London is welcoming the world’s best tennis players from Monday for a fortnight of top action at The Championships, Wimbledon.
Among those appearing at SW19 is Venus Williams. Aged 43, she is looking to win her sixth women’s singles title, having first played the tournament in 1997.
In that time, Williams has seen a roof built on Centre Court, technology implemented to aid line calls, and a tie-break added to the final set if the game score reaches 12-12.
But one of the most significant changes is the date when Wimbledon is played.
The tournament used to begin on the last Monday in June, two weeks after the French Open at Roland Garros. This is played on clay and a very different surface to grass in terms of how the ball bounces.
However, Wimbledon 2023 begins on Monday, July 3, three weeks after the French Open. The tournament comes a week after grass-court tournaments at the Queen’s Club in London and Halle in Germany.
Why is Wimbledon starting later this year?
Wimbledon organisers in 2012 decided to start the tournament a week later from 2015. This was to lengthen the grass-court season and give players more time to recover from the French Open.
“There is widespread support within the game for extending the gap,” said All England Club chairman Philip Brook in 2012.
“The best interests of tennis will be served by allowing the players more time to recuperate and to adjust from the clay of Roland Garros to the grass at Wimbledon.
“We think most players will welcome the prospect of a longer grass-court season and spending more time on the softer surface of grass.”
Defending men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic said at the time: “It would work in the favour of players because it would give the top ones a little bit more time to get used to the surface.
"Logically speaking, it is the slowest surface that we’re talking about, clay, moving to the fastest one, which takes time."
Djokovic, who has since won six Wimbledon titles and seven in total, opens proceedings on Centre Court when he takes on Argentina’s Pedro Cachin at 1.30pm on Monday.
Williams begins her women’s singles campaign against fellow wildcard Elina Svitolina after the men’s encounter. Here is your guide to queuing up to get entry and everything else you need to know about one of the biggest sporting events this summer.
