WimbledonEvery June for more than 100 years, thousands of fans descend on the London suburb of Wimbledon to witness some of the best tennis players in the world battle it out on grass courts. Winning Wimbledon is more than garnering a trophy and a significant purse – it is a sign of prestige.
Perhaps the most well-known tennis tournament of all time, the Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon began in 1877 and are held annually at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. That first meeting boasted the convivial atmosphere of a garden party, attracting several hundred spectators. The only event was Gentlemen’s Singles.
Today, every summer for a fortnight (two weeks) the club hosts more than 400,000 spectators and members of the press. Those guests enjoy the same festive spirit as the very first gathering. The word “Wimbledon” is synonymous with strawberries and cream, Champagne, and world-class tennis. The modern Championships at Wimbledon consist of five main events: Gentlemen’s Singles, Ladies’ Singles, Gentlemen’s Doubles, Ladies’ Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. Four events are held for Juniors, and four invitational events are also hosted at the Championships.
Most of the matches are single elimination events. In other words, a single loss means immediate elimination from the tournament. The tournament hosts 128 players in each singles event, and 64 pairs the single-sex doubles events. Forty-eight pairs play in mixed doubles, and individual players and doubles’ pairs are admitted to the main events based on international rankings. The Committee of Management and The Referee evaluate all entries, and players are also given consideration based on how they previously performed during grass-court play. Thirty-two men and women are seeded in the singles events, while 16 teams are seeded for doubles play.
All players who wish to participate in The Championships at Wimbledon must submit a specialized entry form six weeks prior to the tournament. The Committee, with help from the Referee, uses computer rankings to determine who will be seeded, who must qualify, and who will be rejected.
Wimbledon is famous for its courts, all of which are comprised entirely of rye grass. Grass courts, of course, favor serve and volley players like Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and the notorious John McEnroe. However, some players have surprised spectators, winning on grass despite their all-court style of play. Roger Federer is one such player.
Some women also favor the grass court, including Martina Navratilova, a serve and volley player who took home an astonishing nine Wimbledon Singles titles. In spite of Navratilova’s dominance of the Championships with this style of play, it is traditionally less popular among the female players at Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is as famous for humbling well-known tennis players as it is for lionizing them. The second most important court at the club is No. 1 Court, constructed in 1997 to replace an earlier venue that was too small for the number of spectators. The new court holds 11,000, and the larger less-intimate atmosphere has humbled players such as Venus and Serena Williams. Known as “The Graveyard,” the court has a reputation as a place where highly ranked players lose during early rounds of play.
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