Wimbledon Tennis Tickets

The most famous of the sport's four Grand Slam events, the first Wimbledon Championships were held in 1877 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and the most prestigious. Always staged in the last week of June and first week of July, at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (to give it its full title...), in London's SW19, the fortnight is an iconic fixture on the world sporting calendar and remains what many consider to be one of the last bastions of 'Britishness' in sport.

Wimbledon is the only 'major' to be played on grass, and is famous for its many traditions, including strawberries and cream, 'Henman Hill' (where the giant screen is installed on a grassy bank), and a strict dress code for competitors, which demands white attire and footwear (although an increasing number of players try and get around this with innovative fashion choices and dubious interpretations of the rules). The complex has nineteen playing courts, and visitors can buy ground passes on the day which permit access to all courts with the exception of Centre, No.1, and No.2, which are ticketed separately via a public ballot where applicants are randomly selected by computer (though a small amount of 500 tickets per court are made available to queuers each day). Overnight queueing outside the gates is itself a Wimbledon tradition, and toilets and water are provided for those bringing tents and sleeping bags.

In 2009, the famous Centre Court opened its retractable roof for the first time, which has made an invaluable contribution to minimising delays due to the inevitable rain which interrupts play at least once during the fortnight. Memorable moments at Wimbledon are too numerous to mention, but include Boris Becker's famous title win as an unseeded 17-year old in 1985, Goran Ivanisevic's Wild Card win in 2001, the Borg/McEnroe classic five-setter (1980), and the obligatory streaker (1996 Krajicek v Washington Men's Singles Final).

Recent years have seen the domination of two men, Roger Federer (who won his sixth Wimbledon singles title in 2009) and Rafael Nadal (who twice interrupted Federer's consecutive Wimbledon titles run) and, in the ladies, the Williams sisters are considered the contest's most successful players.