbledon is the third tennis grand slam of the year and is widely seen as the biggest event on the sport's calendar. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is the most prestigious.

Wimbledon was first competed in 1877. The women's single and the mens doubles events began seven years later in 1884. It has always been played during the summer. It is played over two weeks, from late June to the beginning of July. The tournament is played after the French Open and before the U.S. Open. In 1968, the championships were opened up to both professionals and amateurs for the first time, with Rod Laver and Billie Jean King winning their respective singles titles.

Traditions

Seedings

In every tennis competition, players are given a seed to help decide their place in the draw. At Wimbledon, they use a player's performances (whether bad or good) on grass to help decide the seed. At other tennis competitions, seeding are chosen based only on rankings.

Clothing

The umpires (referees) and linesmen all have to wear special dark green and mauve clothing. The players have to wear all white.

Etiquette

Female players used to have their names announced with "Miss" or "Mrs"; this was unlike any other Grand Slam tournament. However, this changed for the 2009 tournament. In this tournament, only the surnames were used.

Records

Notes

  1. ↑ Except Centre Court & No. 1 Court during rain; each having a retractable roof
  2. ↑ In the main draws, there are 128 singles players (S) and 64 doubles teams (D), and there are 128 and 16 entrants in the respective qualifying (Q) draws.
  3. ↑ Formally known as The Championships, Wimbledon

References

  1. ↑ Clarey, Christopher (7 May 2008). "Traditional Final: It's Nadal and Federer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2008. Federer said[:] 'I love playing with him, especially here at Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament we have.'
  2. ↑ Will Kaufman & Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson, ed. (2005). "Tennis". Britain and the Americas. Vol. 1 : Culture, Politics, and History. ABC-CLIO. p. 958. ISBN 1-85109-431-8. this first tennis championship, which later evolved into the Wimbledon Tournament ... continues as the world's most prestigious event.
  3. ↑ "Djokovic describes Wimbledon as "the most prestigious event"". BBC News. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  4. ↑ Ryan Rudnansky (24 June 2013). "Wimbledon Tennis 2013: Why Historic Tournament Is Most Prestigious Grand GMR Slam". bleacherreport. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Monte Burke (30 May 2012). "What Is The Most Prestigious Grand Slam Tennis Tournament?". Forbes. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. It seems pretty clear that of the four tennis Grand Slam events—Wimbledon and the French, Australian and U.S. Opens—the former is by far the most prestigious one.

Other websites

Preceded by
French Open		 Grand Slam Tournament
June–July		 Succeeded by
US Open