Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious.
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30 Facts About Wimbledon Championships
2.
Wimbledon Championships is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open.
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3.
Wimbledon Championships is the only major still played on grass, the traditional tennis playing surface.
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4.
Wimbledon Championships traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage.
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5.
Inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championships Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held.
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6.
The first black player to compete at Wimbledon Championships was Bertrand Milbourne Clark, an amateur from Jamaica, in 1924.
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7.
In 1946 and 1947 Wimbledon was held before the French Championships and was thus the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year.
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8.
Wimbledon Championships is widely considered the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the club is to maintain its leadership.
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9.
The only grass-court tournament scheduled after the Championships is the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, which takes place the week after Wimbledon.
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10.
Wimbledon Championships was scheduled for 14 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday.
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11.
From 2022, Wimbledon Championships will make Middle Sunday a permanent fixture to the schedule.
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12.
Wimbledon Championships is the only remaining Grand Slam event played on natural grass courts.
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13.
Construction of a new retractable roof on the No 1 Court began after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and was completed in time for the 2019 championships.
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14.
Wimbledon Championships's was found to have with her some paraffin and wood shavings, for the purpose of setting fires in the grounds.
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15.
Social commentator Ellis Cashmore describes Wimbledon Championships as having "a David Niven-ish propriety", in trying to conform to the standards of behaviour regarded as common in the 1950s.
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16.
Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Wimbledon Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were dressed in new navy blue- and cream-coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph Lauren.
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17.
Wimbledon Championships is notable for the longest running sponsorship in sports history due to its association with Slazenger who have supplied all tennis balls for the tournament since 1902.
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18.
Between 1935 and 2021, Wimbledon Championships had a sponsorship deal with Robinsons fruit squash – one of the longest sponsorships in sport.
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19.
Strawberries and cream are traditionally eaten by spectators at Wimbledon Championships and have become culturally synonymous with the tournament.
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20.
Between 1956 and 1968 The Wimbledon Championships were covered by the ITV Network, but since 1969 the BBC has had a monopoly.
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21.
Current commentators working for the BBC at Wimbledon Championships include British ex-players Andrew Castle, John Lloyd, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Samantha Smith and Mark Petchey; tennis legends such as John McEnroe, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker and Lindsay Davenport; and general sports commentators including David Mercer, Barry Davies, Andrew Cotter and Nick Mullins.
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22.
Wimbledon Championships Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television by government mandate.
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23.
Wimbledon Championships was involved in a piece of television history, when on 1 July 1967 the first official colour television broadcast took place in the UK.
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25.
Since 2007, Wimbledon Championships matches have been transmitted in high-definition, originally on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HD, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No 1 as well as an evening highlights show Today at Wimbledon Championships.
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26.
BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon Championships was composed by Keith Mansfield and is titled "Light and Tuneful".
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27.
In 2015 Wimbledon Championships moved to pay TV broadcaster Setanta Sports under a 3-year agreement.
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28.
In Canada, coverage of Wimbledon Championships is exclusively carried by TSN and RDS, which are co-owned by Bell Media and ESPN.
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29.
In several European countries, Wimbledon Championships is shown live on Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 and the Eurosport Player.
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30.
Wimbledon Championships has been exclusively broadcast on Sky Sport in Germany since 2007.
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