Wimbledon

Wimbledon is a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in London on grass courts, played in June and July. Men and women compete at the same venue in the same fortnight, which is unusual outside the majors and makes it one of the few events where you can watch both tours in a single day. The main singles draw holds 128 players.

Wimbledon is the only major on grass and the only one that still requires players to dress almost entirely in white, a rule enforced down to the trim on a shoe. It is the most conservative tournament in tennis and, because of the surface, one of the least predictable.

The grass changes underneath the players through the fortnight. In the first week the courts are fast and slick and the ball skids through; by the second the areas behind the baselines and around the service line are worn, the bounce is lower and less regular, and the way to win a first-round match is not the way to win a quarter-final.

There is barely a month of grass tennis in the entire season, so nobody arrives with the volume of matches they have on other surfaces. That shortage is part of why the early rounds produce results that look impossible on paper.

First played in 1877, Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and it has stood at Church Road since 1922. Centre Court received a roof in 2009 and No. 1 Court in 2019. The middle Sunday, left free for most of the tournament's history, became a full day of play in 2022.

Entry lists, the order of play and ticketing are on the official Wimbledon site.

One date to check against other calendars: ours is the first day of the main draw, not the first day of qualifying a week before it.

The Wimbledon main draw holds 128 players in single elimination, 7 rounds to the title and 127 matches in all. The guides explain what the numbers beside the names mean and who gets a bye in a draw of 128.

Wimbledon draw with every score is on its own page and updates while the tournament is being played.

Jannik Sinner won the men's title in 2026, beating Alexander Zverev in the final by 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. They were ranked 1 in the world at the time of writing.

Linda Noskova won the women's title in 2026, beating Karolina Muchova in the final by 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. They were ranked 6 in the world at the time of writing.

7 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the men's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Jannik Sinner took the Wimbledon title from the number 1 seeding, and the final went 4 sets.

8 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the women's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Linda Noskova took the Wimbledon title from the number 9 seeding, and the final went 3 sets.

Rights to Wimbledon are sold country by country, so the answer depends entirely on where you are sitting. Some countries get it free to air: United Kingdom, Australia.

Wimbledon is played in London, in Britain, and matches sit in the middle of the European afternoon and evening, which makes Wimbledon the most convenient major for viewers across Europe and an early start on the American west coast.

If you are watching from United Kingdom or Australia, you do not need a subscription: BBC One, BBC Two, iPlayer, Channel 9 and 9Now carry it free. Everywhere else on the list above is behind a paywall of some kind, which is the normal state of tennis broadcasting rather than anything unusual about this tournament.

Wimbledon has no night session: play stops when the light goes or, on the two roofed courts, by 11pm local under a curfew. Everything therefore happens in the European afternoon and evening, which makes it the most convenient major for viewers across Europe and an early start on the American west coast. Middle Sunday is now a playing day rather than a rest day, so the fortnight runs without a break.

Working out which subscription is worth it takes a season view: the guide has one.