Wimbledon Events

Wimbledon Tennis Championship is the most renowned international tennis tournament of the world. It is also the oldest of the four Grand Slams. Held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that is played on the grass surface. As grass surface is considered the fastest among all outdoor courts and suits only those players who have serve-and-volley game and are competent of playing flatter shots, it is not easy for every player to sustain in the Wimbledon.

Wimbledon Tournament began in the year 1877, with only the Men Single's championship, with 22 players. However, today, winning it has now become the dream target of every tennis player. The women championship and mixed double concept came quite later in the Wimbledon tournaments. The present format of Wimbledon consists of five main events, four junior events and four invitational events. Read on to explore the events at Wimbledon Tournament, in detail.

Main events

Men's Singles
A Men's singles is played between two male individuals, who participate in the tournament. It was the first championship played at Wimbledon, when it started in 1877, and was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. The matches in Gentlemen's singles comprise of the best of five sets.

Women's Singles
A Women's Singles event is played between two female individuals participating in the tournament. This event was introduced seven years after the introduction of the Wimbledon Gentlemen's singles. The first champion of the Ladies Singles event at Wimbledon, held in 1884, was Maud Watson, who defeated her opponent L. Watson in straight sets of 6-8,6-3,6-3. Matches in Women's singles are best of three sets.

Men's Doubles
A Men's double is played between four male players, two in each team. The concept of the Gentlemen's Doubles was also introduced along with the Ladies Singles event, in the year 1884. The first winners of the events were J.E. Renshaw and W.C. Renshaw. The matches in Gentlemen's Doubles include best of five sets.

Women's Doubles
The Women's Double's is played between four female participants, two in each team. The concept of the female doubles came in 1913, much later than Gentlemen's Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles and Ladies' Singles. The winners of the first Ladies' Double event were Winifred McNair and Dora Boothby.

Mixed Doubles
The concept of mixed double also came at the same time as that of Ladies' Doubles. In this event, there are four players, one male and one female in each team. The matches in this event are played in best of three sets. The winners of the first mixed double event were Hope Crisp and Agnes Tuckey.

Junior events
Apart from the main five events, four junior events are held at Wimbledon. In this event, all the rules and regulations are same for all the matches, except for the fact that the mixed double event are not held at the junior level. Many players who have played well at the junior level in Wimbledon have later emerged as the renowned names of the international tennis world. The events held at the Junior Wimbledon Championship are: