WIMBLEDON
WIMBLEDON
 
 
The                   Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply "Wimbledon", is the oldest and arguably most prestigious event in the sport                   of tennis . Held every                   June or July (starts 6 weeks before the first Monday in                   August), the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played                   each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French                   Open, and followed by the U.S. Open. The tournament (which is                   the only one of the Grand Slam events played on grass)                   lasts for two weeks, subject to extensions for rain. Separate                   tournaments are simultaneously held for Gentlemen's Singles,                   Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles and                   Mixed Doubles. Youth tournaments ï¿½ Boys' Singles, Girls'                   Singles, Boys' Doubles and Girls' Doubles ï¿½ are also held.                   Additionally, special invitational tournaments are held: the                   35 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 45 and over Gentlemen's                   Doubles, 35 and over Ladies' Doubles and wheelchair doubles.
 
Wimbledon                   Championships close of play 2004
 
History
 
The                   Championships were first played under the control of the                   All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground                   near Worple Road, Wimbledon; the only event held was                   Gentlemen's Singles. In 1884, the All England Club added                   Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles. Ladies' Doubles and                   Mixed Doubles were added in 1913. The Championships moved to                   their present location, at a ground near Church Road, in 1922.                   As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon                   was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent                   of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of                   the tournament but it is a source of national anguish and                   humour ï¿½ no British man has won the singles event at                   Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since                   Virginia Wade in 1977.
 
Events
 
There                   are five main events held at Wimbledon: Gentlemen's Singles,                   Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and                   Mixed Doubles. In addition, four events are held for juniors:                   Boys' Singles, Girls' Singles, Boys' Doubles, and Girls'                   Doubles. (The Mixed Doubles event is not held at the junior                   level.) Finally, four invitational events are held: the 35 and                   over Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles, the 45 and over                   Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles, the 35 and over Ladies'                   Invitation Doubles, and the Wheelchair Gentlemen's Invitation                   Doubles.
 
Matches                   in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles                   competitions are best-of-five sets; matches in all other                   events are best-of-three sets. Most events are                   single-elimination tournaments; in other words, a player who                   loses a single match is immediately eliminated from the                   tournament. However, the 35 and over Gentlemen's Invitation                   Doubles and the 35 and over Ladies' Invitation Doubles are                   both round-robin tournaments.
 
Each                   year, the tournament begins six weeks before the first Monday                   in August. It is held two weeks after the Queen's Club                   Championships, which is considered the major warm-up for                   Wimbledon for male players. Another important warm-up                   tournament for the men is the Gerry Weber Open, which is held                   in Halle, Germany at about the same time as the Queen's Club                   Championships. Wimbledon usually lasts for two weeks; the main                   events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events                   are for the most part held 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 thrice in Championships                   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.
 
Players                   and seeding
 
A                   total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs                   in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed                   Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main                   events on the basis of their international rankings. 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 Ivanisevic (2001); no wild card                   has ever won the Ladies' Singles Title. 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;                   the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round.                   There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No                   qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the                   Ladies' Singles tournaments; in 1977, John McEnroe went                   farther than any other qualifier in history by reaching the                   semifinals.
 
 
 
Players                   are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the                   recommendations of their national tennis associations, 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 (thirty-two players                   in each main singles events, and sixteen pairs in each main                   doubles event) on the basis of their rankings. The defending                   champion is normally, but not always, seeded first. A majority                   of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have                   ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris Becker in                   1985 and Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. No unseeded player has                   captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female                   champion was Venus Williams, who won in 2005 as the fourteenth                   seed. 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
 
The                   nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are all composed purely of                   rye grass. The speed and the low bounce of grass courts                   favours serve and volley players. Serve and volleyers such as                   Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Pete                   Sampras have all won the Championships. However, baseliners                   such as Bjï¿½rn Borg have also performed very well, as have                   all-court players like Roger Federer. Among women, the serve                   and volley strategy is less common; one of the few female                   serve and volleyers, Martina Navrï¿½tilovï¿½, won Wimbledon on a                   record nine occasions.
 
The                   main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are used only                   for two weeks a year, during the Championships. The remaining                   seventeen courts, however, are regularly used for other events                   hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.                   Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts.                   At one time, all of the other Grand Slam events were played on                   grass. The French Open abandoned grass for its current red clay in 1928, while the                   U.S. and Australian Opens stayed with grass decades longer.                   The U.S.                   Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975,                   and changed again to a hard surface with its 1978 move to its                   current venue. The Australian Open abandoned grass for a different type of hard surface in                   1988.
 
The                   main court, Centre Court, was opened in 1922 when the All                   England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to                   Church Road. Due to possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a                   retractable roof is planned for the court; it is expected to                   be completed in 2009. The court has a capacity of almost                   14,000; 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.
 
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, but was demolished because its                   capacity for spectators was too low. The original No. 1 Court                   was said to have a unique, more intimate atmosphere, and was a                   favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity                   of approximately 11,000. The third-largest court, No. 2 Court,                   has been dubbed the "Graveyard of Champions" due to                   its reputation as the court on which many seeded players have                   been eliminated during the early rounds. Famous players who                   have lost on the Graveyard during early round play include                   John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Serena Williams. The court has                   a capacity of about 3,000.
 
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 Aorangi Park, but more                   commonly called Henman Hill. The "hill" takes its                   name from local favourite Tim Henman, whom many fans hope will                   become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred                   Perry did so in 1936. Due to Tim Henman's early exit and                   British newcomer Andy Murray's relative success in the 2005                   Championship, the hill may be renamed as Murray Mound, Mount                   Murray, or Murray Field (after the Scottish rugby stadium).
 
The                   order of play for all courts is displayed 
on                   boards around the grounds
 
 
Dark                   green and purple (sometimes also referred as mauve) are the                   traditional Wimbledon colours. Green apparel is worn by the                   chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys, and ball girls. The All                   England Club requires players to wear "predominantly                   white" clothing during matches. No other Grand Slam                   tournament has such a strict dress code for players. During                   matches, female players are always referred to with the title "Miss" or "Mrs". (Formerly, married female                   players were referred to by their husband's names: for                   example, Chris Evert-Lloyd appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John M.                   Lloyd. However, this custom has been abandoned.) On the other                   hand, the title "Mr" is never used for male players.
 
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, HRH                   The Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now,                   players are required to bow or curtsy only if the Queen or the                   Prince of Wales is present.
 
For                   the spectators, strawberries and cream is the traditional                   snack at Wimbledon. Approximately 28,000 kilograms of                   strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream are sold each year                   during the Championships.
 
Since                   1992 Radio Wimbledon has broadcast commentary, speech and music from 7am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It                   can be heard within a four-mile radius on 87.7 FM and also                   online
 
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. It bears the                   inscription "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single                   Handed Champion 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, and by his wife, HRH The                   Duchess of Kent.
 
At                   Wimbledon, more prize money is awarded in the Gentlemen's                   events than in the Ladies' events. This is justified by the                   rules that men must win 3 out of 5 sets to win a match,                   whereas women only need to win 2 out of 3. The French Open                   also offered higher prize money for men until 2006, when it                   joined the Australian Open and the U.S. Open in offering equal                   prize money. In 2005 Wimbledon prize money exceeded ï¿½10                   million (the exact amount was ï¿½10,085,510) in total for the                   first time. The sums awarded to the winners of each of the                   main events in 2005 are as follows (the amounts shown for the                   doubles events are per pair): 2005 Prize Money Summary:
 
Gentlemen's                       Singles: ï¿½650,000
Ladies'                       Singles: ï¿½625,000
Gentlemen's                       Doubles: ï¿½218,500
Ladies'                       Doubles: ï¿½203,250
Mixed                       Doubles: ï¿½90,000