Did you know that tennis happens more than two weeks of the year? No matter, Wimbledon kicks off today to the delight of fans and chagrin of Bargain Hunt viewers. There may be no Roger, Rafa or Serena, but there’s still plenty to look forward to. Here’s your cheatsheet for the Championships.
The No1 seeds aren’t necessarily the favourites
Carlos Alcaraz and Iga ÅwiÄ tek are the No1 seeds in the men’s and women’s draws but neither are heavy favourites. For the men, it is difficult to look beyond Novak Djokovic, who now holds a record-breaking 23 Grand Slam titles after picking up the French Open last month and is going for an eighth Wimbledon title. Even from two-sets-to-love down, you wouldn’t bet against him. Until proven otherwise, the Serb must be considered the favourite at any grand slam for which he is legally allowed to enter the country unvaccinated.
ÅwiÄ tek is technically the bookies’ favourite, and has just claimed her third Roland Garros title. But she’s never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon. If her serve holds up, I like world No2 and this year’s Australian Open winner, Aryna Sabalenka.
Visit Wimbledon as a hedge against inflation
While a pint in central London can set you back £7 and north of £8 at Edgbaston, at SW19 it’ll be around £6. Meanwhile, the classic combination of strawberries and cream is just £2.50, unchanged since 2010. If Wimbledon diversified into supermarkets and energy, Rishi Sunak might have a chance of meeting his inflation pledge. You can also bring your own booze to the tournament, such as a bottle of wine or champagne. Trying doing that at the US Open.
No Roger, Rafa or Serena
Between them, they’ve won 17 Wimbledon singles titles and 65 Grand Slams, but none of them will be at this year’s event. Age and injury catch up with us all. Still, there will be plenty of golden oldies to cheer for, from Venus Williams (one month younger than the Prime Minister) to Stan Wawrinka, 38. The place to be seen is the royal box on Centre Court, but the best ticket in town doesn’t come with a seat — it’s a ground pass. These enable visitors to access all but three courts, where spectators can get ridiculously close to the action and fall head-over-heels invested in a match between two (or four) players you’d never previously heard of. All for £27.
The queue
Don’t. But if you do, get there early. There are toilet facilities in Wimbledon Park, water refill stations, food outlets and first aid. There is, of course, a code of conduct. No gazebos are permitted, apparently.
The weather
It will rain. London enjoys a temperate oceanic climate. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed all year round. This has nothing to do with Wimbledon. Fortunately, spectators should never again be subjected to a Cliff Richard serenade, thanks to the roofs on Centre and No1 Court.
Where’s Sue?
This year’s Championships will be the first without Sue Barker, who has adorned our screens for more than 30 years. And by the way, Barker was a tremendous player in her own right, a French Open champion as well as a Wimbledon semi-finalist. Still, who doesn’t love Clare Balding?
The grass
Grass is a fast, low-bouncing surface, but not as much as it used to be. Following the 2001 tournament, the All England Club made a small but significant change to the composition of its famous turf. Technical but important: 70 per cent Perennial Ryegrass and 30 per cent Creeping Red Fescue became 100 per cent Perennial Rrye Grass.
This made the surface more durable and dependable, but most observers agree also had the effect of producing higher bouncing balls, benefiting baseliners to the detriment of the serve and volleyers.
Case in point: the 2001 men’s final between Goran Ivanisevic and Patrick Rafter contained 243 serve-and-volley points. The following year’s, between Lleyton Hewitt and David Naldbandian, featured precisely none.
Big four domination
No man other than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Sir Andy Murray has won Wimbledon since 2002.
Transport nerd alert
Wimbledon is the only London station with an interchange between rail, Underground and Tramlink services.
Equal prize money
The men and women get paid the same, but equal prize money only came into effect in 2007 — 39 years after the establishment of open tennis. In 2006, men’s champion Federer made £655,000, while women’s champion Amélie Mauresmo picked up £625,000. A relatively small difference that spoke volumes, as pointed out by none other than Venus Williams, in an article for The Times that year calling for equal prize money.
Room for growth
The Championships are expanding… maybe. As part of the development of Wimbledon Park, there are plans for a new show court, practice courts and a 23-acre public park. What with this being Britain, all manner of local unhappiness is causing delays.
Tie breaks
Even if you don’t like tennis (then why are you reading this?) you probably remember the match that would not end. Contested between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in 2010, it took over 11 hours. It was so long, in fact, that the final set alone, won 70-68 by Isner, would have broken the previous record for the longest-ever match. It will never be topped, not least because there is now a 10-point, final set tie-break in operation.
The crowd
In an English chattering classes version of Godwin’s law, the longer a quiet, tense moment between points goes on, the more likely someone in the crowd is to shout “Come on, Tim!”, in reference to one-time hero, Tim Henman. It wasn’t funny then, it isn’t now, please don’t laugh. It’s worse than the clapping on Question Time.
Seeds
How awesome is it that a tournament played on grass also has seeds? Anyway, between 2002 and 2019, the seeding on the men’s side was determined by a surface-based formula, calculated over a two-year period. This was supposed to reflect the unique characteristics of grass court tennis. However, since 2020, the men have joined the women in using the world rankings like every other tournament.
Clothes
Wimbledon runs a strict clothing policy (for the players — you can wear what you like). According to the tournament, competitors must be dressed in attire that is “almost entirely white”. My favourite section is rule No2, which clarifies that white “does not include off-white or cream.” An exception, and it is a recent one made to address period concerns, is that female players are allowed to wear solid, dark-coloured “undershorts” provided they are no longer than their shorts or skirt.
Ball kids
I always wanted to be a Wimbledon ball boy, and might have made the grade, but for the fact that I grew up in north London (they are selected from local schools) and fear I might have told the players to pick up the damn thing themselves after one too many passive aggressive sighs.
