About Wimbledon Tennis

Wimbledon, officially known as The Championships Wimbledon, is one of the four grand slam tournaments in tennis. Played in the last few weeks of June, it is the only Slam played on grass and the only one in which players usually do not play on Sundays. Played in London, England, the tournament is often attended by British royalty and frequently delayed by the country's notoriously rainy weather.

History

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, established in 1868, has hosted the tournament since its early days as a garden-party tournament, according to Wimbledon.org. In 1874, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield introduced lawn tennis --- a game initially known as Sphairistike --- to the club and it was added to club's activities in 1875. The rules of the game have been in existence since 1877 with only minor changes such as the height of the nets. The first tournament was held in 1877.

Facilities

The tournament was first held at facilities in Worple Road in Wimbledon until 1922, a year which saw the current grounds at Church Road opened by King George V, grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. The grounds include 19 grass courts, including Centre Court and No. 1 Court, both of which are usually reserved for matches featuring top-ranked players. After years of battling inclement weather, which often delayed play, the club constructed a translucent retractable roof over Centre Court, which was first used in 2009.

Events

The most popular events at the tournament are the gentlemen's singles and ladies singles. However, the tournament also showcases other events, including ladies and gentlemen's doubles and mixed doubles, in which teams consisting of a man and woman compete against each other. Young players also get to compete in the boys' singles, girls' singles and doubles events. Other events include ladies and gentlemen's wheelchair doubles and senior gentlemen's invitation doubles.

Notable Wins

Spencer Gore won the first gentleman's singles event in 1877 and Maud Watson was the first winner of the ladies singles event. American May Sutton became the first overseas winner at the event. Fred Perry is the last British man to win the men's event, which he did in 1936. With seven Wimbledon championships, Pete Sampras holds the most men's titles. Martina Navratilova is the most successful female contestant at the championships with nine titles.

Prizes

In 2010, the total prize money for Wimbledon was 13,725,000 pounds and the winners of the men's and women's singles events each took home a prize of 1 million pounds. Only since 2007 have men and women singles winners earned equal prize money at Wimbledon, whereas equal prize money has been awarded at the U.S. Open since 1973, at the Australian Open since 2001 and at the French Open since 2006.