Everything you need to know for the 2023 Wimbledon Tennis tournament.
The world’s premier grand slam tennis event starts Monday July 3rd in England with Wimbledon 2023 ready to entertain us for the next two weeks, also known as a fortnight. Players have been playing local grass tournaments in different locations around Europe getting ready for Wimbledon to begin, and now opening day is upon us.
This is our favorite grand slam tennis tournament mostly because of the history and traditions that are found only at Wimbledon. For those just tuning in to this year’s Wimbledon Tennis tournament as well as the long time fans that tune in every year, we wanted to share the important tournament details for the 2023 tournament and some fun facts that you might not have known.
Wimbledon 2023 Tournament information and Fun facts
Where to Watch Wimbledon 2023: in the United States, the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. Fun fact: Wimbledon was broadcast for the first time on TV in 1937 by the BBC from Centre Court, and in 1967 the first ever color broadcast was transmitted in Britain. Today, the tournament is broadcast around the world and there are positions for 120 TV commentators on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Notable Place to Watch Wimbledon 2023 in the US: The Hill, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 6, New York City. Tennis fans can purchase tickets to watch the tennis matches on Friday July 14th, Saturday July 15th and Sunday July 16th. The ballot (tickets) will be open until Thursday July 6th at 12 p.m. EST.
Wimbledon 2023 tournament dates: the Championships 2023 will take place from Monday July 3rd through the Men’s Singles final on Sunday July 16th.
Wimbledon 2023 Prize Money: the total prize money for the 2023 Wimbledon Tennis tournament will be £44,700,000. The Ladies and Men’s Singles champions and runners up will each receive £2,350,000 and £1,175,000 respectively. The Wimbledon tennis tournament continues to place an emphasis on supporting players in the early rounds of the tournament. And along those lines, Singles players in the Main Draw losing in the first round for example will receive £55,000 which is a 10% increase over 2022.
Wimbledon Courts: there are 38 total courts at Wimbledon. This includes 18 Championship Grass courts starting with Centre Court plus Courts 1 – 18, minus a court 13. Plus, there are 20 Grass practice courts.
Wimbledon Championships Court surface: the Wimbledon tennis tournament is the only grand slam tennis tournament played on grass. The grass is trimmed down to 8 mm on each court and is made up of 100% rye grass.
Wimbledon Player Clothing: the tennis players at the Wimbledon Championships have always been required to wear predominantly white suitable tennis attire, this since 1963. In 1995, the “almost entirely in white rule” was introduced and requires the player to have the proper attire from the moment they enter the court area.
Wimbledon Tennis Balls: Slazenger has been the official supplier of tennis balls to the Championships since 1902. 55,000 tennis balls are used at the Championships during the tournament. At the start of each day, 46 tennis ball cans are taken on to Centre court and Court 1, and 21 ball cans are taken to each of the outside courts.
Wimbledon Ball Boys and Girls: from the approximately 1,000 applications received each year, 250 go through the rigorous program to participate at the Wimbledon Championships.
Wimbledon Food and Drink: the iconic Strawberries and Cream desert is in high demand each year by visitors to the Wimbledon Championships. There are over 190,000 portions served at the tournament and the price for each serving of 10 strawberries & cream remains at £2.10. To ensure the strawberries are as fresh as possible, they are picked each morning at 4:00 am from certified partner farms from Kent, then picked up from the packing plant at 9:00 am to be served the same day to visitors at the tournament. There are also 250,000 glasses of Pimm’s ordered by guests during the Wimbledon Championships.
Wimbledon Hawk: there is a trained Hawk on the grounds named Rufus, the Hawk is tasked with keeping pigeons away from the grounds during the tournament. The Hawk flies around the grounds for an hour at 9:00 am each morning before the gates open to deter pigeons from making a home on the Wimbledon grounds.
Wimbledon Racket Stringing: the tournament stringing team string an average of 2,000 tennis rackets during the tournament for participants. This amounts to more than 40 miles of string.
Wimbledon Championships Towels: this iconic symbol of the Wimbledon tennis tournament is one of the most sought after souvenirs each year. More than 25,000 towels are typically sold in a given year during the tournament and the older tournament towels have become collector’s items in some cases.