YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS… Yes we can, Wimbledon is back for a fortnight of tennis. It’s the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is considered to be the most prestigious, but why is it so special? Let’s count the ways.
1 – There can only be one winner. It’s a who’s who of tennis. From John McEnroe to Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova to the Williams sisters. All players who wish to consider themselves legends of the game have won Wimbledon.
3 – Fred Perry won 3 consecutive Wimbledon titles. 1934, 1935 and 1936.
7 – There’s 7 hours of live broadcasting per day. How much Sue Barker can you handle?
10 – Wimbledon’s Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof in 2009. It takes 10 minutes to close.
26 – Virginia Wade played at Wimbledon 26 years in a row between 1960 and 1985, the most consecutive appearances by any player.
39 – Andy Roddick won 39 games in the 2009 final, the most games won in any final.
40 – The famous large screen on Henman Hill/Murray Mound/Robson’s Ridge is 40 square metres in size.
77 – The longest men’s final in terms of games was the 77 in the 2009 final between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. 77 was also the number of years between British winners, Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013.
92.72 – Bjorn Borg had a career match winning percentage of 92.72% at Wimbledon.
139 – 2016 marks the 139th year of tennis at Wimbledon.
250 – There are 250 ball boys and girls at Wimbledon every year.
326 – Martina Navratilova has played 326 matches at Wimbledon, the most of any player.
350 – There are 350 umpires, chair and line officials at Wimbledon.
665 – The total time in minutes of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut’s epic match in 2010. The match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes and is the longest Wimbledon match of all time.
3250 – 3,250 accredited media personnel gather at Wimbledon to interview, photograph and broadcast from the event.
14,979 – The capacity of Centre Court.
54,250 – 54,250 tennis balls are used during the tournament.
140,000 – The number of portions of English strawberries sold at the Championships.
490,000 – The estimated total attendance for the Wimbledon fortnight this year.
1.6 million – 1.6 million people have downloaded the official Wimbledon app.
9.2 million – The 2015 men’s singles final saw 9.2 million people tune in to see Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer.
28,100,000 – The winner of the 2016 Championships is set to walk away with £28,100,000 in prize money.
290 million – The number of tennis balls that can fit in Centre Court with the roof closed.
