Unlike last year, the grass season in 2024 has been more exciting. The 2023 Queen’s Club Championships winner Carlos Alcaraz failed to defend his title, courtesy of a shocking second-round defeat by Great Britain’s Jack Draper. The loss was a hard pill to swallow for the 21-year-old as he recently won the 2024 French Open and additionally, he dropped from 2 to 3 in the rankings after he lost 450 points, failing to defend his title.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner has made a significant 1500-point lead on the first spot, which is hard to overcome for Carlos Alcaraz or even Novak Djokovic in the coming months. Meanwhile, Sinner stunned his doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz to win his first championship as the new ATP World No. 1.
Novak Djokovic, who withdrew from the quarter-finals of the French Open due to a meniscus tear, has also returned to action after a surgery. Two-time champion, Andy Murray is also expected to play the competition for the last time before announcing his retirement from the sport. Interestingly, Murray will also play men’s doubles alongside his brother Jamie Murray for the first time in Wimbledon.
On the women’s front, Iga Swiatek skipped the preparation tournaments as she started practising at the All England Lawn Tennis Club early. Meanwhile, defending Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova suffered a leg injury after she slipped in the second round of the 2024 Berlin Ladies Open against Anna Kalinskaya.
At the same tournament, Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur retired halfway owing to illness while Aryna Sabalenka has constantly struggled with shoulder pain for the last couple of weeks. The Belarusian has affirmed that she might not be able to perform her best at the grass court Major due to the ‘rare shoulder pain’. However, all the WTA stars have arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and have started preparation for the Grand Slam.
The tournament was founded in 1877 and the first edition of Wimbledon was won by Great Britain’s Spencer Gore. Wimbledon was heavily dominated by the likes of Australia, the USA, Great Britain and New Zealand in the amateur era. However, other nations also emerged as winners after the introduction of the Open Era in 1968.
The most successful ATP men’s singles player in the tournament’s history is Roger Federer with eight titles. After him, Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras have won seven singles titles in the open era. In women’s singles, Martina Navratilova has won nine titles. She also holds the record for most consecutive titles in Wimbledon with six, which she won between 1982 to 1987.
Dates
The main draw of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships will commence on Monday, July 1. On the first day, the first-round matches of the upper section will be played. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, July 2, the first-round fixtures on the lower section will be played. The draw of the grass-court Grand Slam took place on July 28.
All players will commence their campaign in the first round because no byes are offered in Grand Slams. The finals of the events, namely, singles, doubles, mixed doubles, junior and wheelchair events, will take place on July 13 and 14. With the end of Wimbledon, the grass season will conclude for almost all top-ranked tennis stars and they’ll commence their preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Venue
The initial editions of the Wimbledon Championships took place at the Worple Road. However, since 1922, the Grand Slam has been played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, located on Church Road. The competition is played on 18 grass courts. Nevertheless, the All England Club also offers 20 grass practice courts and eight clay courts.
Founded in 1877, Wimbledon is the oldest tournament in tennis history
Among all the available courts, the Centre Court has always been the main attraction for tennis enthusiasts. The prestigious Centre Court has a seating capacity of more than 15,000 spectators. Meanwhile, the seating capacity of Court No. 1 is 12,345. Both main courts of the tournament also have roofs.
Format Explainer
Wimbledon is played in five traditional categories, Men Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. In addition to that, the boy’s, girl’s, wheelchair and seniors events in all categories are also played in the tournament.
After the qualifying draw, the tournament’s main draw starts with the Round of 128 and goes all the way down to the final in a knockout format. The prize money for The Championships 2024 is a record £50,000,000, which is 11.9 per cent higher than 2023. Moreover, the grass-court Grand Slam already introduced equal pay in 2007.
Prize money:
| Singles | Doubles | |
| Round of 128 | £60,000 | – |
| Round of 64 | £93,000 | £15,750 |
| Round of 32 | £143,000 | £25,000 |
| Round of 16 | £226,000 | £42,000 |
| Quarter-final | £375,000 | £84,000 |
| Semi-final | £715,000 | £167,000 |
| Final | £1,400,000 | £330,000 |
| Winner | £2,700,000 | £650,000 |
Points distribution:
| Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | |
| Round of 128 | 10 | 10 | – | – |
| Round of 64 | 50 | 70 | 0 | 10 |
| Round of 32 | 100 | 130 | 90 | 130 |
| Round of 16 | 200 | 240 | 180 | 240 |
| Quarter-final | 400 | 430 | 360 | 430 |
| Semi-final | 800 | 780 | 720 | 780 |
| Final | 1300 | 1300 | 1200 | 1300 |
| Winner | 2000 | 2000 | 2000 | 2000 |
Star Attractions
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are among the hot favourites to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. If Alcaraz manages to defend his title, he will become only the second Spanish player to win the grass-court Major twice. Additionally, he’ll also become only the third player in the 21st century to defend his title after Federer and Djokovic.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic is also set to play at the Grand Slam while Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zevrav, and Hubert Hurkacz are aiming for their first Major title. Djokovic has a golden opportunity to equal Roger Federer’s record of most titles if he wins the 2024 Wimbledon. However, defending champion Alcaraz and in-form Sinner would present their topmost challenge for the Serb.
Currently, on a 19-match unbeaten streak on the WTA tour, Iga Swiatek will look forward to completing her surface slam at the 2024 Wimbledon
On the women’s front, tennis enthusiasts can expect to witness a new champion. The past two champions, Rybakina and Vondrousova are suffering from fitness issues. Meanwhile, Sabalenka and Jabeur haven’t been in full fitness lately. Thus, Swiatek, Gauff, and Pegul would be hoping to launch a serious bid for their first Wimbledon title. The 2021 Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty has also accepted a wildcard and she will make her return to tennis for the competition.
For Indians, Sumit Nagal will be making his singles main draw debut in Wimbledon. Interestingly, Yuki Bhambri, Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji, and Nagal will also be playing in the doubles category.