Date Published 14 July 2023
This weekend we will see the end of a thrilling 2023 Wimbledon tournament, with all finals due to take place across Saturday and Sunday. Millions of us will be going to pubs, bars & restaurants or tuning in at home to witness some of the 19 matches scheduled to be played. To get everyone in the spirit, here's a few facts you might not know about this long-standing & much loved competition:
- The first Wimbledon championship took place in 1877, making it the oldest tennis competition in the world. It was first televised on the BBC in June 1937.
- The longest ever Wimbledon match took place in 2010, where American John Isner & Frenchman Nicolas Mahut played for a whopping 11 hours, taking place over the course of 3 days!
- Almost 55,000 tennis balls are used during the tournament. Balls get replaced every 7 to 9 games to ensure they're in perfect shape throughout the match. Any not being used are kept in a refrigerated container.
- 23,000 tonnes of strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream were consumed by visitors during the 2017 competition. That's about 37 miles of strawberries if you lined them up end to end!
- Maria Sharapova holds the record for the loudest grunts on court, recorded at 101.2 decibels. For context, that's equivalent to a jackhammer, or a Jet taking off from 300 meters away).