In the world of tennis, there’s no bigger tournament than Wimbledon, making it one of the standout events in a packed summer sports schedule. In this article, we’re going to answer all your questions about the Wimbledon competition and share with you some fantastic betting tips to help you make the most out of the tournament. To find out about who the favourites are to win both the Men’s and Ladies’ Singles and look at historic trends to see who might win, check out our Wimbledon 2019 player’s guide.
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What is Wimbledon?
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. The Championship was first played in 1877 after the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club decided to organise a tennis tournament in a bid to raise money for the repair of its pony roller, a machine they needed to maintain their lawns.
The competition quickly gained popularity, becoming the first official lawn tennis tournament in the world, and later became recognised as the first Grand Slam tournament. The club moved its location to Church Road, Wimbledon in 1922 and has been there ever since.
Today, it has become the most sought after of the four Grand Slams among players and is always one of the biggest sporting events of the year for fans.
How many Wimbledon Championships have there been?
Since its inception, the Wimbledon Championships have occurred every year, with the exception of WWI and WWII when there was no competition. That means there have been 131 Wimbledon Championships.
How many people go to Wimbledon?
In 2018, the total attendance was 473,169 across the length of the competition.
When does Wimbledon start?
The 2019 Wimbledon Championships will begin on Monday 1st July, with the first round getting underway at 12pm. The tournament will run until Sunday 14th July.
What time does Wimbledon start?
Play starts on the outside courts at 11am and on Centre Court and No.1 Court at 1pm, apart from finals weekend when play starts on Centre Court at 2pm. The grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club open at 10.30am each day and close 45 minutes after the end of the last match. The Wimbledon order of play is released each night before the next day’s play.
Where is Wimbledon held?
The Wimbledon Championships are held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the market town of Wimbledon within the area of Greater London. Located just over seven miles south-west of the centre of London, the population size increases five-fold during the tournament each year.
How many courts are there at Wimbledon?
The All England Club currently has 18 grass courts that are used for tournaments, as well as eight American clay courts, two acrylic courts, and five indoor courts. On top of that, there are also 22 grass courts at Aorangi Park, which competitors can use as practice courts throughout the tournament.
Wimbledon’s Centre Court has a capacity of 14,979, Court No. 1 a capacity of 11,360, and Court No. 2 a capacity of 4,000, while a total of 39,000 spectators can be in the grounds at any one time. All of the biggest games with the top seeds are typically played on Centre Court and Court No. 1, as these matches attract the largest crowds.
When is the Wimbledon final?
There are a whole host of great finals to watch at Wimbledon, with the Ladies’ and Men’s Singles finals rounding off the tournament on the final weekend. Find a full breakdown of the Wimbledon finals below:
Saturday 13th July
- Ladies’ Singles Final
- Men’s Doubles Final
- Ladies’ Doubles Final
- Girls’ Singles Final
- Ladies’ Wheelchair Singles Final
- Men’s Wheelchair Doubles Final
- Quad Wheelchair Singles Final and third/fourth place play-off
Sunday 14th July
- Men’s Singles Final
- Mixed Doubles Final
- Boys’ Singles Final
- Boys’ and Girls’ Doubles Finals
- Men’s Wheelchair Singles Final
- Ladies’ Wheelchair Doubles Finals
- Invitation Doubles Finals
How many rounds in Wimbledon?
Both the Men’s and Ladies’ Singles tournaments comprise of seven rounds, which are made up of 128 players each. As a knockout tournament, half of the players are eliminated in each round until, by the seventh and final round, there are only two players left.
Men’s and Ladies’ Doubles tournaments are also made up of 128 players, paired into 64 teams. This means that these tournaments only have six rounds. The same is true of the Mixed Doubles tournament, but only 48 teams compete, with some given a bye during the early rounds.
How many matches are played at Wimbledon?
Hundreds of games are played during the Wimbledon tournament each year, with professional, ex-professionals, and juniors coming together to compete. Below is a break down of each event and how many matches are played in each.
| Senior Events | Matches |
| Men’s Singles | 127 |
| Ladies’ Singles | 127 |
| Men’s Doubles | 63 |
| Ladies’ Doubles | 63 |
| Mixed Doubles | 47 |
| Total | 427 |
| Junior Events | Matches |
| Boys’ Singles | 63 |
| Girls’ Singles | 63 |
| Boys’ Doubles | 31 |
| Girls’ Doubles | 31 |
| Total | 188 |
| Invitational Events | Matches |
| Men’s Invitation Doubles | 13 |
| Ladies’ Invitation Doubles | 13 |
| Senior Men’s Invitation Doubles | 13 |
| Men’s Wheelchair Singles | 7 |
| Ladies’ Wheelchair Singles | 7 |
| Wheelchair Men’s Doubles | 3 |
| Wheelchair Ladies’ Doubles | 3 |
| Total | 59 |
Add that all up and there will be a whopping 674 matches of tennis played at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
Where can I watch Wimbledon live?
The All England Club aims to broadcast as much of the Championships as possible on national, free-to-air television stations around the world. In the UK, Wimbledon is carried by the BBC, both on television and radio.
To get a sense of how big the broadcasting operation is, approximately 2,500 broadcasters from around the world work in the Wimbledon broadcast centre. Eighteen of the courts have live television coverage, more than any other Grand Slam, and there are positions for 120 commentators on Centre Court alone.
How many people watch Wimbledon?
In 2018, the BBC had a cumulative audience reach of 26 million across TV and radio.
In the US, ESPN had a cumulative audience reach of 29.42 million across TV and radio.
Wimbledon fun facts
How much is the Wimbledon prize money?
Though the prize money for Wimbledon 2019 has yet to be announced, we can assume that the total prize pool will increase from last year’s staggering £34 million.
The winners of last year’s Wimbledon singles titles took home a cool £2.25 million apiece, with the runners-up securing £1.125 million each. This was a 7.6% increase in overall prize money on the previous year — the seventh consecutive year that the prize money has increased — so it is likely to increase once again for this year’s tournament.
How many balls are used at Wimbledon?
At last year’s tournament, over 54,000 balls were used.
Why is there a pineapple on the Wimbledon trophy?
The iconic 18-inch Wimbledon trophy is made of silver gilt and, strangely, is adorned with a pineapple. The story of why this tropical fruit sits atop a British tennis trophy has been lost to history, but many people have their theories.
One theory is that it has to do with a tradition of British navy captains, who would put a pineapple on top of their gateposts after returning home from sea. The more likely option is that pineapples were incredible rare in the UK and therefore a sought-after commodity, signalling wealth and prosperity.
Betting tips for the tournament
Wimbledon betting markets
With millions of tennis fans from around the world tuning in to watch Wimbledon, there will be plenty of different betting markets to sink your teeth into. Whether you want to bet on the winner of a particular match, think you know how many sets there’ll be, or fancy a certain player to hit a particular number of aces, there’s bound to be a bet to get you excited about this fantastic tournament. Here are some of the betting markets you can expect to see at this year’s Wimbledon.
- Outright tournament winner
- Player to reach the final
- Match winner
- Winner of first set
- How many games per set
- Number of aces in a match
- Number of double faults
- Win by number of sets
This is just a taster of the huge variety of bets on offer at this year’s Wimbledon competition. Keep your eyes peeled for potential novelty bets too, such as what the weather will be on final day or whether or not the strawberries and cream will run out.
When to start betting on Wimbledon 2019
You can normally start betting on Wimbledon months before the tournament begins, but you’ll only have access to the outright markets. The draw for Wimbledon 2019 draw won’t be announced until a few days before the event, with the full player schedule usually released on the day before the tournament starts. That means you won’t be able to bet on individual matches until this date.
From here, the tournament will go on for two weeks, with progressively fewer matches to bet on as the tournament progresses. Many people tend to place bets on individual matches throughout the tournament, as well as betting on an outright winner. It’s always worth bearing in mind that when placing a bet on the winner, you’ll usually get the best odds by placing your bet early.
Another popular form of betting is to place accumulators on each round: that means choosing a selection of players you think will advance at each stage. The beauty of doing it this way is that you can pick your favourite players from both the men’s and women’s game and combine their odds together to build up some serious winnings.
Wimbledon betting tips
So, now that you know all about the competition, have an idea of the markets you can bet on, and know when you can start placing those bets, it’s time to discuss best practice for maximising your chances of winning. As with any sporting event, no one knows what’s going to happen — that’s what makes it so fun! That said, there are a few things you might want to consider to help inform your decision making:
- Look at what odds are available: The best indication of the outcome of a match are the odds. Not only do bookmakers look at a huge range of factors to determine the odds they give out, they also price in betting demand for a particular player. This gives you a great idea of who is tipped to win the match, and can be a great help if you aren’t too familiar with the players. You can choose players with longer odds for more risk and more reward, or you can play it safe and choose a plyer with short odds.
- Look at each player’s recent form: One of the bestindicators of how a player will perform at Wimbledon is their recent form. If the player is in bad form, their confidence may be low and they might be caught in a rut. Conversely, if they’re in good form, they may feel full of confidence and be ready to perform well in each match. That said, upsets can and do happen, especially in knock-out tournaments, so form alone won’t always hold the answer.
- Look at each player’s Wimbledon history: While the favourites tend to do well at most competitions, some are better on other court types than others. Wimbledon is the only major that is still played on grass, and this surface plays much faster than clay or hard court. Look at how player’s have fared at Wimbledon in the past, and even take a look at how well they do in the other grass season tournaments such as the Stuttgart and Nottingham Opens.
- Look at previous head-to-head matchups: If you plan on betting on match winners, a great tip is to check out their previous head-to-head matchups. If they have faced each other in the past, you will easily be able to see how many times, and what the results were on various different court types. If the players have faced each other several times this can be a key piece of information.
- Keep up to date with the latest news: Wimbledon lasts for two weeks, and a lot can happen in that time. Players can begin to show signs of exhaustion, they may have just scraped through their last game, or perhaps they’ve picked up an injury. Either way, this is vital information to be aware of when it comes to betting on matches, especially if you aren’t too familiar with the players.
- Know where to find good information: The best way of boosting your chances, especially if you don’t have lots of time to spend on research, is to outsource your efforts to the pros. Following tipsters can be a great way of winning some bets, but it’s important that you take the time to make sure they know what they’re talking about. And we’re not just talking about betting tipsters: pundits, commentators and ex-players of the game will all likely have more in-depth knowledge you can tap into.
If you fancy betting on Wimbledon with reduced risk, you might be interested in matched betting. This is a great low-risk way to earn some extra cash while enjoying everybody’s favourite tennis tournament.
If you join OddsMonkey as a premium member, you will gain access to useful betting tools, including our OddsMatcher, AccaMatcher, TennisMatcher. If you’re already a member, don’t forget that you have access to all of our Wimbledon threads on the matched betting forum, with all the latest and best offers available for a wide range of markets.
Not sure who you should be betting on? We’ve done some of the work for you in our Wimbledon 2019 player’s guide . Here you’ll be able to find more information about the players that will be taking part in this year’s competition, as well as a look at the latest odds, and an in-depth analysis of past trends.
