The Championships, Wimbledon

The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, with retractable roofs over the two main courts since 2019.

Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, the traditional tennis playing surface. Also, it is the only Grand Slam that retains a night-time curfew, though matches can now continue until 11.00 pm under the lights.

The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, starting on the last Monday in June and culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday at the end of the second week. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. A roof was operational over No. 1 Court from 2019, when a number of other improvements were made, including adding cushioned seating, a table and 10 independently operable cameras per court to capture the games.

Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage. Strawberries and cream are traditionally consumed at the tournament. Unlike other tournaments, advertising is minimal and low key from official suppliers such as Slazenger and Rolex.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Wimbledon was cancelled, the first cancellation of the tournament since World War II. The rescheduled 134th edition was staged from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021, following from the 2020 cancellation. The 135th edition was played between 27 June 2022 and 10 July 2022, and regularly scheduled play occurred on the middle Sunday for the first time. It marks the centenary of the inaugural championships staged at the Centre Court. The ATP, ITF, and WTA did not award ranking points for the 2022 tournament, due to controversy over the tournament excluding players representing Russia and Belarus.

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will be the 136th staging and will run from 3 July 2023 to 16 July 2023 and it will be the first to be held since the death of the former patron, Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022.

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 at Nursery Road off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

In 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier as an outdoor version of real tennis and originally given the name ''Sphairistikè'', was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club" and signalled 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 started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held. 22 men paid a guinea to enter the tournament, which was to be held over five days. The rain delayed it four more days and thus, on 19 July 1877, the final was played. Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, defeated William Marshall 6–1, 6–2 and 6–4 in 48 minutes. Gore was presented with the silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guineas and donated by the sports magazine '' The Field'', as well as a prize money of 12 guineas. 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". The 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 described. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.

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 the Ladies' Singles competition and the Gentlemen's Doubles was transferred from the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club. ladies' doubles and mixed doubles events were added in 1913. The first black player to compete at Wimbledon was Bertrand Milbourne Clark, an amateur from Jamaica, in 1924.

Until 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. No 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 in 1984 and 2008 respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.

Though formally called "The Championships, Wimbledon", depending on sources the event is also known as "The All England Lawn Tennis Championships", the "Wimbledon Championships" or simply "Wimbledon". From 1912 to 1924, the tournament was recognized by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as the "World Grass Court Championships".

In the period of 1915–1918, no tournament was organized due to World War I.

During World War II, the tournament was not held in the period 1940–1945. On 11 October 1940 one bomb hit a corner of the competitors’ stand of the Centre Court. The championships did go ahead in 1946 even though the damage meant that 1,200 seats were lost. The organisers were unable to repair the damaged section until 1947 and the Centre Court was fully restored and renovated for the 1949 edition.

In 1946 and 1947 Wimbledon was held before the French Championships and was thus the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

21st century

Wimbledon is widely 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 (1994–1997) of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building the new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road. Stage two (1997–2009) 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 (2000–2011) was 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 Amélie 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. Murray was also involved in the match completed latest in the day at Wimbledon, which ended at 11:02pm in a victory over Marcos Baghdatis at Centre Court in the third round of the 2012 Championships. The 2012 Gentlemen's Singles Final on 8 July 2012, between Roger Federer and Murray, was the first singles final to be partially played under the roof, which was activated during the third set.

A new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court was built on the site of the old No. 13 Court in time for the 2009 Championships. A new 2,000-seat No. 3 Court was built on the site of the old No. 2 and No. 3 Courts.

On 1 August 2011, the All England Club transferred all of its assets relating to The Championships to a separate though wholly owned subsidiary, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited, also known as AELTC. Since that time, the club's activities have been formally conducted separately from those of The Championships.

In 2012, the All England Club hosted the Summer Olympic Games and became the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was reintroduced as an Olympic sport and the first to be held at a Grand Slam venue in the Open era.

In April 2013, Wimbledon unveiled its 'Master Plan' a vision in which to improve the championships over the next 10–15 years. This was in large part due to other Grand Slam tournaments such as the French Open and Australian Open also announcing expansion and re-development plans. Aspects of the master plan included new player and media facilities, expansion of the No.1 court including a new retractable roof, new catering and hospitality areas, additional floor to the museum building, construction of an underground car park and new indoor courts and also a total reconfiguration of the site including the relocation of a number of practice, clay and championship courts.

Part of the plan also includes acquiring the land of the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf club for £65 million, so that the tournament qualifying matches can be played on site.

On 19 October 2018, it was announced that a tie-break will be played if the score reaches 12–12 in the final set of any match; this will apply to all competitions including in qualifying, singles, and doubles. In a related statement, it was announced that starting at the 2019 Championships, quad wheelchair competitions would become a permanent event.

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the All England Club announced on 1 April 2020 that the entire grass-court season was to be cancelled as a public safety precaution, marking the first time a Wimbledon tournament would not be played since World War II. Club officials considered playing the tournament behind closed doors, but this was ruled out in part because at least 5,000 people–including ballboys, officials, coaches, maintenance, and security–would have still needed to be on site to hold a functioning tournament. Former player and current All England Club board member Tim Henman told the Tennis Channel of the US that the board had carefully considered holding a closed-door Wimbledon. However, the sheer number of people who still would have needed to be on site led the board to realise "that wasn't going to be a workable option". Prior to the start of the 2003 tournament, the club began paying an annual insurance premium of £1.61m ($2 million) to cover losses from cancellation of Wimbledon in the event of a worldwide pandemic as a result of the SARS outbreak; it would receive an insurance payment of £114 million ($141 million) for the 2020 cancellation on expected losses of around £250 million ($312 million).

In April 2022, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the All England Club announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be prohibited from competing in the tournament. Unlike the ATP and WTA, participation as neutral athletes is also prohibited. On 20 May 2022, the ATP, ITF, and WTA announced that they will not award ranking points for the tournament, as they considered the prohibition unilateral, and constituted discrimination against players based on nationality.

Events

Wimbledon consists of five main events, four junior events and seven 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 four junior events and the number of players or teams are:
* Boys' Singles (64)
* Girls' Singles (64)
* Boys' Doubles (32)
* Girls' Doubles (32)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level

Invitation events

The seven invitational events and the number of pairs are:
* Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
* Gentlemen's Wheelchair Singles
* Ladies' Wheelchair Singles
* Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)There are no age limits for the Wheelchair Doubles events.
* Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)

Match formats

Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Doubles are best-of-five sets; all other events are best-of-three sets. Up to and including the 2018 tournament, a tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–all 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. Since 2019, a final set tiebreak game is played if the score in the final set reaches 12–all. In 2022 it was decided all matches would have a final set tie break once the match reached 6–6, with a champions tie break taking place meaning the winner needs to get to 10 points and win by two clear points. If the score is 9–9 play continues until one player wins by two points.

All events are single-elimination tournaments, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, which are round-robin tournaments.

Up to 1921, 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 winners retaining their titles in successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. Since 1922, the prior year's champions were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.

Schedule

Each year the tournament begins on the last Monday in June or first Monday in July, 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, Great Britain, and Rosmalen in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in Great Britain. The men's event which is outside Europe before Wimbledon is the Antalya open in Turkey. 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. Before 1982 it ended a day earlier, with the women's singles final on the Friday and the men's singles final on the Saturday. The five main events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, unlike the other three tennis Grand Slams, there was no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday four times, in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016. On the first of these four 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. From 2022, Wimbledon will make Middle Sunday a permanent fixture to the schedule. This would allow for more leeway for Round of 16 matches to be completed on schedule, as announced in their 2021 Spring Press Conference.

Before 2022, the second Monday at Wimbledon was often called "Manic Monday", because it is the busiest day with the last-16 matches for both men's and women's singles, where fans have a pick of watching on a single day, any of the best 32 players left; which is also unique in a Grand Slam singles competition.

Since 2015, the championships have begun 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 converted to a grass surface and was rescheduled from July to June, extending the grass court season.

Players and seeding

Both the men's and ladies' singles consist of 128 players. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with 104 direct entries into the men's and 108 into the ladies' competitions. Both tournaments have 8 wild card entrants, with the remainder in each made up of qualifiers. Since the 2001 tournament, 32 players have been given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles, 16 teams in the doubles events. 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 René Lacoste and Helen Wills.

The Committee of Management decide which players receive wildcards. 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 Ivanišević in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in 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. From 2019 singles qualification will increase to 128 players and no doubles qualification will occur. Previously the same-sex doubles competitions lasted for only two rounds. 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 could 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, and since the 2021 tournament, the seeding has followed the same process as the ATP rankings. From 2002 to 2019, the top 32 players (according to the ATP rankings) were seeded according to a formula that more heavily weighted previous grass-court tournaments: 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 Ivanišević in 2001. In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th; Ivanišević 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 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 Great Britain teams in the Davis Cup on occasions.

Wimbledon is the only remaining Grand Slam event played on natural grass courts. At one time, all the Majors, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass in 1975 for green clay and the Australian Open did so in 1988 for hard courts; the US Open eventually adopted hard courts as well.

From 1877 until 1921, the club's grounds were situated on four acres of meadowland in central Wimbledon between Worple Road and the railway line. In 1908, this venue hosted the tennis events for the 1908 Summer Olympic Games. As the attendance at the Championships grew, it became obvious before the First World War that the 8,000 ground capacity at Worple Road was inadequate, and so the Club started looking for a new site. It eventually settled on an area of land off Church Road, to the north of Wimbledon town centre, and moved to its new home in 1922. At the time the relocation was regarded as something of a financial gamble, costing as it did approximately £140,000. After the Club moved to the current site in Church Road, the old Worple Road ground then became the Wimbledon High School playing field, which it remains today.

The principal court at Church Road, Centre Court, was inaugurated in 1922. The new venue was substantially 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 fully in 20 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. Whilst 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 Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina. The first full match played and completed under the roof featured Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, played on the same date.

The court has a capacity of 14,979. 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 atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. Construction of a new retractable roof on the No.1 Court began after the 2017 Championships and was completed in time for the 2019 championships. The capacity of the stadium also rose by 900 to 12,345.

Since 2009, a new No. 2 Court has been 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 Năstase, 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.

Because of the summer climate in southern 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 outer court attendants are mainly university students working to make summer money. Centre Court is covered by full-time groundstaff, however.

At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast to fans inside the grounds without tickets to the relevant court. Fans watch from a gently inclined area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, this area attracts fans for them, and is often renamed after them by the press: 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 most successful current British player, the hill is occasionally referred to as "Murray Mound" or "Murrayfield", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish rugby ground of the same name, but this has largely failed to catch on – the area is still often referred to as Henman Hill. None of these nicknames are the official name.

1913 suffragette terror attack

An attempt was made to destroy the grounds in 1913, during the suffragette bombing and arson campaign. The suffragettes, as part of their campaign for women's votes before the First World War, had begun carrying out politically motivated arson and bombings across the country. On the night of 27 February 1913, a suffragette woman "between the ages of 30–35" was arrested within the grounds, after being spotted by a groundsman climbing over a hedge at around midnight. She was found to have with her some paraffin and wood shavings, for the purpose of setting fires in the grounds. The woman refused to give her name or any information to the police and was later sentenced to two months' imprisonment.

Bank of England Sports Centre

The qualifying matches, prior to the main draw, take place at the Bank of England Sports Ground, in Roehampton, from the All England Club.

Traditions

Social commentator Ellis Cashmore describes Wimbledon as having "a David Niven-ish propriety", in trying to conform to the standards of behaviour regarded as common in the 1950s. Writer Peter York sees the event as representing a particular white, upper middle class, affluent type of Britishness, describing the area of Wimbledon as "a southern, well off, late-Victorian suburb with a particular social character". Cashmore has criticised the event for being "remote and insulated" from the changing multicultural character of modern Britain, describing it as "nobody's idea of all-things-British".

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 recruited from Goldings, the only Barnardos school to provide them. Prior to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys came from The Shaftesbury Children's Home.

Since 1969, BBGs have been drawn from local schools. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys 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. Since 2008 they have been drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Kingston, and Wandsworth, as well as from Surrey. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nine and ten.Official Site
BBGs at The Championships They serve for one, or if re-selected, for up to five tournaments, up 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. Starting on the second Wednesday, the number of BBGs is reduced due to the decrease in the number of matches per day, 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 £160-£250 being paid to each ball boy or girl after the 13-day period, depending on the number of days served, around £17 per day. Every BBG keeps their kit. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been included 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, 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 to ensure that BBGs gain 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 all-white 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.

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. On the Wimbledon's Champions Board, married female players were referred to by their husband's name up until 2019. 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 is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr is challenging the call..." and "Mr. has X challenges remaining." Up until 2018, the chair umpire said "Miss"/"Mrs" when announcing the score of the Ladies' matches. However, the chair umpire no longer calls "Miss"/"Mrs" when announcing the score, since 2019. As of the 2022 edition of the tournament, the use of Mr, Miss and Mrs was eliminated entirely: players are now referred to by their names, as written on the scoreboard by the umpire at all points in a match.

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, Venus 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. However, in 2003, All England Club president Prince Edward, Duke of Kent decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if the Prince of Wales or the King is present, as was in practice during the 2010 Championships when Elizabeth II 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 it was not a problem for him.

Services stewards

Prior to the Second World War, members of the Brigade of Guards and retired members of the Royal Artillery performed the role of stewards. In 1946 the AELTC offered employment to wartime servicemen returning to civilian life during their demobilisation leave. Initially, this scheme extended only to the Royal Navy, followed by the British Army in 1947 and the Royal Air Force in 1949. In 1965 London Fire Brigade members joined the ranks of stewards. The service stewards, wearing uniform, are present in Centre Court and No.'s 1, 2, 3, 12 and 18 courts. In 2015, 595 Service and London Fire Brigade stewards attended. Only enlisted members of the Armed Forces may apply for the role, which must be taken as leave, and half of each year's recruits must have stewarded at Wimbledon before. The AELTC pays a subsistence allowance to servicemen and women working as stewards to defray their accommodation costs for the period of the Championships. The Service Stewards are not to be confused with the 185 Honorary Stewards.

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 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 arrive at the AELTC by the last day of December in the year prior to the tournament. Seats and days are allocated randomly and ballot tickets are not transferable.

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 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 All-England Club allows overnight queuing and provides toilet and water facilities for campers. Early in the morning when the line moves towards the 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 2:30pm 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.

Sponsorship

Unlike other tournaments, advertising from major brands is minimal and low key, from suppliers such as IBM, Rolex and Slazenger. Wimbledon is notable for the longest running sponsorship in sports history due to its association with Slazenger who have supplied all tennis balls for the tournament since 1902. Between 1935 and 2021, Wimbledon had a sponsorship deal with Robinsons fruit squash – one of the longest sponsorships in sport.

Strawberries and cream

Strawberries and cream are traditionally eaten by spectators at Wimbledon and have become culturally synonymous with the tournament. In 2017, fans consumed 34,000kg (33 imperial tons) of British strawberries and 10,000 litres (2,200 imperial gallons) of cream.

Media

Radio Wimbledon

Until 2011 when its contract ended, Radio Wimbledon could be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operated under a Restricted Service Licence. Presenters included Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they worked alternate four-hour shifts until the end of the last match of the day. Reporters and commentators included Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they reported 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 included Sue Mappin. In later 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) were also broadcast.

Radio Wimbledon's theme tune is called "Purple and Green" and has been used since 1996 when it was composed by a British Composer called Tony Cox.

Television coverage

Beginning with the 2018 tournament, an in-house operation known as Wimbledon Broadcasting Services (WBS) has served as the official host broadcaster of the tournament, replacing BBC Sport.

United Kingdom

Since 1937 the BBC
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