Watching Wimbledon/playing tennis games in UK/Britain/England


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< Up	Life / Sport / Tennis
Watch or play tennis in the UK


Sections:	Introduction
	Wimbledon
	Vocabulary
	Links

INTRODUCTION

A brief guide to tennis in the UK.

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WIMBLEDON

The Williams sisters (Venus & Serena) playing at Wimbledon

Wimbledon is a famous international tennis competition (played on grass courts). It lasts for two weeks, in late June / early July each year. For detailed information, including the Order of Play for the following day, see the official Wimbledon website: http://www.wimbledon.org. For news from the competition or to listen to live commentary on the internet, see the BBC's website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wimbledon.

The location is shown on this map. Southfields or Wimbledon underground stations are nearest to the courts. The nearest train station is Wimbledon. There are special buses to the courts from both Southfields and Wimbledon stations (you have to pay extra for these), and some buses from Victoria coach station in central London.

To get tickets for the show courts (centre court, court 1 and court 2) is difficult. One way to get tickets is to enter a public ballot organised by the AELTC (the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club). You can enter this ballot between August 1st until December 31st by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to AELTC, P.O. Box 98, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5AE. The ballot takes place in January, and the winners are usually informed in February. Do not buy tickets which are advertised on the internet (people are not allowed to re-sell tickets unless they are special expensive "debenture" tickets, so you may find that you are refused access if you buy other types of ticket in this way).

A small number of tickets for the show courts (about 500 tickets for each of the three courts) are sold on the day of the match (they are not available during the final four days of the competition) - people queue overnight to get these. It is more common to get a Ground Admission ticket, which will let you see games on the non-show courts or the standing area of Court 2 (about 6000 of these tickets are available each day) - you may need to arrive very early (for example, at 7 o'clock in the morning) and will probably have to wait for a few hours. A ticket allows you to watch tennis all day. Cheaper tickets are available after 5pm. Note that there are restrictions on bags - you should only take one small bag with you (hard-sided hampers, coolboxes and briefcases are not allowed).

If you buy a Ground Admission ticket you are also allowed access to Aorangi Picnic Terrace (this area is popularly known as "Henman Hill" or "Murray Mount" because a lot of British fans gather there when British players Tim Henman or Andy Murray are playing). The terrace is an area of sloped ground which overlooks the courts - if you sit there you can follow play by watching giant screens which are set up here.

Doubles game

Tennis umpire

Strawberries and cream

The Official Wimbledon Annual 2005
Author: Neil Harman
Publisher: Hazleton Publishing Ltd
Date: August 2005

Wimbledon - The Official Film 2005 (DVD)
Studio: Green Umbrella Productions
Date: November 2005

VOCABULARY

Guide to tennis vocabulary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/vocabulary/tennis.shtml

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LINKS

Sport in the UK: Life/Sport
Monthly guide to events in the UK: Ideas/Events

Home page: Home

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