(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
School’s out, summer’s here, and the French Open’s won and done. In the tennis world that could only mean one thing: It’s time for Wimbledon.
If you’re wondering what the big deal is or if you know what the big deal is…but not really, this one’s for you. As with the French Open version of this article, you’ll learn some important stuff you need to know and a few silly things you might as well find out along the way. For all this and more organized by the five Ws, read on.
WHAT
The oldest and most famous tennis tournament in the world–that’s what. Officially named 'The Championships', Wimbledon is one four huge tennis tournaments known as the Grand Slams. The others are the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Many tennis watchers consider Wimbledon the most important of the four, and many tennis players say it’s the one they’d most like to win.
More than a dozen events take place, but the most important are the men’s and women’s singles followed by the men’s and women’s doubles and the mixed doubles. The men’s and women’s singles include 128 players each. There are seven rounds—the first, second, third and fourth rounds followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
You could say there are two colors that make Wimbledon what it is.
The first color is green–for the surface. Wimbledon is the only one of the Grand Slam tournaments still played on grass tennis courts. Tennis on grass courts tends to be fast (it’s definitely faster than on clay courts, which are used for the French Open). Grass courts reward players who hit hard, serve big and volley often.
The second color is white—for the clothing. Forget Nike pink, Adidas yellow and Lacoste orange. At Wimbledon players must wear “predominantly white”. This isn’t just suggested—it’s enforced. Anna Kournikova was once asked to change when she was seen practicing in black shorts.
7 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete