April 28, 2015

The players at Wimbledon always come first. But after the announcements at this year’s Annual Spring Press Conference, it looks as though things have never been better for the players! The result should be some truly scintillating tennis for the fans to lap up. Find out about the new additions below;

Three-week Gap

The Championships will benefit from a three-week gap after the French Open. That means players who are successful at Roland Garros will not be punished for that success. Instead they should be fresh and ready to go again at the greatest Slam of them all.

By starting Wimbledon a week later, the players will have longer to get used to grass at other tournaments, and that should increase the quality of the play on offer to Wimbledon fans further still.

Facilities



Improved training facilities at Aorangi Park will make for happier and better-prepared players than ever before. Ice baths, physiotherapy and massage will be on offer to players in the newly refurbished Aorangi Pavilion.

The facilities in the Millennium Building have been massively improved too. The players lounge has been refurbished and increased in size. Medical and physiotherapy facilities have been substantially improved with the addition of six ice baths, an enlarged warm-up and stretch area, podiatry and private treatment rooms and larger massage rooms.

A player-dedicated website will enhance private communication for the stars. Order of Play, practice and transport bookings will all be at the players’ fingertips too. They’ll be able to view their personal and match statistics at the drop of a hat to see what they’ve done right and what they could do even better next match.

Prize Money

Competitors at the Championships will receive more prize money than ever before – a total of £26.75 million. That’s an increase of £1.75 million (7%) on last year. If ever they needed more financial motivation to perform to the max at the big one, this is it! And to think that total prize money was “only” £14.6 million in 2011 !

The Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles Champions will each receive £1.88 million, a 7% increase from £1.76 million in 2014. No one can say Wimbledon doesn’t keep up with the times!

Nineteen courts will be in play and the ground capacity has been increased by 500 to 39,000, meaning even more tennis fanatics can enjoy the big occasion. That way the atmosphere around the All England Club will be even better than before!

Hawk-Eye coverage will be extended to Courts 12 and 18, bringing the number of courts equipped with the system to six. That means greater player satisfaction and more suspense for the fans too!

New accommodation has been created for Ball Boys and Ball Girls underneath Court 15, making for even fresher and more excellent “Ball Kids” than before – if that were possible!

Let’s face it, the players are going to be spoilt rotten at Wimbledon this year. Every angle has been covered. Perhaps for the very first time, there can be no excuses. And the great thing is, Wimbledon crowds can prepare to be entertained like never before as a result. This should be an amazing Championships. Got your tickets yet?