Wimbledon Trivia
A collection of trivia about the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Federer at Wimbeldon- Wimbledon is the only major tennis tournament still played on grass. Both the Australian Open and US Open were once played on grass.
- A challenge round system (in which the defending champion qualified for following year's final) was used from 1877-1921.
- Wimbledon Tournament is the largest tennis tournament in the world played on grass. It is attended by more than 500,000 people each year.
- Players from over 60 countries compete for trophies and prize money in 13 different categories (see events).
- Jean Borota of France won his first Wimbledon championship in 1924, and was still competing in the main tournament 40 years later, and in 1977 played in the Wimbledon veterans' doubles at the age of 78.
- The event lasts for two weeks, starting at the end of June each year.
- The first overseas winner was May Sutton of the United States who was the Ladies' Champion in 1905. Australian Norman Brookes was the first foreign Gentlemen's Champion, winning in 1907.
- The first women to play in the tournament wore full length dresses, while men played in full length pants until 1946. Still today there are dress regulations, and any woman player wearing a low-cut top which shows too much cleavage and is not all white, will not be allowed on court.
- The shortest person to play tennis at Wimbledon was Miss C.G. Hoahing who was just 4'9".
- For winning Wimbledon Billie Jean King received a 25 pound gift voucher, while Venus Williams received £300,000 when she won.
- Jaroslav Drobný is the only male tennis player who ever won a Wimbledon singles title while wearing glasses (in 1954)
- There are more than 200 ball boys and ball girls used to collect tennis balls during Wimbledon. To become a ball boy or ball girl, you are required to train eight hours a week for four months before the start of the tournament.
- In 2009 Roger Federer reached his 7th consecutive final at the Wimbledon Championships, an all-time record. In 2017, he won his 8th title, the most of any player.
- Martina Navratilova has the record for the most women's titles, nine.
- The longest tennis match in history was played between between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon on June 22-24, 2010. The first-round match took 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness two nights in a row. The match was won by Isner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. Isner was also involved in the second longest match in 2018, in a semi-final against South African Kevin Anderson. Anderson won in 6hrs and 35min, 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-4, 26-24.
- The total prize money for the 2013 Wimbledon tournament increased by forty percent to £22,560,000 (around US$34m), with the winners of the men's and women's singles titles each earning £1.6m, up £450,000 from the previous year.
- For 2013, the Wimbledon total prize money is the highest out of four grand slam tournaments - Wimbledon (US$34m), US Open (US$32m), Australian Open (US$30m), and French Open (US$29m).
- Wimbledon introduced final-set tiebreaks in 2019.
- The 2020 Wimbledon was canceled as a result of the corona-virus pandemic. The last time it was canceled was 85 years previously.
- The winner of the 2023 Wimbledon ladies' singles final Marketa Vondrousova was the lowest ranked winner ever.
Related Pages
- French Open Tennis Trivia
- Australian Open Tennis Trivia
- US Open Trivia
- Tennis Trivia
- More Sports Trivia
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