With the Queen’s Club Championship over for another year, all eyes in the tennis world turn to SW19 once again.
The Wimbledon Championship has been held at the All England Club since 1877, with this year’s event taking place between 27 June and 10 July.
One of the four tennis Grand Slams, US Open-winner Emma Raducanu will carry the hopes of the British supporters cheering from the stands and on Raducanu Ridge.
But, before the big event arrives, there is a mass of organisation and planning to undertake.
Here’s your guide to the Wimbledon Championships.
Wimbledon in numbers
290 million
The number of tennis balls you’d need to fill Centre Court, with its retractable roof closed.
If the roof ever jammed during a bout of heavy rain, you’d need 7,500 Wimbledon umbrellas to fill the open roof space and keep Sir Cliff Richard dry!
£35 million
The amount of prize money paid out in 2020. This huge sum makes Wimbledon the second highest paying championship, after the US Open ($50 million in 2022).
191,930
The portions of strawberries and cream consumed during The Championships 2019. On a side note, at £2.50 for a portion of at least 10 strawberries (subsidised by the tournament to remain at this price since 2010), takings equalled £479,825.
Elsewhere in food and drink: 18,061 servings of fish and chips were sold, alongside 276,291 glasses of Pimm’s, and 64,703 portions of ice cream.
27,419
The number of Championships’ towels sold during the two-week tournament, along with 16,213 logo t-shirts, and a whopping 14,760 sweatbands.
14,979
The capacity of Centre Court.
6,000
The number of staff employed by the Championships for the duration of the two-week tournament, including 250 ball boys and girls, 168 court attendants, 30 dressing room attendants, 31 ground staff, 400 housekeeping staff, 22 physio and massage therapists, 16 referee office staff, and 2 podiatrists.
665
The duration of the longest match in minutes (11 hours and 5 minutes). The match between John Isner (USA) and Nicolas Mahut (France) took place over three days during the 2010 tournament with the score in the final set reaching 70-68.
The final set lasted 491 minutes (8 hours and 11 minutes), making that set alone more than an hour and a half longer than the previous longest match ever.
148
The fastest-recorded men’s serve in miles per hour (mph), was recorded by Taylor Dent of the USA in 2010. The fastest ladies’ serve clocked in at 129mph and came from the racket of Venus Williams (USA) in 2008.
120
The number of years that Slazenger has been a sponsor of the event. Along with Robinsons (a sponsor since 1902), these mark some of the oldest sponsorship deals in world sport.
38
The number of the venue’s grass courts, including 20 practice courts. The main site includes Centre Court, Court No 1, and Courts 2 to 19 (minus Court 13, which doesn’t exist as it is deemed unlucky!).
8mm
The height of the grass at the Championships, composed of 100% ryegrass.
How to get tickets
To get tickets for the two main courts (Centre Court and Court No. 1), you usually need to enter an annual ballot held over the preceding winter. You can purchase ground entry tickets in advance too, though. These let you into the venue and give you access to all the outdoor courts, leaving you free to chop and change and pick the match that suits you.
You might also opt to join the queue for ground entry tickets each morning. As you’d expect, the queues can get large but they do make it possible to plan a short-notice trip, especially if you’re local.
Once you’re inside the venue, consider loitering around the main courts later in the day and you might find someone on their way out of the venue willing to pass on their ticket.
You could find yourself in Centre Court for the last hour’s play!
Get in touch
The Wimbledon Championships are a yearly highlight in the global sporting calendar, expected to entertain half a million spectators as well as worldwide television audiences. It is also a huge logistical challenge that needs plenty of preparation, not unlike your approach to retirement.
At Fingerprint, we might not be able to coach you toward the perfect serve, but we can help you ace your long-term finances. If you need help managing any aspect of your plans this summer, and beyond, speak to us now. Get in touch by emailing hello@fingerprintfp.co.uk or calling 03452 100 100.
