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Wimbledon Fortnight - Lawn Tennis's Biggest Grand Slam Tournament

By Ferne Arfin, About.com

Getting Wimbledon Center Court Ready for the Tournament

Getting Wimbledon Center Court Ready for the Tournament

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
  • What: The top competitive event in grass court tennis. All the world's top ranked tennis players compete.
  • When: The last week in June and the first week in July - people call it Wimbledon Fortnight.
  • Where: The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 5AE
  • Telephone: + 44 (0)20 8971 2473
  • Admission: On-the-day tickets for center court range from £36 for early matches to £87 for the men's final. Queueing tickets for admission to the grounds cost from £5 to £18 depending on the time of day.

    Seeing Wimbledon is less about the price of the tickets and more about either qualifying in the public ticket ballot to buy one or getting into the daily queue early enough to score one of the tickets saved for the public. Find out more about how to get a ticket for Wimbledon before making the journey to the All England Club.

  • Website
My first summer in England began the week that two of America's top men's tennis players were facing off against each other in a 4th of July Wimbledon Men's Final. I wasn't really a tennis fan back then but it was impossible not to be caught up in the intense interest that took over London. It was a hot day, so people had their windows open. My city neighborhood seemed empty and through all those open windows, the regular, televised impact of tennis balls hitting tennis rackets, followed by polite applause, was all the only sound in the streets.

Wimbledon is the crowning championship for the world's top lawn tennis players and fans. In England, during Wimbledon fortnight, it is the only sport that anyone talks about. The little Wimbledon cars that chauffer the players around town - usually driven by young women LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) members who can't believe their luck - are everywhere.

Unlike some of England's other major social sports events, the majority of Wimbledon tickets are reserved for the public who compete in the Wimbledon Ticket Ballot for the right to purchase a pair of seats.

A limited number of tickets for the Center Courts and Courts 1 and 2 are reserved for sale to the public on all but the last four match days. Another 6,000 Ground Admission tickets are available every day. And all you have to do to get one of these is get their early and, rain or shine, stand in the queue.

Test your knowledge with this Wimbledon History Maze from About.com's resident tennis expert Jeff Cooper.
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