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Wimbledon (The All England Championships)

26 June – 9 July 2006

Wimbledon

Wimbledon is a two-week tennis tournament, which is officially known as The All England Championships. It is held annually at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London and traditionally takes place in the last week of June and first week of July.

Since it was first held in 1877, the event has grown in both size and prestige, and now attracts players from over sixty countries. It is one of the four Tennis Grand Slam events, the others being The US Open, The Australian Open and The French Open (also known as The Roland Garros).

Betting on tennis matches is becoming increasingly popular, and Wimbledon is an ideal place for novices to gamble, as it offers a large number of matches and betting opportunities.

For more about the history of The All England Championships, visit our History of Wimbledon page.

Qualifying for Wimbledon

There are three ways in which a tennis player can qualify to play in the main championship events at Wimbledon. Firstly, they will automatically qualify if their computerised tennis ranking is high enough.

If they do not have a high enough ranking, they may be lucky enough to qualify automatically as a wild card player. Wild cards are discretionary qualifications issued by the Wimbledon Committee, and they are usually awarded either to players who have performed well in past Wimbledon tournaments, or to players who are likely to attract audiences (such as top British players).

If a player does not qualify by either of these methods, they must compete in a qualifying competition, which is held at Roehampton in London during the week before the Wimbledon event itself.

Format of Wimbledon

Over the years, Wimbledon has developed to include a number of Championship events. The main events are:

· The Gentlemen's' Singles

· The Ladies' Singles

· The Gentlemen's Doubles

· The Ladies' Doubles

· The Mixed Doubles.

The Junior Wimbledon events consist of:

· The Boys' Singles

· The Girls' Singles

· The Boys' Doubles

· The Girls' Doubles.

The event also includes Veterans' events, which consist of:

• The 35 and Over Gentlemen's Invitational Doubles
• The 35 and Over Ladies' Invitational Doubles
• The 45 and Over Gentlemen's' Invitational Doubles
• The 45 and Over Ladies' Invitational Doubles.

The most recent addition to the Wimbledon programme of events is The Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles.

The initial knockout rounds of all events are held during the first week of the tournament, with the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals being played during the second week. Traditionally the Sunday between the two weeks, known as “Middle Sunday” is reserved as a rest-day with no matches being played. However, on three occasions in the event's history matches have been played on Middle Sunday due to delays in the schedule because of the weather (1991, 1997 and 2004).

The most popular Wimbledon events are the Women's Singles Final (usually played on the final Saturday afternoon) and the Men's Singles Final (usually played on the final Sunday afternoon).

Previous Winners at Wimbledon

The Wimbledon Championship events have been won by some of the most famous tennis players in history. Winners of the Men's Singles title include Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, and Pete Sampras.

Winners of the Ladies' Singles titles have included Chris Evert, Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

The last five winners of the Wimbledon Men's Singles title were:

Year Winner Seed

2005 Roger Federer 1

2004 Roger Federer 1

2003 Roger Federer` 4

2002 Leyton Hewitt 1

2001 Goran Ivanisevic Unseeded

The last five winners of the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles title were:

Year Winner Seed

2005 Venus Williams 14

2004 Maria Sharapova 13

2003 Serena Williams 1

2002 Serena Williams 2

2001 Venus Williams 2

Betting on Wimbledon

Wimbledon offers a wealth of betting opportunities whether you want to bet on the ultimate winners of the Championships or on individual matches. However, Wimbledon can also provide major upsets and unexpected results, so it can also be an exciting event on which to bet.

If you are thinking of placing a bet on one of the many Wimbledon tennis matches, here are a few things to consider:

• The tennis styles of the players: One of the key things to look for when deciding whether or not to back a player in a tennis match at Wimbledon is whether or not their playing style is suitable for lawn tennis. Look to see whether they have a history of being successful on grass courts. Grass courts tend to suit power players who have big serves or serve and volley players. Players who prefer to stay at the baseline don't tend to do quite so well on grass courts because the play is faster than on hard courts or clay courts.

When grass courts get wet, it also means that play is more tiring as the balls bounce less and players have to run and bend more. This means that players need to have excellent stamina in order to play well on damp grass courts.

• The current form of the players: Another key factor in deciding which Wimbledon player to bet on is the form of each player. If they have recently been injured this may still be affecting their performance. Also, if they have been playing in a lot of tournaments prior to Wimbledon and if they have played long matches during previous rounds in the championship they may be suffering from fatigue.

• Head-to-Head records: It's always worth taking a look at the results of previous matches between the two tennis players in the match you are considering betting on, to see if they have been dominated by one player. However, even if one player has won every time the two players have met, this doesn't mean that they will win again – the players' styles and form should still be your main guide when placing a bet on a Wimbledon match.

• The players' Wimbledon seedings: Although the title doesn't always go to the top seed at Wimbledon, it's rare for unseeded players to win. Only eleven unseeded players have ever reached the Men's Singles final, and only two have won the title. Only four unseeded players have reached the Ladies' Singles final, and the title has never been won by an unseeded player.

Some bookmakers offer you the chance to bet on which players will win Wimbledon titles well in advance of the event itself, so you don't need to wait in order to bet on it. For the latest odds on Wimbledon 2006 from a range of bookmakers and betting exchanges, visit our Latest Odds section.

Wimbledon is only one of many events in the tennis calendar. Check out other tennis events!

If you are new to betting and want to place a bet on Wimbledon, be sure to check out our Tennis - How To Bet and Tennis Betting Strategy sections for some betting hints and tips.

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