Every year thousands upon thousands of people flock to South West London’s All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (the official title of what you and I know simply as “Wimbledon”) to watch the world’s great tennis players compete for the coveted champion title.
Grand-slam championship competition (one of the four major tennis tournaments in a year) began in 1877, when only men could compete. Since then, it has seen several changes; Women were allowed to compete from 1884 and, until 1922, the reigning champion only had to compete in the final, without needing to qualify. It still maintains a very strict all-white dress code for players, although a little accent of color is acceptable.
It is a grass stadium (as opposed to clay or hard court) and it is the only major tournament played on this surface. Recently, a retractable roof was installed on the famous center court so that if the rain stops the game (a frequent occurrence!), The game can continue without interruption.
The tournament is steeped in tradition and etiquette and, until as recently as 2009, female players were not referred to by their first names, simply by Miss XX or Mrs XX and married women had to be referred to by their husbands’ names in the marker. , like Chris Evert-Lloyd being referred to as Mrs. JM Lloyd while married to John Lloyd.
Even the ball boys (BBG) have a strict uniform, which since 2006 has been designed by Ralph Lauren.
Tickets for the competition are in extremely high demand each year and are only available by public vote at the beginning of each calendar year. However, tickets to the three main show arenas are still obtainable by queuing (usually overnight) and are considered by the most die-hard fans to be part of the Wimbledon experience. The All England Club even provides toilet and water facilities for campers and luggage storage in case they are successful in obtaining a ticket for the ground.
For the past few years, individual finals have been dominated by the same very familiar players, namely the Williams sisters, Federer, Nadal and Andy Roddick, who compete for the top prize. Men receive a silver cup with the All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World inscription and women receive the Venus Rosewater Dish. Male and female singles winners receive a cash prize of £ 1,100,000 each, although, until 2007, men received more money than women, presumably due to the fact that they play best of five sets against the ladies, who they play the best of three sets. .