WIMBLEDON is widely thought of as the biggest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.
Tennis is played on either grass or clay courts, read on to find out more about what type Wimbledon is played on and how they’re looked after.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament that’s still played on grass.
It takes place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at the famous SW19 location in London.
Grass courts are more traditional than other types of court, but they’re less commonly used than hard and clay courts.
They’re mostly used in the UK and Australia – however the Australian Open has played on a hard court since 1988.
Wimbledon is now the only Grand Slam tennis tournament to be played on grass.
A grass court is a lot more difficult and pricey to look after than a clay court.
There’s 15 months of work involved to grow a grass court. Here’s what needs to be done to get a court to championship level…
Courts are constructed and seeded in April
Once the grass has reached 15mm tall, it is then cut three times a week to keep it at that length
Six tonnes of soil is put onto the court at the end of the summer to make sure playing surfaces stay level
Grass continues to be cut through the winter, kept at 13mm tall
From March, the grass is reduced from the winter height down to the playing height of 8mm
In May, the courts are rolled once a week with a one tonne roller – this keeps the surface firm
White line markings are also drawn out in May ready for the playing season
The amount of water sprayed onto the surface is carefully controlled in the run up to the tournament
Once the championships are underway the grass is cut every day to keep it at 8mm tall, and the white lines are marked out each day too
Grass courts are also a problem if it rains.
The rain can cause the grass to become very slippery, and so often leads to games being delayed until it’s dried out.
This can often take hours even after the rain has stopped.
In 2009, Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to try to reduce the amount of play lost to rain.
The Head of Courts and Horticulture at Wimbledon is called Neil Stubley.
There are a total of 15 permanent staff who look after the ground through the year, with an extra 13 during the The Championships.
The grounds cover 42 acres
There’s room for 42,000 spectators
There are 18 Championship grass courts, 20 grass practice courts and 8 American Clay courts
Centre Court and No.1 Court are both 41 metres x 22 metres
500 gallons of a white compound is used each year to mark out the lines
9 tonnes of grass seed is used each year
During playing season, the grass is cut each day to keep it 8mm tall
Outside tournament time, the grass courts other than Centre Court and the other Show Courts are in use between May and September.
The jewel of the crown at Wimbledon is Centre Court, which is only used for the famous Championship tournament and is considered the most famous tennis court in the world.
Distinguished guests can often be seen in the Royal Box overlooking Centre Court.
Many people don’t realise how many courts there actually are at Wimbledon though.
In total there are 18 tournament grass courts, eight American clay courts, two acrylic courts, and six indoor courts.
As well as these there are 20 grass practice courts.
