The Championships, Wimbledon

The
Championships,
Wimbledon; The
Wimbledon
Championships or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennistournament in
the world, and widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at
the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877.
It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments (Majors), the others
being the Australian Open, the French Open (Roland Garros) and the US
Open.
Since the Australian Open shifted tohard court in 1988, Wimbledon is the
only Major still played on grass, the game's original surface, which gave the
game its original name of "lawn tennis".
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July,
culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Final, scheduled for
the second Saturday and Sunday respectively. Five major, junior, and
invitational events are held each year.
The hard court (Plexicushion) Australian Open and clay court French Open
precede Wimbledon in the year, and thehard court (DecoTurf) US
Open follows.
For men, the grass court Queen's Club Championships, in London,
England, and the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, serve as warm-up
events; for women, the Aegon Classic in Birmingham and two joint events,

the Topshelf Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands and the Eastbourne

International.

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Wimbledon traditions include a strict dress code for competitors, the eating
of strawberries and cream by the spectators, and Royal patronage.
The tournament is also notable for the absence of sponsor advertising
around the courts. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with
a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain.

History

Beginning
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club
founded on 23 July 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its
first ground was off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a
year or so earlier and originally given the name Sphairistik was added to
the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed 'The All
England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signaled its change of name
by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship.
A new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone
Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except
for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the
service line from the net.

The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship opened on 9 July 1877. The

Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held and was won by Spencer
Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22.
About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was in the
middle with the others arranged around it, hence the title 'Centre Court'.
-3The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in
Church Road, although no longer a true description of its location.
However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the
north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more
correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised
the description.

Ladies Championship, 1884. First prize, awarded to Maud Watson, was a

silver flower-basket worth 20 guineas.

By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis
and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title.
However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1899.
In 1884, the club added Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles
competitions. Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles events were added in

1913. 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against
whomever had won through to challenge him/her.
As with the other three Major or Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was
contested by top-ranked amateur players, professional players were
prohibited from participating. This changed with the advent of the open
era in 1968.
-4No British man won the singles event at Wimbledon between Fred Perry in
1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, while no British woman has won
since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won
the Girls' Championship in1984 and 2008 respectively.
The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century

Centre court with open roof at the 2010 Championships is considered

the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the Club is to
maintain its leadership.
To that end a long-term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the
quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one (19941997) of the plan was completed for the 1997
championships and involved building the new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park, a

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broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking
Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two (19972009) involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex
to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities
for players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West
Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three (20002011) has been completed with the construction of an
entrance building, club staff housing, museum, bank and ticket office.
A new retractable roof was built in time for the 2009 championships,
marking the first time that rain did not stop play for a lengthy time on Centre
Court.
The Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court
Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches
involving Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf,Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman.

The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the
completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara
Safina and Amlie Mauresmo.
The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof took place
between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka on 29 June 2009, which
Murray won.
Murray was also involved in the latest completed match at Wimbledon,
which ended at 11:02 pm in a victory over Marcos Baghdatisat Centre Court
in the third round of the 2012 Championships.

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The 2012 Men's Singles Final on 8 July 2012, between Roger Federer and
Murray, was the first final to be played under the roof, which was activated
during the third set.
A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court was built on the site of the old No. 13 Court in
time for the 2009 Championships.
A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court was built on the site of the old No. 2 and No. 3
Courts.

Wimbledon Event Guide

Getting to the venue

Public Transport: You can get to Wimbledon using London

Underground. There are a number of trains from Earl Court to Wimbledon.
Once you get off the train you can either take a 15 minute walk south
through Wimbledon Park road to reach the Championship venue or you can
opt for the shuttle bus services. There are a number of buses available
throughout the day either from the Wimbledon Station or South Field
Station.
You can also opt for travelling through trains from Waterloo to Wimbledon
station. There are also many other long distance trains that run from various
stations across the country to Wimbledon.
Once the passengers alight, they can take the shuttle service to reach the
venue.Trams are available for transportation from East Croydon station to
the Wimbledon Station. They run once every 15 minutes from Monday to
Saturday and once every 30 minutes on Sunday.

-7A lot of effort goes into ensuring the smooth movement of traffic around the
venue during the Championship tournament. Hence it is important for all
people to follow the signs put up around the venue and co-operate with the
police. There is no parking on any of the roads around the club during the
Wimbledon tournament.
Security

Security is given top priority during the Championships. There are

number of measures that have been taken to ensure that there is no security
lapse.
All bags will be subjected to a thorough search and bags beyond a certain
size (18*12*12) will not be allowed inside the venue. Also, one person is
given the permission to carry just one bag.
You will also not be allowed to carry any sharp objects inside the venue. Any
kind of spray is also barred entry.
Each person can carry only one small bottle of wine or 2 cans of beer that
can be consumed only in certain designated areas and not on the ground.
Also, nobody is allowed to resort to foul or abusive language.
Anyone found doing so will risk their entry inside the club. It is
recommended that the mobile phoned be switched off to ensure that it does
not inconvenience any one. Any person violating these rules will not be
allowed to enter the grounds.
Dining and Refreshment options
There are many options for dining and refreshments inside the Club
itself. A restaurant by name the Wingfield restaurant is the only place where
you can

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make reservations for a meal. The payment needs to be made in advance

and the reservation is limited to a maximum of 6 people per group.
For debenture holders, there are several exclusive dining facilities. There
are self service counters as well as restaurants that serve at the table.
There are many other places too for the visitors to eat and drink. You can
either opt for a buffet lunch or for some snacks like pizza, hot dogs, fish and
chips, various beverages and drinks, hamburgers and the traditional
strawberries and cream. Wimbledon without strawberries and cream can be
considered synonymous to pizza without cheese!!
Places of Interest
There are many places of interest in and around the All England Lawn
Tennis and Croquet Club.
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
This is a place that is worth a visit. If you want to know why the Wimbledon
Championships are so famous, you should pay a visit to this museum. This
place has a huge collection of the Championship trophies and an enviable
collection of all tennis memorabilia from as early as 1555. Another main
attraction is the ghost of the American tennis legend John McEnroe that
talks about his matches and opponents. This can be found in the room that
was used by this American sporting star. You can also see all the equipment
that was used for the first Championship game that was played in the year
1877 at the club.
In addition to this there are many national trusts that are worth a visit. Some
of the notable ones are the Osterle Park and House and Ham House and
Garden which are about 2 miles from the place.

-9The Kew Gardens also known as the Royal Botanical Gardens is also
located in Greater London and is less than a mile away from the
Championship grounds.
Fred Perry Statue
Fred Perry was the last British person to win the championship title.
Unfortunately, since then no English person has been able to clinch this
most coveted title. He won the Wimbledon title three times consecutively
and in order to commemorate the 50th year of his win, this statue was
erected in 1984.
Wimbledon consists of five main events, five junior events and five invitation
events.
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of
doubles) are:

Gentlemen's Singles (128)

Ladies' Singles (128)

Gentlemen's Doubles (64)

Ladies' Doubles (64)

Mixed Doubles (48)

Junior events
The five junior events and the number of players or teams are:

Boys' Singles (64)

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Girls' Singles (64)

Boys' Doubles (32)

Girls' Doubles (32)

Disabled Doubles (12)

No mixed doubles event is held at this level.

Invitation events
The five invitational events and the number of pairs are:

Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)

Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)

Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)

Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)

Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)

Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles are
best-of-five sets; all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is
played if the score reaches 66 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set
match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead
must be reached. All events are single-elimination tournaments, except for
the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles,
which are round-robin tournaments.

Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the
Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byes into
the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many

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winners retaining their titles in successive years, as they were able to rest
while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922,
the prior year's champions were required to play all the rounds, like other
tournament competitors.

Schedule

Each year (currently until 2015), the tournament begins on the Monday
falling between 20 and 26 June, two weeks after the Queen's Club
Championships, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments,
together with the Gerry Weber Open, which is held in Halle, Germany,
during the same week. Other grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon
are Eastbourne, England, and Rosmalen in the Netherlands, both
combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for
Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. The only grass-court
tournament scheduled after the Championships is the Hall of Fame Tennis
Championships at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, which takes place the
week after Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 14 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on
a Sunday. The five main events span both weeks, but the junior and
invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally,
there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day.
However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times, in 1991,
1997 and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon staged a "People's
Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets,
allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts.

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From 2015 onward, the championships will begin one week later than in
previous years, extending the gap between the tournament and the French
Open from two to three weeks. Additionally the Stuttgart Open men's
tournament will convert to a grass surface and will be rescheduled from July
to June.

Players and seeding

The system of seeding was introduced during the 1924 Wimbledon

Championships. This was a simplified version allowing countries to
nominate four players who were placed in different quarters of the draw.
This system was replaced for the 1927 Wimbledon Championships and
from then on players were seeded on merit. The first players to be seeded
as no. 1 were Ren Lacoste and Helen Wills.
Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of
their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous
performances at grass court events. Since the 2001 tournament 32 players
have been given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles, 16 teams
in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications
for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament
directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking
as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well
during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in
Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's
Singles Championship was Goran Ivanievi in 2001. Players and pairs who
neither have high enough rankings not receive wild cards may participate in
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a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of

England Sports Ground in Roehampton. The singles qualifying competitions
are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one

round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. The furthest

that any qualifier has progressed in a Singles tournament is the semi-final
round: John McEnroe in 1977 (Gentlemen's Singles), Vladimir Voltchkov in
2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra Stevenson in 1999 (Ladies'
Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations
of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis
Federation world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the
basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management
determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their
rankings, but it can change the seedings based on a player's previous grass
court performance. Since 2002 a seeding committee has not been required
for the Gentlemen's Singles following an agreement with the ATP. The
seeding order is determined using the formula: ATP Entry System Position
points + 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12
months + 75% points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12
months before that. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two
unseeded players have won the Gentlemen's Singles: Boris Becker in 1985
and Goran Ivanievi in 2001. In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker
was ranked 20th; Ivanievi was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card
entrant, although he had previously been a finalist three times, and been
ranked no. 2 in the world; his low ranking was due to having been hampered
by a persistent shoulder injury for three years, which had only just cleared
up. In 1996, the title was won by Richard Krajicek, who was originally
unseeded (ranked 17th, and only 16 players were seeded) but was
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promoted to a seeded position (still with the number 17) when Thomas
Muster withdrew before the tournament. No unseeded player has captured
the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus
Williams, who won in 2007 as the 23rd seed; Williams was returning from an
injury that had prevented her playing in previous tournaments, giving her a
lower ranking than she would normally have had. Unseeded pairs have won
the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles
champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever)
qualifiers.

Grounds
Since 2001 the courts used for Wimbledon have been sown with
100% perennial ryegrass. Prior to 2001 a combination of 70% ryegrass and
30% Creeping Red Fescue was used. The change was made to improve
durability and strengthen the sward to better withstand the increasing wear
of the modern game.
The main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are normally used for
only two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into
a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining 17 courts are
regularly used for other events hosted by the Club. The show courts were in
action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon hosted the
tennis events of the 2012 Olympic Games. One of the show courts is also
used for home ties of the GB teams in the Davis Cup on occasions.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one
time, all the Majors, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US
Open abandoned grass in 1975 and the Australian Open in 1988.
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The principal court, Centre Court, was opened in 1922 when the Club
moved from Worple Road to Church Road. The Church Road venue was
larger and was needed to meet the ever-growing public demand.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was
installed prior to the 2009 Championship. It is designed to close/open in

about 20 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement
(and,
if
necessary,
extremely
hot)
weather
during
The
Championships. When the roof is being opened or closed, play is
suspended. The first time the roof was closed during a Wimbledon
Championship match was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amlie
Mauresmo and Dinara Safina.
Because of the summer climate in South England, Wimbledon employs
'Court Attendants' each year, who work to maintain court conditions. Their
principal responsibility is to ensure that the courts are quickly covered when
it begins to rain, so that play can resume as quickly as possible once the
referees decide to uncover the courts. The court attendants are mainly
university students working to make summer money. Centre Court is
covered by full-time groundstaff, however.
The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from
which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches.
Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as
well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or
local favourites.
The second most important court is No. 1 Court. The court was constructed
in 1997 to replace the old No.1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court.

The old No.1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was
too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate
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atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No.1 Court has
a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity
for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permission, the playing surface is
around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-storey structure is
only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local
views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to
the high capacity of games played at the 2012 Olympic Games. The old
No.2 Court has been renamed as No.3 Court. The old No.2 Court was
known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded
players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years,
including Ilie Nstase, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete
Sampras, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria
Sharapova.The court has a capacity of 2,192 + 770 standing. In 2011 a new
No.3 Court and a new Court 4 were unveiled on the sites of the old No.2
and 3 courts.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which
important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass
officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at
Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often renamed by the
press for them: Greg Rusedski's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge",
and Tim Henman has had the hill nicknamed Henman Hill. As both of them
have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is
occasionally referred to as "Murray Mound" or "Murrayfield", as a reference
to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name, but this

has largely failed to catch on the area is still usually referred to as

Henman Hill. None of these nicknames are official.

-17Grounds schedule
The grounds open at 10:30 am on each day. On the Centre Court, play
starts at 1 pm, with exception of the final two days of the competition
(Ladies' and Gentlemen's Finals), when play begins at 2 pm. On courts 2
19, play begins at noon for at least the first eight days of the competition. It
then starts at 11 am for the Junior matches on the middle Saturday and
during the second week.

Traditions

Ball boys and ball girls

In the championship games, ball boys and girls, known as BBGs, play
a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a
good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and
get on with their jobs quietly.
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings, the only Barnardos school
to provide them. Prior to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had
been provided by The Shaftesbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are
drawn from schools in the London boroughs ofMerton, Sutton, Kingston,
and Wandsworth, as well as from Surrey. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys

Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls

School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of
choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to
the club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school

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years nine and ten. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, up to five
tournaments, from Year Nine to Year Thirteen.
Starting in 2005, BBGs work in teams of six, two at the net, four at the
corners, and teams rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours
depending on the court) for the day's play. Teams are not told which court
they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all
courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the
tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. From
the second Wednesday, BBGs are told to leave the Championships, leaving
around 80 on the final Sunday. Each BBG receives a certificate, a can of
used balls, a group photograph and a programme when leaving. BBG
service is paid, with a total of 120-180 being paid to each ball boy or girl
after the 13-day period depending on the number of days served. Every
BBG keeps all of their kit, typically consisting of three or four shirts, two or
three shorts or skorts, track suit bottoms and top, twelve pairs of socks,
three pairs of wristbands, a hat, water bottle holder, bag and trainers. Along
with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school
leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50
between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing
on centre court since 1985.

Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be

considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests
on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests,
against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then
commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs
are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake
was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical,

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procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast,
alert, self-confident and adaptable to situations.
As of 2011, early training occurs at the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis
Club Covered Courts, to the side of the Grounds, and then moves to outside
courts (8,9,10) the week before the Championships for a feel of the grass
court.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and purple are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However,
all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear allwhite or at least almost all-white clothing, a long-time tradition at
Wimbledon.
Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable,
provided the colour scheme is not that of an identifiable commercial brand
logo (the outfitter's brand logo being the sole exception).

Controversy followed Martina Navratilova's wearing branding for "Kim"

cigarettes in 1982. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen,
ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning
with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were dressed
in new navy blue- and cream-coloured uniforms from American
designer Ralph Lauren.
This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an
outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing; the contract
with Polo Ralph Lauren is set to end in 2015.

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Guidelines regarding prominently white clothing rule

1. No solid mass of colouring
2. Little or no dark or bold colours
3. No fluorescent colours
4. Preference towards pastel colours
5. Preference for the back of the shirt to be totally white
6. Preference for shorts and skirts to be totally white
7. All other items of clothing, including hats, socks and shoe uppers to
be predominantly white

Referring to players
By tradition, the "Men's" and "Women's" competitions are referred to as
"Gentlemen's" and "Ladies'" competitions at Wimbledon. The junior
competitions are referred to as the "Boys'" and "Girls'" competitions.
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on
scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players
are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris EvertLloyd appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage
to John Lloyd, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates the wife of X. This
tradition has continued at least to some extent. For the first
time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards
by both their first and last names.
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on
scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires
refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair
umpire will say "Mr <surname> is challenging the call..." and "Mr

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<surname> has X challenges remaining." However, the umpires still say

Miss <surname> when announcing the score of the Ladies' matches.
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g.
Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will
specify to whom they are referring by stating the player's first name and

surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Miss Serena Williams",

"Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal Family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal
Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In
2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness
the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are
required to bow or curtsy only if HRH The Prince of Wales, or Her
Majesty The Queen is present, as was in practice during the 2010
Championships when the Queen was in attendance at Wimbledon on 24
June. On 27 June 2012, Roger Federer said in his post-match interview that
he and his opponent had been asked to bow towards the Royal Box as
Prince Charles and his wife were present, saying that that was no problem
for him.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public
have since 1924 been made available by a public ballot that the All England
Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club holds at the start of the year. The ballot has

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always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are

selected at random by a computer. The most

recent figures from 2011 suggested there were four applicants to every
ballot ticket. Applications must be posted to the AELTC by mid December,
the year prior to the tournament. Seats and days are allocated randomly
and ballot tickets are not transferrable.
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis
Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds
for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of
tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the
investment lasts. Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their
tickets to third parties and demand for debentures has increased in recent
years, to such an extent that they are even traded on the London Stock
Exchange.
Wimbledon and the French Open are the only Grand Slam tournaments
where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on the
three show courts on the day of the match. Sequentially numbered queue
cards were introduced in 2003. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted
about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue, fans are handed
queue cards. Anyone who then wishes to leave the queue temporarily, even
if in possession of a queue card, must agree their position with the others
nearby in the queue and/or a steward.
To get access to the show courts, fans will normally have to queue
overnight. This is done by fans from all over the world and, although
considered vagrancy, is part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. The AllEngland Club allows overnight queuing and provides toilet and water
facilities for campers. Early in the morning when the line moves towards the
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Grounds, stewards walk along the line and hand out wristbands that are
colour-coded to the specific court. The wrist band (and payment) is
exchanged at the ticket office for the ticket when the grounds open. General
admission to the grounds gives access to the outer courts and is possible
without queuing overnight. Tickets returned by people leaving early go on
sale at 2:30 pm and the money goes to charity. Queuing for the show courts
ends after the quarter finals have been completed. At 2.40pm on Day Seven
(Monday 28 June) of the 2010 Championships, the one-millionth numbered
Wimbledon queue card was handed out to Rose Stanley from South Africa.

Media
Wimbledon
Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio Wimbledon can be
heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates
under a Restricted Service Licence and is arguably the most sophisticated
RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton.
Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts until the end of the last match
of the day. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor,
Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and
Helen Whitaker.
Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the
Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside
courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio
Wimbledon acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds
only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from
2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news
bulletins and travel (using RDS) are also broadcast.

-24Television coverage
United Kingdom
Since 1937 the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the
UK. The matches covered are split between its two main terrestrial
channels, BBC Oneand BBC Two. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for
Wimbledon until 2017 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets
worldwide.
During the days ofBritish Satellite Broadcasting, its sports channel carried
extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable
British commentators was Dan Maskell, who was known as the BBC's
"voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Service, ITV, Channel 4, or
Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament
must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals)
may be sought by satellite or cable TV.
The BBC was forced to apologise after many viewers complained about
"over-talking" by Its commentary team during the TV coverage of the event
in 2011. It said in a statement that views on commentary were subjective but
that they "do appreciate that over-talking can irritate our audience". The
BBC added that it hoped it had achieved "the right balance" across its
coverage and was "of course sorry if on occasion you have not been
satisfied". Tim Henman and John McEnroe were among the ex-players
commentating.
Wimbledon was also involved in a piece of television history, when on 1 July
1967 the first official colour television broadcast took place in the UK. Four
hours live coverage of the 1967 Championships was shown on BBC Two
(then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that
historic match no longer survives, the Gentlemen's Final that year is still
held in the BBC archives because it was the first Gentlemen's Final
transmitted in colour.

-25-

Since 2007, Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in high-definition,

originally on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HD, with continual live
coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as
an evening highlights show Today at Wimbledon. Since the closure of BBC
HD, coverage is now shown on BBC One HD and BBC Two HD.
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith
Mansfield and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting
Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage
typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music
at all. Mansfield also composed the piece "World Champion", used by NBC
during intervals (change-overs, set breaks, etc.) and at the close of
broadcasts throughout the tournament.
Other countries
For decades, Americans made a tradition of NBC's "Breakfast at
Wimbledon" specials at weekends. Live coverage started early in the
morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continued
well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews
from Bud Collins, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers
are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBC in
2007, but was promptly hired by ESPN, the cable home for The
Championships in the States. For many years NBC's primary Wimbledon
host was veteran broadcaster Dick Enberg. From 1975 to 1999, premium
channelHBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim
Lampley, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, John Lloyd and Barry
MacKay among others. Previously, weekday coverage in the United States
was exclusively handled by ESPN2 during the tournament's first week.

During the tournament's second week it was split between ESPN2 and
NBC. ESPN's online service ESPN3 provides full coverage of courts not
televised using BBC

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graphics and commentary. Effective the 2012 tournament, all live coverage,
including the Finals, will be exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2, marking the
second major tennis championship (after the Australian Open) available in
the United States exclusively on pay television (although taped highlights
from the tournament will be presented at weekend afternoons on sister
network ABC). Taped coverage using the BBC world feed is aired in
primetime and overnights on Tennis Channel and is branded Wimbledon
Primetime.
In Ireland RT broadcast the tournament during the 1980s and 1990s on
their second channel RT Two, they also provided highlights of the games
in the evening. The commentary provided was given by Matt Doyle a former
Irish-American professional tennis player and Jim Sherwin a former RT
newsreader. Caroline Murphy was the presenter of the programme. RT
made the decision in 1998 to discontinue broadcasting the tournament due
to falling viewing figures and the large number of viewers watching on the
BBC.
In Australia, the free-to-air Nine Network covered Wimbledon for almost 40
years but decided to drop their broadcast following the 2010 tournament,
citing declining ratings and desire to use money saved to bid on other sports
coverage. In April 2011, it was announced that the Seven Network, the host
broadcaster of the Australian Open, along with its sister
channel 7Two would broadcast the event from 2011.

In Canada, coverage of Wimbledon has in recent years been divided

between TSN on weekdays and CBC Sports on weekends. CBC's weekend
coverage of the morning matches predates NBC's "Breakfast at Wimbledon"
by several years.
In Mexico, the Televisa family of networks has aired Wimbledon since the
early 1960s. Presently, most weekend matches are broadcast
through Canal 5 with the weekday matches broadcast on the Televisa
Deportes Network.

-27-

As Mexico is six hours behind the U.K., some Canal 5 affiliates air the
weekend matches as the first program of the day after sign-on. Although
Mexico had begun broadcasting in colour in 1962, Wimbledon continued to
air in black and white in Mexico until colour came to England in 1967.

Trophies and prize money

The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup

18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in
diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the
inscription: "All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of
the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver
commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater Dish", or simply the "Rosewater
Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is
decorated with figures from mythology.

The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed

Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives
an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the
President of the All England Club, HRH The Duke of Kent.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional
players were allowed to compete in the Championships.
Before 2007, among grand slam tournaments, Wimbledon and the French
Open awarded more prize money in men's events than in women's events.
In 2007, Wimbledon changed this policy, awarding the same amounts per
event category to both men and women.
In 2009, a total of 12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles
champions receiving 850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008.

-28-

For the 2010 Championships, the total prize money increased to

13,725,000, and the singles champions received 1,000,000 each.
For the 2011 Wimbledon Championships it was announced that the total
prize money would be 14,600,000, an increase of 6.4% from 2010. Both
male and female singles champions prize money also increased to
1,100,000, a rise of 10% since the previous year.
On 24 April 2012, it was announced that the total prize money offered at the
2012 Wimbledon Championships would be 16,060,000, an increase of
10.0% from 2011. The bulk of the increases were given to players losing in
earlier rounds. This move was in response to the growing angst among
lower-ranked players concerning the inadequacy of their pay.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council and who was at
the time ranked 68th, was among the most vocal in the push for higher pay

for players who bow out in the earlier rounds. In an interview Stakhovsky
intimated that it is not uncommon for lower-ranked players to be in the
negative, for certain tour events, if their results weren't stellar. This issue
gained the attention of the men's "big four"Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal,
Roger Federer, and Andy Murrayas well as the Championships.
On 23 April 2013, The All England Club announced the largest prize money
for a tennis tournament so far. The total prize money has been increased by
about 40% from 2012 to 22,560,000.
The prize money for participants of the qualifying matches saw an increase
of 41%. Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council, was the
loudest voice for this increase.
The 2014 prize money is 1,760,000 each for the Gentlemen's and Ladies'
Singles winners, 325,000 each pair for the Gentlemen's and Ladies'
Doubles winners, and 96,000 per pair for the Mixed Doubles winners. The
total prize money awarded is 25,000,000 up 10.8% from the 22,560,000
in 2013.