Wimbledon 2012: June 25th- July 8th

Tennis Betting Odds

There is something magical about the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the only Grand Slam to be played on grass. It is fair to say it has captured the imagination of players, fans and tennis bettors the world over.

This year will mark the 126th Anniversary that The All England Lawn Tennis Club will have hosted The Wimbledon Championships since it started on 1877.

The first event was won by Spencer Gore, the only times when there was no Wimbledon Championships was during First and Second World Wars.

The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events. The biggest change for this year is that the outside courts matches will start at 11:30 am instead of noon which was the normal time, this is to allow more time for the programme to be finished.

Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.

A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.

Prize Money at Wimbledon

Key Dates

2012 Schedule

*Note: The mixed doubles final will take place on Saturday 7th July or Sunday 8th July on either Centre Court or No. 1 Court.

During the first week, the early rounds of the Men’s and Ladies’ Singles, Men’s, Ladies’ and Mixed Doubles will be played on all courts, with top seeds’ matches played on the show courts. On the middle Saturday the Veterans’ and Juniors’ events commence and will be played on the outside courts as well as on some of the Show Courts.

On the last 3 days of The Championships on No.1 Court there will be a full programme of play; it will comprise Juniors’ and Veterans’ matches, with the possibility of Championship Doubles semi-finals.

The rise of air travel in the 1950s meant more overseas players were able to compete. From the mid '50s until the early '70s, the Gentlemen's Singles was dominated by Australians such as Lew Hoad, Neale Fraser, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe.

In the 1960s, Angela Mortimer and Ann Jones won for Great Britain; other female winners included Americans, Australians and even a Brazilian.