What is
There are two answers to this.
Answer 1: Wimbledon (pronounced /wImbaldan/) is a suburb of London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located 7 miles (11.3 km) south west of Charing Cross(another place close to London Waterloo). For most of the past one hundred years,
Etymology: The name
Wimbledon was not only famous for Tennis but also for football – Wimbledon football team which won the FA cup against Liverpool in 1988, but with teams like Chelsea and Fulham rapidly developing in close proximity saw this team decline rather rapidly.
Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer - English scientist and astronomer; joint discoverer of helium was one of the famous resident who has resided in
Accessible by:
Credits and for more information, my memory & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimbledon%2C_London
Answer 2: The Championships,
The tournament is held in the
Surface: It is preceded by the Australian Open, which is played on hard courts, and the French Open (Roland Garros), which is played on clay courts. It is followed by the U.S. Open, which is played on hard courts.
The Championships were first played under the control of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground near
The first Sunday is always considered to be a rest day, but if rain has disturbed any of the previous day’s matches, then on each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Credits and for more information, my memory & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Championships,_Wimbledon
How many courts are available and what are the premier courts?
There is a center court, then courts 1-19. Center court, Court No 1 and Court No 2 are the premier courts.
What are the various ticket categories?
There are 4 varieties of tickets,
a) Center court – The most sought after ticket which allows entry and seating into/in the center court and then unreserved standing in the Court 2 and free access to Court 3-19. This ticket doesn’t allow you in Court No 1.
b) Court No 1 - The second most sought after ticket which allows entry and seating into/in the Court 1 and then unreserved standing in the Court 2 and free access to Court 3-19. This ticket doesn’t allow you in
c) Court No 2 - The third most sought after ticket which allows entry and seating into/in the Court 2 and also unreserved standing in the Court 2 and free access to Court 3-19. This ticket doesn’t allow you in
d) Ground passes – The only tickets which are obtainable by many people visiting the
How to buy tickets?
Many would think…What a stupid question; buy it like you would buy any other sporting ticket from specified centers, from online websites. THAT’S RIGHT AND WRONG! There are some different set of ticket buying rules that apply to the
1) Debenture Tickets: These are the only
2) Partners / Affiliated Organisations / Agents Tickets: There are certain quotas of tickets which are given to affiliated organizations to distribute to their members and the agents can sell it to their corporate clients or various other uses.
3) AELTC Public Ballot Tickets: Every household can apply for the draw of tickets of the premier courts. This only ensures a chance to be part of the draw to get few tickets from the draw. But members can’t decide day, time and place as this process is computerized. The application for next year’s ballot would be given out in the month of August.
4) Queue Tickets: The most interesting ticket ever possible. It gives every trier a fair chance to get a premier court ticket or a chance to get a ground pass. Will explain this in detail ahead.
5) Resale Tickets: Godsend option for the center court, premier court lovers. Will explain this in detail ahead.
If some decides to become generous they can also hand over their premier court tickets to you and leave.
Queue Tickets: For getting a chance to get the premier court tickets or to get the ground pass, one has to queue up. The tickets counters open at
Then by 11 we were finally in the security check area and then presto you are at the gates of the
The cost varies on each day.
People had started queuing for Monday’s match tickets on Saturday morning a cool 48 hours before.
Queue pictures
Queue Card with Mahesh Bhupathi's Signature
Ground pass
TODO: There is a central board across the entrance where the entire days draw is listed, you must make take a pen and note down which all matches you would like to watch, and ideally you can watch 4 short matches or 3 matches which are well fought out.
My match list along with the scores is as follows,
1) Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round – Court 3
Rainer Schuettler (GER) def Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
6-2 6-3 6-4
2) Ladies' Doubles - 2nd Round – Court 4
Bethanie Mattek (USA)/Sania Mirza (IND) def Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
6-3 6-4
3) Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round – Court 2
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) def Radek Stepanek (CZE)
7-5 6-7(5) 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3
4) Ladies' Doubles - 2nd Round – Court 3
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Darya Kustova (BLR) def Anne Keothavong (GBR)/Melanie South (GBR)
6-4 4-6 7-5
5) Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round – Court 11.
Marin Cilic (CRO) def Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 7-6(6)
6) Mixed Doubles - 2nd Round – Court 19
Igor Andreev (RUS)/Maria Kirilenko (RUS) def Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Sania Mirza (IND)
7-6(4) 6-3
7) Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round –
Rafael Nadal (ESP) def Nicolas Kiefer (GER)
7-6(3) 6-2 6-3
It was a mixed day for
Resale Tickets: Now many of you reading this with a little bit of attention would notice that my list of matches also holds a star match of the center court, how did I with a ground pass get to watch this match. Yes by buying a resale ticket. When premier court ticket holders decide they have had enough and would like to get back home have an option of turning in the tickets at the counter which are processed again and resold again as resale tickets. These are priced at 5 GBP. What a steal, a ticket which could have cost 3000 GBP coming to you at 5 WoW. As we were watching Bhupathi and Sania lose we decided we will try for these tickets and we did get some real fast. I got one of the seats in the A row accessible by the P entrance, that’s the first row of the court, pretty close to Nadal and Kiefer, luck played a major role. Else you would get some very good seats too.
The best part of this concept is that the monetary funds go towards charitable causes. Whoa bravo effort.
Center Court ticket
Highlights:
1) Watching Rainer Schuettler GER who had won over James Blake in the second round.
2) Watching Sania Mirza win the ladies doubles match.
3) Watching R Stepanek and M Youzhny battle it out.
4) Watching Cilic score some cracking forehands.
5) Watching Anne Keothavong play well.
6) Watching B Bryan battle it out.
7) Getting an autograph from Mahesh Bhupathi.
8) Seeing Tim Henman.
9) Seeing Jelena Jankovic.
10) Seeing R Bopanna.
11) Seeing Alan Wilkins
12) Watching Nadal steam maul Kiefer badly. Kiefer played superbly though. Nadal is raising his game to new standards.
13) Watching the live challenges on center court, the Mexican wave etc.
14) Hearing Sania’s mom egg her on.
Must do’s and Tips:
1) Be early – worth the wait for at least few times.
2) Carry snacks for the queue.
3) By
4) Visit some of the premier courts.
5) Visit the Graveyard of courts - Court No 2, which has been dubbed the "Graveyard of Champions" due to its reputation as the court on which many seeded players have been eliminated during the early rounds. Famous players who have lost on the Graveyard during early round play include Joe Creedon, Ilie Nastase, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams.
6) Visit Henman hill - at the northern end of the grounds there is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace, but more commonly called Henman Hill. The "hill" takes its name from local favorites Tim Henman, who many fans once hoped would become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry did so in 1936. Now they are watching on it for Andy Murray.
7) Eat Strawberry and Cream for the spectators, strawberries and cream is the traditional snack at
8) Another secret tip is if you want to watch any match in court 2 grab the last row seat of Court 3 as you can turn back and stand and watch the Court 2 proceedings with a clear view.
9) Similarly for court 19, you can view it from court 18 left most side.
10) You can also visit the
11) Take your camera; remember flash photography is not allowed.
12) Take the
13) Take cash as cards are not accepted at the ticket counter.
14) Take a hat, cap, shades, sun screen and an umbrella would be quite helpful.
The quotation that meets each player while entering in Centre Court?
The quotation above the players’ entrance to Centre Court:
If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same
is an extract from If by Rudyard Kipling.
How do the electronic referees work?
The electronic referees at Wimbledon (called 'Cyclops') monitor the service line deciding if serves are in or out. The system resembles a burglar alarm, with beams of infrared light directed just beyond the line. When the ball interrupts the beam — as it must if the serve is long by a small margin — an alarm goes off. This produces an audible 'beep'. The electronic eye derives its name from the mythological Greek race of one-eyed giants and was invented by Bill Carlton of Malta. It was first introduced to Wimbledon in 1980 and is now used in many other major tennis tournaments around the world.
credit : http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/faq.html
What is Hawk-Eye?
Hawk-Eye is a multi-camera system which electronically tracks the flight of a moving ball and has become part of the umpiring process on Centre Court and No.1 Court at Wimbledon. The 2007 tournament was the first time this technology was used at Wimbledon by players to challenge an umpire's decision.
credit : http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/faq.html
http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/tickets/index.html
Picture Gallery
Rainer Schuettler
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Sania Mirza
Tim Henman
Moi in front of Court No 1
Me with Bhupathi
Anne Keothavong
Mikhail Youzhny
Radek Stepanek
Henman Hill
Mirza and Bhupathi
Alan Wilkins
R Nadal
N Kiefer
Me gracing the center court :)
Nadal at his aggressive best
Victory is sweet - Nadal
I have soaked myself in this great experience and hope this article helps you to get this experience in an easy manner. Contact me if any further details are needed.
m.I.m