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BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Wimbledon: History, traditions and fun facts about the world's most famous tennis tournament
It's one of the biggest British sporting events of the year and the oldest tennis tournament in the world - Wimbledon is officially underway! This year's Championships run from Monday 30 June until Sunday 13 July, attracting many of the best tennis players in the how much do you really know about this grand event?Here's five ace facts about you excited for Wimbledon? Who's your favourite tennis player? Let us know in the comments below. When did Wimbledon start? Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the first Championships took place in 1877 at the All England Club in London, where it's still held men took part and a crowd of 200 people watched the final, which was won by a local man called Spencer Gore. It was such a success that the event expand in 1884 to include competitions for men's doubles and ladies' the 1910s, ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were officially added to the tennis was first played at Wimbledon in 2005 - first as a doubles competition, before the singles events for both men and women were added to the schedule in 2016. Why do players wear white at Wimbledon? You might have noticed that players in Wimbledon always wear all-white clothes, that's because it's an official rule that they have to follow in order to take history of why people wear white at the tournament dates back to the 1800s, when people would play tennis at social wore white in order to avoid sweat patches on coloured clothing, which were considered "improper" and "unsightly" at the from that period onwards it became part of the official dress code for the since 2023 female competitors at Wimbledon have be allowed to wear dark-coloured undershorts to relieve a "potential source of anxiety" for players on their any women or girls who decide to wear the undershorts, need to make sure that they are no longer than their skirt - so they can be hidden under their white skirts. Why is Wimbledon played on grass? Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments around the other three are the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. However, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam still played on the game's original surface - on grass can be a challenge for players as it is the fastest surface in the courts used to be one of most common tennis surfaces, however they are much rarer now due to the high cost needed to maintain need to be watered and mown often, and usually take a longer time to dry after rain compared to hard courts. Why do people eat strawberries and cream at Wimbledon? Strawberries and cream have long been tradition at Wimbledon. The fruity snack has actually been served since the very first tournament in 1877, and has remained a big favourite ever competition started during the Victorian era, when strawberries were a seasonal delicacy and only available for a few weeks in June and July. This coincided perfectly with the tennis Grand Slam and it is still a popular treat to this a whopping 200,000 portions are served each year at the tournament. That means that on average, about 40,000 kilograms of strawberries and 10,000 litres of cream are consumed! Who is Rufus the Hawk and what does he do? Rufus is one of the most recognisable and loved faces at the American harris hawk has been swooping around the courts of Wimbledon since 2008, making sure the place is kept important job sees him patrol the skies, scaring away pigeons to stop them from eating the order to do this, he wakes up at five o'clock in the morning and is the first one on to Centre Court to keep an eye on any feathery visitors. The reason why Rufus is so good at his job is down to his can see ten times further than any human. He's such a big name at Wimbledon that he even used to have his own security pass - with the job title - bird scarer!When he's finished for the day, Rufus' favourite meal is a big plate of chicken - however he's quite fussy and he doesn't like it fried!
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
On the Wimbledon Championships
Daily Quiz | On the Wimbledon Championships Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit YOUR SCORE 0 /7 RETAKE THE QUIZ 1 / 7 | What was the primary reason for hosting the first-ever championships in 1877? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Pay for the repair of its pony roller that was needed to maintain the lawns at the (then) All England Club SHOW ANSWER 2 / 7 | Who was the first-ever (and only) winner in the inaugural event and what was the reward he got? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Spencer Gore and he was awarded a prize money of 12 guineas and a silver challenge cup SHOW ANSWER 3 / 7 | Roger Federer has a record eight Gentlemen's Singles titles. Apart from Novak Djokovic, which two men have seven triumphs against their name? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Pete Sampras and William Renshaw SHOW ANSWER 4 / 7 | The balls used at The Championships used be white. Given that colour TV broadcast was introduced in the 1960s, when were the balls changed to yellow to make for easy spotting against the white court lines? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : The 'Optic Yellow' coloured balls were first used in 1986 SHOW ANSWER 5 / 7 | Another Wimbledon tradition is that the competitors sport a pre-dominantly white apparel. Why was the rule introduced in the first place? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : To hide the 'unsightly' sweat stains which would show up on coloured clothing SHOW ANSWER 6 / 7 | In 2025, 'Live electronic line calling' will be used at Wimbledon to make the 'out' and 'fault' calls, thus replacing human line judges. Name the first electronic line judging aid introduced in 1980. DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Cyclops SHOW ANSWER
