What do they play at Wimbledon? Wimbledon tournament

Tennis- one of the most aristocratic sports. This is largely due to Wimbledon tournament, which has a 130-year history and maintains its traditions to this day. It is one of the four most prestigious championships Grand Slam hosted by the All England Tennis and Croquet Club.

A little history

It all started in July 1877, when the first tennis competition was held on the territory of the club, in the south-west part of London (Worple Road), in which 22 people took part. The tournament was held only for men in singles. The winner would receive a prize of 35 guineas, paying just one to enter the competition. The athletes competed for 4 days, and the final game attracted 200 spectators, which provided some income for the organizers. The first champion to write his name in the history of the tournament was local shopkeeper Spencer Gore.

Since 1884, the first foreign participants appeared on the court, and the competition program was supplemented with women's and doubles. The first winners were Maude Watson and the Renshaw brothers, who took the lead for several years. At the 1913 annual tournament international federation was awarded the status of the World Championship (there were three in total) at grass surface. The competition was interrupted only during the years of the First and Second World Wars, becoming a truly mass spectacle.

Since 1922, the location of the tournament has changed, but remains in the London suburb of Church Road, where the Center Court was built for 13.5 thousand people. Spectators were lured by various lotteries. Interest in the competition increased in 1937, when the first television broadcast was held. Representatives of socialist countries joined the championship in the 50s. Since 1967 Wimbledon tennis tournament became open to professionals, gradually gaining the status of one of the main competitions in the grid.

Courts, covering

Today the tennis complex has 19 grass courts. Central, with a spectator capacity of 15 thousand people, and Court No. 1, introduced in 1928, are used only two weeks a year during the BS tournament. Court No. 2 is also used for competitions, commonly called the cemetery for champions, since players often suffer defeats on its courts. A retractable canopy was built over the Center Court in 2009 in case of rain. Electricity is not used, so games are held only during daylight hours.

The grass is laid in rolls and is specially grown in Yorkshire. The composition of the soil has not been disclosed. It is only known that the lawn consists of two varieties of rye and fescue; it is looked after by 14 people, led by an agronomist, whose position is extremely prestigious. The height of the grass is 8 mm; this is the surface where tennis is played. The Wimbledon tournament was famous for the fact that pigeons always flew over its grounds, which at one time were destroyed with the help of hawks. Today, more humane methods are used.

List of participants

Over the course of two weeks, Wimbledon becomes a venue for competition not only among professional players competing in five categories, but also among senior juniors and wheelchair users. Until 1924, previous champions only competed in the challenge round, but after rule changes, seeding of players and a draw based on nationality were introduced, in which the winners had equal conditions with the rest of the players. With introduction in 1973 national federations no longer determine the composition of the participating teams.

The Wimbledon tournament differs from the rest in that the seeding of 32 players does not depend on the official table of ranks, but on the results of the athletes’ performances on grass courts for last years. Traditionally, for 3 weeks before Wimbledon, Masters series competitions are held to prepare for the game on grass - the fastest form of tennis with a low bounce of the ball.

Traditions

The competitions are held under the patronage of the British royal family, and therefore are distinguished by a certain conservatism and strict adherence to traditions. The organizers do not deviate from the date, which counts down from the 1st Monday of August. 6 weeks are calculated, so the 2016 tournament began on June 27. The arena and surrounding area are decorated in green and purple colors, as these are the official colors for the competition. Athletes are required to wear white suits with a small percentage of pastel shades. The judges address male participants strictly by last name, and female participants with the prefix “Miss” or “Mrs.”

The traditional treat at Wimbledon is ten strawberries and cream. It is brought from English farms, where it is grown especially for guests. Less than a day passes from the moment of harvesting and delivery. During the competition period, about 150 thousand portions are consumed.

The male winners receive a prize in the form of a cup from the Women - a silver tray. But the main thing is the monetary reward, which tends to increase every year. In 2016, the Wimbledon tournament raised prize fund by 5%. This brings it to £28.1 million (about $41 million). The winners in singles - the Englishman and the American Serena Williams - received an amount of 2 million pounds. This equality dates back to 2007, although many professionals consider this unfair, because men spend 2 times more playing time on the court.

The museum has been open since 1977. The Wimbledon tournament features interesting exhibits and a three-dimensional matrix figure of John McEnroe talking about the exciting game. The museum houses the dress of Maria Sharapova, the winner of the 2004 tournament. The institution is working all year round, closing its doors during the tournament.

Among the record holders for the number of victories are tennis players who have won the title 7 times: Steffi Graf, William Renshaw, Pete Sampras and Martina Navratilova managed to do this 9 times, the last time at the age of 46 years.

Wimbledon is a quiet southern suburb of London, lost between its more respectable and history-rich neighbors - Greenwich and Richmond, but it is the one that finds itself in the spotlight of the world for two weeks a year. Hundreds of journalists and hundreds of thousands of fans flock to this suburb. For two weeks - the last of June and the first of July - the All England Tennis and Croquet Club is hosting the British Open Championship - Wimbledon Tennis Tournament - on its courts. Formally, this tournament is just one of the four most prestigious tournaments of the so-called “grand slam” (together with the open championships of France, the USA and Australia - but not the Davis Cup, which is a team and not an individual championship), by which the international rating tennis players. But many would agree that it is Wimbledon that usually attracts the most attention, with the winners considered the unofficial world champions. It is curious, by the way, that the British have not reached the final of their open championship for more than thirty years.

Wimbledon is the only one big tournament, in which the game is played on grass courts. Grass, unlike clay, gives tennis ball higher speed, and although on clay courts (say, at the French Open) tennis is more entertaining and the ball stays in play longer, playing on grass requires the player to react much faster and control the ball, and most importantly, serve like a cannon. To stretch out and make the tennis drama more exciting, the tournament organizers in 1995 decided to introduce less elastic balls and thereby slow down the game. The turf on the Center and First Courts is laid in rolls and remains there only for the duration of the tournament. This turf is grown on a special farm in Yorkshire, everything related to its production and storage is kept in the strictest confidence.

To prevent the strongest players from knocking each other out of the tournament in the very first days of Wimbledon, its organizers use a special rating of tennis players, which does not coincide with the international one and takes into account the athlete’s ability to play on grass. Fans are familiar with the term “seeding.” The first number is "seeded" for the tennis player who has the greatest chance of winning. The games of the top five or six seeds in men's and women's singles receive the most attention and are almost always played on Center or Court One. It is curious that in the entire history of the “seeding” rating in women's category Not a single “unseeded” participant in the tournament won the Championship. In men's singles there was such an exception - in 1985. "Unseeded" Boris Becker became Wimbledon champion.

A mere mortal who intends to get to the Wimbledon matches must stock up on unlimited patience and endurance. The queues are several kilometers long - more impressive than at the mausoleum in better times Vladimir Ilyich. Only tickets for Center Court are available for pre-sale - from $600 (for the first days of the tournament) to $2,200 (for the days of the final matches). The lion's share of the remaining tickets is distributed among those close to them. The cream of the crop comes from club members, sponsors and their families. Then the tickets are received by the tournament participants, tournament guests and their entourage. Next, tickets are provided to all the staff, starting with the elderly gentlemen in blue jackets who keep order in and around the club, and ending with the sellers of “hot dogs”. And only the leftovers are sold to the public on the day of the tournament - only for that day. People stand with tents, sleeping bags and food supplies. The arrangement is simple: if you want to watch matches on the Central or First Court, get in line the evening of the previous day, and if on all the other 15 courts, then arrive at six in the morning on the day of the game. There is no one to complain to, the owner is a gentleman, the tournament organizers dispose of tickets at their own discretion, they don’t care about the interests of the general public. Moreover, waiting in line overnight does not guarantee that you will actually watch the matches. It may rain, games will be postponed and your ticket will simply be lost.

But now you have acquired the desired ticket, and you think that your ordeal is over? Not so. Expect to wait in line for most of the day your ticket is valid. In queues for a particular match - unless you plan to sit in the stands of the same court all day (they are allowed onto the courts either between games, or when players are resting between games and sets). Or in lines for strawberries. It’s interesting to watch how young guys, after a sleepless night, break into the club’s territory and doze on the grass, waiting for the games that interest them.

The English weather brings additional sensations to the game. After all, all the courts are open. On a rainy day, even the most crucial games can be interrupted multiple times. Every time the referee decides to postpone the game, twenty strong men come onto the court, during breaks between Wimbledons, probably working as longshoremen, and with enviable speed they cover the entire surface of the court with a giant piece of white tarpaulin so that it does not flood with water. Fans, covered with umbrellas, remain in the stands for hours and wait, sometimes unsuccessfully, for the game to resume. From time to time, one of those present, on his own initiative, undertakes to entertain everyone else. So, on one of the rainy days of Wimbledon in 1996, a member of the All England Tennis and Croquet Club, rock singer Cliff Richard, who found himself on the stands of the Center Court, gave a solo concert in the rain without musical accompaniment.

During a match, on the court, in addition to two (or four, if the game is a doubles game), ten more people are working hard. First of all, there is a referee who sits at the end of the net on top of a structure that resembles a stepladder on wheels, then 6-7 of his assistants who monitor where the ball hits, boys and girls who pick up the balls and serve them to the players, and also people changing the score on the scoreboard. This entire team acts harmoniously and quickly, as a single mechanism. Meanwhile, their work is not without risk: sometimes they have to take cannonball hits from balls.

Most fans cannot stand more than 2-3 sets of a match, unless, of course, the match is the final. People start moving from court to court, stopping at kiosks to grab a bite to eat along the way. The territory of the club is constantly filled with people moving in all directions, and it seems that you are at the Exhibition of National Economic Achievements or at a traditional English garden party with many thousands of guests.

The most prestigious matches, naturally, take place on the Central and First courts. They are followed by court number two, court number three and courts 13 and 14. They are where the queues form. You can easily get to all the other courts at any time, but you are unlikely to see the “greats” there.

But it is not at all necessary to look only at the “greats”. A match between two, say, fifteenth rackets in the world could be much more exciting and complete unexpected turns, rather than Sampras's game with Ivanisovic, which consisted mainly of lethal force serves.

A ticket to the tournament gives you free access to the All England Club Museum. Here you can get acquainted with the history of the game, with the evolution that it has undergone tennis courts, rackets and balls, you can admire vintage tennis costumes. Wimbledon, by the way, is still the only tournament in which white uniform is required. In recent years, several contestants have been reprimanded for showing colored underwear under their white skirts.

In the museum you can get a lot of information about the tennis stars of the past, there are databases on all famous players and statistics of all tennis tournaments, documentary film and video footage of games of the past are shown here, among which, perhaps, the most impressive ones date back to the beginning of the century - on the flickering in the tape, two ladies in long white robes gracefully, but at the same time quite energetically, throw a ball. On days when there are no games, you can walk out of the museum onto a special viewing balcony and admire Center Court from the inside. The royal box is clearly visible from the balcony. If any member of the royal family is present at a match, players are required to bow towards the box before the start of the game. Avid tennis fan Princess Diana often appears there. The Duchess of Kent awards prizes to the finalists each year.

The Wimbledon tournament is accompanied not only by complex etiquette and dress code, but also by the traditional Wimbledon dish - strawberries and cream. During the two weeks of the tournament, up to 150 thousand servings of this food in plastic packaging are sold. Strawberries are grown near London especially for the Wimbledon tournament. Farmers go out of their way to ensure that the strawberries ripen at the right time. The berries are delivered directly from the beds: less than a day passes from harvest to sale of strawberries.

Farmers have something to work for: a Wimbledon supplier is not something...

Wimbledon tournament- the most revered and prestigious competition among professional tennis players. Victory at Wimbledon is considered the most desirable for any tennis player. The oldest competition dates back to 1877, when the first tournament was held by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Wimbledon is part of the Grand Slam Tournament, which also includes Rolland Garros, the Australian Open and the US Open, but the tournament in England is the only one where players compete on grass. Athletes compete in individual and pairs championships. There is also a tournament among juniors and Paralympic wheelchair athletes.

Tournament history

Who would have thought, but the appearance of the Wimbledon tournament may be associated with... a lawn mower. The machine was presented to the All England Croquet Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon in 1872 by the then secretary John Walsh. However, Walsh had one condition - his daughter must be a lifelong member of the club. One day the machine broke down and the club decided to hold a tennis competition to raise funds for its repair. This is how the first Wimbledon tournament was held, which brought together 22 participants and only 200 spectators. As for that old lawn clipper, it has stood on Center Court since 1922, and now stands at the entrance to the museum in Wimbledon.

Men's Wimbledon winners for a long time received larger amounts of prize money than the representatives fair half humanity, but recently the situation has changed. Men and women receive the same prize money.

The center and first courts are covered with grass grown exclusively on a special farm in Yorkshire. Moreover, the secret of growing and storing Wimbledon coating is kept under seven seals. Only Wimbled matches are played on these courts. Other tournaments take place on other courts of the sports complex. Of course, the tournament is not complete without the royal family, which almost always visits and takes part in the award ceremony.

There are also “tasty” traditions at Wimldone. For decades, cream has been considered the main delicacy at Wimbled. Every year, during the two weeks of the tournament, spectators eat about 28 tons of fresh berries. Every morning, strawberries are brought to London from nearby counties, their green sepals are cut off, about 10 berries are placed in cardboard vases, and they are topped with liquid cream before being sold.

Despite the established traditions, the tournament keeps up with the times and the organizers introduce some innovations. Thus, since 2007, the “Hawk-Eye” system of video replays of controversial moments has been used. And in 2009, a retractable roof appeared over the tournament’s Central Court. And now the rain, which is also considered one of the symbols of Wimbledon, does not prevent the important matches. Until 1986, at Wimbledon they played with exclusively white balls, but for television broadcasts the white color was difficult to perceive, so by decision of the organizers, tennis players began to play with yellow balls.

Wimbledon records

Over the more than hundred-year history of the tournament, it has accumulated a serious number of records. Organising Committee Wimbledon even has its own records department. We present to your attention the most significant of them.

Roger Federer and William Renshaw have the most victories in the men's tournament, with 7 triumphs in finals each. For women, the record holder is 9 victories. She also holds the record for the oldest winner of the tournament. At the age of 46 years and 264 days, Navratilova won the mixed doubles.

Martina Hingis

Boris Becker

Andy Murray

Pete Sampras

The youngest winner of the tournament is German Boris Becker, who won the title at 17 years and 227 days. Among women, Martina Hingis celebrated victory at a young age, albeit in doubles, at 15 years and 282 days.

The longest match in the history of the tournament “under the new rules” (after the introduction of tiebreaking) belongs to the pair John Isner - Nicolas Mahut. The American and the Frenchman played for three days in a row in 2010, spending a total of 11 hours and 5 minutes, they played 183 games, and the last - fifth game ended with an incredible score of 70-68 in favor of Isner.

The shortest final took place in 1984 between Americans John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors: its duration was 1 hour and 20 minutes, the score was 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

The longest final was played in 2008, when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer fought for the title. The Spaniard got the better of the Swiss, spending 4 hours and 48 minutes. The match ended with the score 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.

On the men's side, the first non-British to win Wimbledon was an Australian in 1907 Norman Brooks, for women - American May Sutton in 1905.

The representative of Great Britain had not won the tournament for 77 years, which certainly could not but upset the local public. Only in 2013, the residents of Foggy Albion were made happy by Andy Murray, who defeated Novak Djokovic in a bitter struggle. Before Murray, the last Briton to win Wimbledon singles was in 1936. Fred Perry.

And the only one that is played on grass courts.

In the Wimbledon tournament, the titles of champions in singles and doubles among men and women and mixed doubles (a man and a female in one team), and competitions are also held among juniors (except mixed doubles). Additionally, tournaments are held in older age categories: men's doubles for players from 35 and 45 years old and women's doubles from 35 and 45 years old.

1. History

Women's final of the Wimbledon tournament 1903 (Douglas - Thomson)

The main courts where matches are played are the Center Court and Court No. 1 Court, they are usually only used for two weeks a year, during the championship, but they can be played in a third week in exceptional circumstances. The other seventeen courts are regularly used for other events of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. But in 2012 London will host the Summer Olympics and then the courts will be forced to host a second time, three months later, as Wimbledon will be used for the 2012 Olympic tennis events.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass. When all the tournaments in this series were held on grass. The French Open changed its court surfaces from grass to red clay in 2010, while the Australian and US Championships retained grass surfaces for many more decades. The US Championship changed from grass to a synthetic clay surface and again to a hard surface in 1978, where matches are still played today. The Australian Open replaced grass with hard surfaces in .

The main court, Center Court, was opened when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London moved to Church Road. This change was caused by the previous arena's inability to accommodate everyone who wanted to watch the games.

Wimbledon is famous for its unstable weather and frequent rain. To help with game stoppages, a retractable roof will be built on center court, designed to close/open in less than 10 minutes. It is intended primarily to protect players from bad weather (and, if necessary, extreme heat) during the championship. From then on, the game stops only for the time required to open/close it. The center court stands seat nearly 14,000. At the southern end is the Royal Box, from which members of the royal family and other dignitaries watch matches. The center court hosts the finals and semi-finals of the main events and center matches involving the best players.

Court No.1. The second most important court is No. 1. The court was built in 1997 to change the old no. 1. At first it was adjacent to Center Court, but was transformed into a separate arena, the stands of which accommodate a large number of spectators. The third largest arena is Number 2, popularly known as the "Graveyard of Champions" due to its reputation as an arena where many past seeded players have been eliminated from title contention in the early rounds. Famous players Those who lost at the Graveyard during the early stages were: John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Venus Williams and Serena Williams. The arena has a capacity of approximately 3,000 seats. There are plans to build a completely new arena number 2 on the territory of court number 13, designed for 4,000 spectators, before the 2009 championship.

At the north end of the arena there is a giant television screen showing important events.

5. Traditions

5.1. Colors and uniforms

Dark green and purple (sometimes also lilac) are traditional Wimbledon colors. Green attire is worn by the Referees, Line Judges, Boys and Girls, Retrievers and Serves, however, from 2006, the attire of Referees, Referees, Boys and Girls Receivers and Serves has been changed to new clothing in the new colors of aqua and cream (from American designer Ralph Lauren). This is the first time in the history of the championships that an external company began to design and supply clothing for Wimbledon.

5.2. Players

Rules of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London require players to wear "almost entirely white" clothing during all games, which was the reason for the young Andre Agassi's boycott of the tournament in the early 1990s. No other Grand Slam tournament has such a strict dress code for players.

5.3. The Royal Family

Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the royal family in the Royal Box on Center Court as they entered the court and after the match ended. But in 2003, the President of the All England Club, His Grace the Duke of Kent, decided to stop this tradition. Players are now required to bow or curtsy only if the Queen or Prince of Wales is present at the match.

5.4. Strawberries and cream

Strawberries and cream are a traditional treat at Wimbledon. Approximately 62,000 pounds of strawberries and 1,540 gallons of cream are sold each year during the championship.

6. Trophies and prizes

Men's Champion singles receives a silver gilded bowl - 18.5 inches (approx. 47 cm) high and 7.5 inches (approx. 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World", the winner of the singles women's tournaments remove a silver tray known as the Rosewater Dish. Tray measuring 18.75 inches (approx. 48 cm) in diameter, decorated with mythological figures. Winners of men's and female couples and mixta receive silver cups. The participant who takes second place in any case receives a silver plate. The trophies are presented by the President of the All England Club, the Duke of Kent, his sister Princess Alexandra and The Honorable Lady Ogilvy.

At Wimbledon, men have traditionally received the larger cash prize. However, in a statement issued by the All England Club in February 2007, it was stated that future prize money would be the same for both men and women. This makes Wimbledon's prize policy identical to all other Grand Slam competitions. In 2005, the total prize money of the Wimbledon tournament exceeded 10 million for the first time and amounted to USD 10,085,510. Amounts awarded to winners in 2006 (amount for a couple is divided equally between partners):

Men's single: $1,287,469
Women's single: $1,228,501.
Men's doubles: $407,265
Women's steam room: $378,840
Mixed: $166,093

In 2007, the amount of prize money was 11,282,710 US dollars.

7. Interesting

The Wimbledon tennis tournament of the year became the most popular competition in - www.rian.ru/sport/20081229/158311348.html Wimbledon became the Most popular tournament of the year among bookmakers (Rus.)