The Championships, Wimbledon

The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. Wimbledon has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.

The Wimbledon tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.

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Current Champions of Wimbledon Championship

Roger Federer: became the Men's champion on July 5, 2009 defeating Andy Roddick in an epic and historic final. This is Federer's sixth Wimbledon Men's Singles title, and his fifteenth slam for his career. This is Federer's second singles men's slam title of the year to go along with the French title.

Serena Williams: is the Ladies' champion, after beating her sister Venus in 2009, turning the tables on her sister, who won in 2008. This is Serena's third Wimbledon Women's Singles title, and her eleventh slam for her career. This is Serena's second singles women's slam of the year to go along with the Australian crown.

Daniel Nestor: part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2009. This is his fifth men's doubles slam title, and his second Wimbledon Men's Doubles title of his career.

Nenad Zimonjić: part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2009. This is his second men's doubles slam title, and his second Wimbledon Men's Doubles title of his career.




Venus Williams & Serana Williams: part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2009. This is her ninth women's doubles slam title, and her fourth Wimbledon Women's Doubles title of her career. This is the second of three women's doubles slam titles of the year to go along with the Australian previous and US post titles of the year.

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Ballboys and Ballgirls in Wimbledon

Volunteers from Institutions and Schools have provided ballboys and ballgirls for many years:

Shaftesbury Homes supplied the ballboys to Wimbledon Championships in the 1920s & 1930s. Dr Barnardo’s Homes, from 1946 – 1966 and Fortescue House School (part of the Shaftesbury Homes) in 1967- 1968.

The move to using Schools really began in 1969 when The Wandsworth School and Nork Park County School joined the Merton Secondary Schools in providing ballboys.

Although some of original schools still send boys and girls to Wimbledon many have changed their names or status as a result of reorganisation or amalgamation.

For 2010 ballboys/girls will be chosen from:

• Bishopsford Community School, Morden
• Graveney School, Wandsworth
• Glyn Technology School Ewell
• Hall School , Wimbledon
• Harris Academy , Merton
• Overton Grange School, Sutton
• Raynes Park High School, Raynes Park
• Ricards Lodge High School, Wimbledon
• Rutlish School, Merton
• Southborough School, Kingston
• St Cecelia's School Wandsworth
• Sunbury Manor School, Sunbury
• Surbiton High School Surbiton
• Sutton Grammar School, Sutton
• Sutton High School, Sutton
• Teddington School, Teddington
• The Beacon School, Banstead
• The Holy Cross Convent School, New Malden
• The John Fisher School, Wallington
• Tiffin School, Kingston
• Ursuline High School, Wimbledon
• Wallington County Grammar School. Wallington
• Wilson's School, Wallington
• Wimbledon College, Wimbledon
• Wimbledon High School, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon Events

Wimbledon includes five main events, four junior events and four invitation events.

Main events:

The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:

• Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
• Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
• Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
• Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
• Mixed Doubles (48 draw)

Junior events:

Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:

• Boys' Singles (64 draw)
• Girls' Singles (64 draw)
• Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
• Girls' Doubles (32 draw)

No mixed doubles event is held at this level.

Invitation events:

The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:

• 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)

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Wimbledon Championship Schedule

Each year, Wimbledon tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June. Wimbledon begins two weeks after the Queen's Club Championships, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon.

Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth 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 the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has 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. Additionally, if the Wimbledon tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".

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Wimbledon Championship Colors and Fashion

19th – Early 20th Century: Male players at Wmbledon championship don tennis whites, which consisted of long-sleeve button up shirts, flannel trousers and ties (all in white). Women wore full-length dresses. Problems often arose with regards to ease of play.

1919: Suzanne Lenglen makes several changes to the traditional women’s Wimbledon uniform, the most noticeable of which is a revealing frock barely reaching her knees described as “shocking and indecent.” The days of the corset are over.

1928: French player Rene Lacoste wins his second Wimbledon title, this time donning a self-designed ‘tennis shirt’ featuring short sleeves, loosely knit cotton, a flat protruding collar and only a few buttons at the neck. This style, today known as the polo shirt.

1991: After being reprimanded for wearing a hot pink uniform at the previous year’s French open, Andre Agassi reveals a classic white uniform at Wimbledon to massive applause.

2000-Present: Dark green and purple (sometimes also referred to as mauve) are the traditional Wimbledon colors. However, all tennis players participating in the Wimbledon 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 color accents is also acceptable. 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 outfitted in new navy blue and cream colored 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. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.

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Wimbledon Grounds

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is responsible for staging the world’s leading tennis tournament, is a private club founded in 1868, originally as ‘The All England Croquet Club’. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

The main show of wimbledon courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

The principal court, Centre Court, was opened in 1922. 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. 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.

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