Wimbledon

Wimbledon is a great British Institution. There are so many iconic moments to come out of Wimbledon – among our favorites are John McEnroe’s infamous outburst, Andy Murray’s win which ended Britain’s 77 year wait for a men’s champion, and who can forget Cliff Richard’s singsong in the rain.

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and arguably the most famous. Since the first tournament 125 years ago in 1877, The Championships have been hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London and take place over two weeks in late June – early July.

This year it started on the 24th June 2019 and ran until the final on 14th July 2019. Two weeks of the sport’s best players battling it out on the world’s most famous stage. Even if you are not a fan of tennis you have to admire the skill, endurance and fitness of these players as matches can often last over four hours.

Of the four major annual tennis tournaments known as the ‘Grand Slams’, Wimbledon is the only one to still be played on grass, which is where the name lawn tennis originated. Grass is also the surface which provides the fastest game of tennis. Of the other three, the Australian Open and the US Open are both played on hard courts and the French Open is played on clay.

Although much has changed since the Wimbledon Championships were first introduced in 1887, today when we think of Wimbledon fortnight there are a number of traditional images that still spring to mind:

• The obligatory strawberries and cream (of which it is estimated that 28,000 kilos of English strawberries and 7000 litres of cream are consumed each year!
• the white or almost all white dress code which is still a requirement
• the strong ties with the Royal family

Overseas players enjoy the tournaments traditions and history. Novak Djokovic

“The great thing about Wimbledon that I really appreciate is the tradition that is respected and protected for more than 130 years,” wrote Novak Djokovic on Facebook.

“We still wear only white clothes during the tournament, and the defending champion always plays at 1pm on Monday!”

All the traditional and history combined continue to preserve Wimbledon’s place both in British heritage and at the forefront of the tennis world.