Every year when the Wimbledon draw is released, you hear talk of “seeds”: the number one seed, the top seeds, unseeded dark horses. But what exactly is a seed, how are they decided, and why does Wimbledon have such a famously unusual history with seeding? For a tournament steeped in tradition, the way it ranks … Read more
Every June, Wimbledon delivers drama on its famous grass courts, but no match in the tournament’s long history compares to what happened on Court 18 in 2010. Over three days, American John Isner and French qualifier Nicolas Mahut played the longest tennis match ever, an 11-hour, 5-minute marathon that shattered records, broke the scoreboard, and … Read more
The story of Wimbledon prize money is really the story of professional tennis itself: its explosive commercial growth, the long fight for equal pay between men and women, and the All England Club’s modern push to reward players at every level. A champion’s cheque has risen from 2,000 pounds in 1968 to 3.6 million in … Read more
Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, first played in 1877 and still the only Grand Slam contested on natural grass. Winning at the All England Club, with its strict all-white dress code, its strawberries and cream, and its Royal Box, is considered by many players the crowning achievement of … Read more