If you’re a tennis lover and follower you definitely have watched Wimbledon live on your TV screen. Firstly, the Wimbledon Championship Open is one of the most highly regarded tennis tournaments in the world. Also, it is one of the 4 grand slams. Moreover, every professional tennis player dreams of getting their hands on the prestigious Wimbledon trophy. In this article, we shall take a deeper look into the Wimbledon Championship as well as its history, format, winners, prize money, and more.
Beginning Of The Wimbledon Championship
Earlier in 1876 Major Walton Clopton Wingfield devised a game, Lawn Tennis and this game made its way into the list of activities at the All England Croquet Club (A private club in Wimbledon founded in 1868). Subsequently, the club’s name changed in 1877 to the ‘All England Croquet And Lawn Tennis Club’. Furthermore, to announce this name change, the club hosted its first-ever Lawn Tennis Championship. Moreover, the 1877 Wimbledon Championship was the inaugural championship and only included a Men’s Singles Event and Spencer Gore was the first recipient of the Wimbledon Trophy.
Later on, in 1882, the club’s activity was confined only to Lawn Tennis. Consequently, the word croquet was dropped from the name. However, it was restored for sentimental reasons in 1899. Later on, the year 1884 saw the addition of two new events in the Wimbledon Championship, namely the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Singles and in 1913, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles made it to the list of events.
The reigning champion had to play only the finals and this rule was followed right up till 1922. Moreover, till the late 1960s professional players were strictly prohibited from taking part and only amateur players were allowed. However, this changed with the introduction of the open era.
Also, click here to read more about the All England Lawn Tennis Club
Events
The Wimbledon Championship consists of seven invitation events, four junior events and five main events.
Main Events
The five main Wimbledon Championship events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) are as follows
- 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 as follows
- Boys’ Singles (64)
- Girls’ Singles (64)
- Boys’ Doubles (32)
- Girls’ Doubles (32)
Invitational Events
The seven invitational events and the number of pairs are as follows
- 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)
- Ladies’ Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match Format
To begin with, the Gentlemen’s singles, as well as double events, are played in the best of five format. On the other hand, the rest of the events are played in the best of three format. Moreover, other than the Gentlemen’s Singles, Senior Gentlemen’s, and Women’s Invitational Doubles, which are played in the round-robin format, all the other events of the Wimbledon Open are single elimination tournaments. In the earlier years of the Wimbledon Open, the winner was directly seeded into the finals, as a result, he/she kept retaining their titles. Therefore, to deal with this, the winners have to play all the rounds just like the others, since 1922.
Wimbledon Championship Player Qualification
128 players compete for the Wimbledon Trophy in the Men’s as well as Women’s Singles events. To begin with, players are admitted into the tournament on the basis of their international rankings. 104 players are directly entered into the Men’s competitions whereas 108 players directly qualify for the Women’s events. Furthermore, the remaining spots are filled with wild card entries and qualifiers.
Firstly, Wild card entries are carried out on basis of the performance of players in previous tournaments or the amount of interest value a player would add to the Wimbledon Championship, also, this is purely decided by the management committee of the Championships. Secondly, players that don’t qualify to play through their rankings or through the wild card system, can play the qualifying tournament that takes place one week before the Wimbledon goes live.
Courts
To begin with, the Wimbledon Championship is the only grand slam tournament played on grass. Moreover, the courts are made of 100 percent perennial ryegrass. There are two main show courts namely, Centre Court and Number 1 Court and they are used for only two weeks a year during the Wimbledon and additionally for home game ties of the GB teams in the Davies Cup on occasions. Additionally, the courts have retractable roofs that come into use in the event of rain showers. Not only during the rains but also in the event of extremely hot conditions the retractable roofs cover the courts.
Furthermore, the Centre Court has a capacity of 15,000 and the Number 1 court has a capacity of 12,345. The Centre Court includes the Royal box at its South end that hosts members of the Royal Family as well as other dignitaries. Furthermore, the northern end of the grounds includes a giant television screen that plays important matches for the fans that don’t have show court tickets.
Wimbledon Traditions
As per Wimbledon Traditions firstly, players are required to wear all-white and ball boys, and girls are required to blend into the background and carry out their duties quietly and efficiently. While referring to the events, the words ‘Gentlemen’s’ and ‘Ladies’ is used in place of Men’s and Women’s. Earlier it was Wimbledon tradition to bow before the members of the royal family before commencing a game. However, since 2003 players bow only if the Queen or Prince of Wales are in attendance. Additionally, another interesting tradition is the consumption of strawberries and cream during the tournaments. Moreover, the 2017 Wimbledon Championship saw fans consume around 34,00 kg of strawberries and 10,000 litres of cream.
Trophies
To begin with, the Gentlemen’s Singles winner is awarded a silver-gilt cup and bears the names of the previous winners as well as the inscription ‘All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship Of The World’. Furthermore, the Ladies Champion receives a silver salvor on winning the Wimbledon Open. Moreover, the Ladies Wimbledon Trophy is also known as the ‘Venus Rosewater Dish’. However, both the original Wimbledon Open Trophies are retained by the Club and the winners receive a replica which is slightly smaller.
Wimbledon Championship Prize Money
Firstly the Winners of the singles events receive a cash prize of £2,200,000 and the runners up receive £1,100,000 in the Wimbledon Championship. Furthermore, the losing semifinalists receive £555,000 each and the losing quarterfinalists earn an amount of £275,000 each. Also, the fourth and third-round losers receive £147,000 and £90,000 respectively for reaching that stage in the championship. Furthermore, the second-round losers receive £57,000. Lastly, the first-round losers receive £35,000 as prize money for participating in the Wimbledon Open.
In addition to the Wimbledon prize money mentioned above, the winning pair of the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Doubles received £350,000 and £100,000 was awarded to the winning pair of the Mixed Doubles competition.
Wimbledon Trophy Winners In The Last 10 Years
| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Rafael Nadal | Tomáš Berdych |
| 2011 | Novak Djokovic | Rafael Nadal |
| 2012 | Roger Federer | Andy Murray |
| 2013 | Andy Murray | Novak Djokovic |
| 2014 | Novak Djokovic | Roger Federer |
| 2015 | Novak Djokovic | Roger Federer |
| 2016 | Andy Murray | Milos Raonic |
| 2017 | Roger Federer | Marin Čilić |
| 2018 | Novak Djokovic | Kevin Anderson |
| 2019 | Novak Djokovic | Roger Federer |
| 2020 | No Competition due to COVID-19 |
| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Serena Williams | Vera Zvonareva |
| 2011 | Petra Kvitová | Maria Sharapova |
| 2012 | Serena Williams | Agnieszka Radwańska |
| 2013 | Marion Bartoli | Sabine Lisicki |
| 2014 | Petra Kvitová | Eugenie Bouchard |
| 2015 | Serena Williams | Garbiñe Muguruza |
| 2016 | Serena Williams | Angelique Kerber |
| 2017 | Garbiñe Muguruza | Venus Williams |
| 2018 | Angelique Kerber | Serena Williams |
| 2019 | Simona Halep | Serena Williams |
| 2020 | No Competition due to COVID-19 |
Furthermore, click here to read the complete list of winners of the Wimbledon Trophy. Also, click here to read about the all-time records of the Wimbledon Open.
Media
Firstly the BBC has the right to broadcast Wimbledon till 2024. Moreover, it has been the only broadcaster of the Wimbledon Championship in the UK since 1937. BBC broadcasts the Wimbledon live in HD and since the beginning of the 2018 season, all center court live Wimbledon matches have been broadcasted in 4K Ultra HD. Furthermore, in Ireland Eir Sport has broadcasting rights for Wimbledon Live and in the Americas, ESPN is the main broadcasting channel for Wimbledon Live.
Also, click here to read more about the ICC World Cup.
FAQ’s Regarding Wimbledon Championship
The winner of the Gentlemen’s as well as Ladies singles event gets £2,200,000 each as prize money after winning the prestigious Championship.
In the Gentlemen’s category Roger Federer has won the most number of titles. He has 8 Wimbledon championships to his record, also he holds the record for the most number of final appearances.
BBC has the broadcast rights fo the Wimbledon since 1937 and they continue to have the rights to broadcast Wimbledon live till 2024.
Martina Navratilova has won the most number of titles with 9 championship titles to her record.
Roger Federer has won the most number of consecutive Wimbledon titles. He has won 5 consecutive titles since the open era.
Cori Grauff is the youngest player till date to qualify. Moreover, she has qualified for Wimbledon at the young age of 15.
Editor’s Note | Wimbledon Championship
In conclusion, the Wimbledon Championship Open is a must-watch if you love tennis. Furthermore, it is a stage for the best of the best in the sport of tennis so you’re in for some extremely talented players stepping on the grass courts. Moreover, the best experience would be to get tickets to the matches but nevertheless with HD streaming and broadcasting, watching the match on screen is close to the actual experience if not exactly like being present at the court. Moreover, just like the FIFA World Cup or ICC World Cup, the Wimbledon Championship has world recognition and it is considered the most premium tournament in the sport of Tennis.
