Wimbledon Championships facts for kids
The Wimbledon Championships is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. It is played in Wimbledon, a suburb of London in England, Great Britain. The Championships are unique because they are the only Grand Slam played on a grass court. Wimbledon is the third tennis grand slam of the year and is widely seen as the biggest event on the sport's calendar.
Wimbledon was first competed in 1877. The women's single and the mens doubles events began seven years later in 1884. It has always been played during the summer. It is played over two weeks, from late June to the beginning of July. The tournament is played after the French Open and before the U.S. Open. In 1968, the championships were opened up to both professionals and amateurs for the first time, with Rod Laver and Billie Jean King winning their respective singles titles.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Wimbledon was cancelled, the first cancellation of the tournament since World War II. The rescheduled 134th edition was staged from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021, following from the 2020 cancellation.
The 135th edition was played between 27 June 2022 and 10 July 2022, and regularly scheduled play occurred on the middle Sunday for the first time. It marks the centenary of the inaugural championships staged at the Centre Court. The ATP, ITF, and WTA will not award ranking points for the 2022 tournament, due to controversy over the tournament banning players representing Russia and Belarus.
Traditions
Seedings
In every tennis competition, players are given a seed to help decide their place in the draw. At Wimbledon, they use a player's performances (whether good or bad) on grass to help decide the seed. At other tennis competitions, seedings are chosen based only on rankings.
Clothing
The umpires (referees) and linesmen all have to wear special dark green and mauve clothing. The players have to wear all white.
Etiquette
Female players used to have their names announced with "Miss" or "Mrs"; this was unlike any other Grand Slam tournament. However, this changed for the 2009 tournament. In this tournament, only the surnames were used. If The Queen is in the audience, it is normal for players to bow to her.
Records
- Men - William Renshaw, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have won the singles 7 times each
- Women - Martina Navratilova has won the singles 9 times
Gallery
Images for kids
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Ladies Championship, 1884. First prize, awarded to Maud Watson, was a silver flower-basket worth 20 guineas.
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People watching the Championships' broadcast in Canary Wharf
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Todd Woodbridge holding the Gentlemen's Doubles silver challenge cup in 2004
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Novak Djokovic is the winner of the Gentlemen's Singles in 2019. It was his sixteenth Grand Slam Men's Singles title and his fifth Wimbledon title.
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Simona Halep is the winner of the Ladies' Singles in 2019. It was her second Grand Slam Women's Singles title.
See also
In Spanish: Campeonato de Wimbledon para niños