2011 Wimbledon Championships

Tournament

The 125th edition of the tournament saw two new courts opened. A new showcourt, Court No. 3, and a new Court No. 4 opened on the first day of the championships. Court No. 3 was opened by The Duke of Kent, President of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, who unveiled a plaque marking the occasion. A total of 19 courts were used for competition play and a further 22 for practice. The capacity of the grounds was thus increased by 1,000 to 38,500.

On a commercial front, Sony became a sponsor of the championships for the first time, while Jacob's Creek and Lavazza replaced Blossom Hill and Nescafe as official wine and coffee of the tournament. Qualifying for all events took place at the Bank of England Sports Ground, Roehampton. The grass was of the Perennial Ryegrass type and cut to 8mm.

125th anniversary

The 2011 championships were the 125th to be held since 1877, excluding the years 1915–1918 and 1940–1945, when the event was not held due to the two world wars. To mark the occasion a number of special events and activities occurred. Blue Peter broadcast a special programme looking at the championships, past, present and future, which was screened on the second Monday of the tournament. Four 30-minute documentaries charting the history of the championships were commissioned. A new exhibition known as the queue was held in the All England Club's Museum celebrating the people who queue each year for tickets to the championship. In addition, a range of licensed merchandise featuring the "125" logo was released; the ball boy and ball girl uniforms had this logo. The shoes provided by Fila had the words "125 years" and the logo printed on them. The balls provided by Slazenger also had "125 years" stamped onto them, and a special can design was used. Lanson champagne, which is served on the grounds, had "125 years" stamped on the bottle. Finally, to celebrate the anniversary there was a community art project in which participants were asked to "interpret" an unstrung wooden tennis racket "in a medium of their choosing".

HSBC held a series of polls on the Wimbledon website to find the 10 greatest things about the championships. The polls consisted of anything from greatest character to best final. In addition the bank also teamed up with the Sports Technology Institute at Loughborough University; to predict how tennis would develop over the next 25 years up to 2036; the 150th Wimbledon and 100 years since Fred Perry, the last British male winner of the championships, won.

Junior points

Below is a table charting the points that are available to the boys and girls in singles and doubles play.

Prize money

All prize money is in pounds sterling. The amount for each doubles event is shown as a team.

Singles players

Gentlemen's Singles

Day 1 (20 June)

Day 2 (21 June)

Day 3 (22 June)

Day 4 (23 June)

Day 5 (24 June)

Day 6 (25 June)

Middle Sunday (26 June)

Following tradition, Middle Sunday was a day of rest, with no matches scheduled. Play resumed on the next day.

Day 7 (27 June)

Day 8 (28 June)

Day 9 (29 June)

Day 10 (30 June)

Day 11 (1 July)

Day 12 (2 July)

Day 13 (3 July)

Men's singles

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal, 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3

Women's singles

Petra Kvitová defeated Maria Sharapova, 6–3, 6–4

Men's doubles

In the final, the Bryan Brothers won in straight sets for their second Wimbledon title, equalling The Woodies' Open era record of 11 men's Grand Slam doubles titles. The win was their 73rd ATP Tour victory as a team; they dedicated it to their grandfather.

Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan defeated Robert Lindstedt / Horia Tecău, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6^(7–2)

Women's doubles

Peschke and Srebotnik won in straight sets to claim their first women's doubles Grand Slam title.

Květa Peschke / Katarina Srebotnik defeated Sabine Lisicki / Samantha Stosur, 6–3, 6–1

Mixed doubles

In the final Melzer and Benešová won in straight sets in 51 minutes to go the entire tournament without dropping a set.

Jürgen Melzer / Iveta Benešová defeated Mahesh Bhupathi / Elena Vesnina, 6–3, 6–2

Boys singles

Qualifying took place at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton, where 32 boys battled it out for the eight qualifying spots. 19 of the world's top 20 boys competed for the Wimbledon title. Jiří Veselý, the world number one and reigning Australian Open champion, headed the field. He was joined by French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, who in between the French and Wimbledon had netted the Gerry Weber Junior Open in Halle. The home challenge came from Liam Broady, who had won the Grade 1 tour event, the AEGON Junior International at Roehampton, the week before Wimbledon, 2010 semifinalist Oliver Golding, and reigning Orange Bowl champion George Morgan. They were joined by Mate Delic, who had made the semifinals of the French and the quarters of Roehampton. In the first round 14th seed Andres Artunedo Martinavarr of Spain was defeated by America's Marcos Giron, while former world number one Jason Kubler of Australia defeated Delic 10–8 in the final set. Also going through were the British wild cards of Oliver Hudson; While qualifier Hassan Ndayishimiye from Burundi (the first person from Burundi to play at Wimbledon) won his first round match and second seed Thiago Moura Monteiro of Brazil won an epic final set 15–13 against Austria's Dennis Novak. While 11th seed Joao Pedro Sorgi of Brazil lost to British player Kyle Edmund. In the second round a raft of British players lost including 5 seed Golding to Kubler and 10th seed Morgan. While German Robin Kern upset 9th seed Andrew Whittington of Australia. In the 3rd round Broady upset Vesely, and Thiem was defeated in straight sets by Belgium's Julien Cagnina In the quarterfinals Japan's Kaichi Uchida beat Mate Pavić of Croatia 10–8 in the final set. Broady defeated Kern after a marathon final set, which ended 13–11 in the Briton's favour. In the semifinals Broady defeated Kubler in straight sets, while Luke Saville gained revenge on Uchida for knocking him out of Roland Garros by defeating him in straight sets to reach his second slam final. In the final Saville defeated Broady in 3 sets, coming from a set down, to become the first Australian winner since Todd Reid.

Championship Match:

Luke Saville defeated Liam Broady, 2–6, 6–4, 6–2

Girls' Singles

Ashleigh Barty defeated Irina Khromacheva, 7–5, 7–6^(7–3)

Boys' Doubles

George Morgan / Mate Pavić defeated Oliver Golding / Jiří Veselý 3–6, 6–4, 7–5

Girls' Doubles

Eugénie Bouchard / Grace Min defeated Demi Schuurs / Tang Haochen, 5–7, 6–2, 7–5

Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles

Jacco Eltingh / Paul Haarhuis defeated Jonas Björkman / Todd Woodbridge, 3–6, 6–3, [13–11]

Ladies' Invitation Doubles

Despite a late rally by the Czech pair from 5–2 in the second set, Hingis and Davenport clinched the title in straight sets.

Lindsay Davenport / Martina Hingis defeated Martina Navratilova / Jana Novotná, 6–4, 6–4

Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles

Pat Cash / Mark Woodforde defeated Jeremy Bates / Anders Järryd, 6–3, 5–7, [10–5]

Wheelchair Men's Doubles

The semifinals saw the defending champion Robin Ammerlaan and Stefan Olsson win just three games against Mikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink. The second semifinal was a close affair as the 2009 champions Stéphane Houdet and Michael Jermiasz saved two match points to defeat the pair of Tom Egberink and Shingo Kunieda 6–4 in the final set. The third place playoff saw the defending champion Ammerlaan and Olsson defeated Egberink and Kunieda in straight sets. The final saw Scheffers and Vink reverse the result of the 2009 final as they won in straight sets. It was Scheffers first Wimbledon title and Vink's third.

Championship Match:

Maikel Scheffers / Ronald Vink defeated Stéphane Houdet / Michaël Jeremiasz, 7–5, 6–2

Wheelchair Women's Doubles

The field was headed by the defending champion and world number one in singles Esther Vergeer and the number one in doubles Sharon Walraven. They were joined by second seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot. Joining the seeds were British pair Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley and wild card pair Annick Sevenans and Marjolein Buis. In the first round, Vergeer and Walraven lost just one game in the first set before Sevenans and Buis won a tie break to level the match up before the defending champions took the final set 6–2. The second semifinal saw Shuker playing only her second tournament after 6 months out injured and Wiley make her championships debut. Griffioen and van Koot lost just three games against the British pair of Shuker and Whiley. The battle for third place saw Shuker and Whiley losing in straight sets to Buis and Sevenans after holding a 3–0 lead at the start of the second set. In the final Vergeer and Walraven started well breaking in the eighth game to wrap up the first set. In the second set Griffioen and Van Koot went on a run of four straight games to level the match. Griffioen and Van Koot went into a 5–2 lead in the deciding set before Vergeer and Walraven won 5 games in a row to take the match in the third set 7–5. The win meant that this was Vergeer's third title at Wimbledon and kept up her unbeaten record at the championships and that the pair successfully defended their title.

Championship Match:

Esther Vergeer / Sharon Walraven defeated Jiske Griffioen / Aniek van Koot, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5

Broadcast

The tournament was broadcast in 185 countries. The host broadcaster was the BBC and since the championships has linked up with Sony, the tournament was broadcast in 3D for the first time. To mark the 125th anniversary, the night before the tournament began, on 19 June, the BBC broadcast a documentary, 125 years of Wimbledon: You Cannot Be Serious, looking back at memorable moments.

In the United States, the championship matches aired on NBC for the 43rd and final year. The network issued a statement saying it had been outbid for the rights to future broadcasts. Cable sports channel ESPN, which already shared Wimbledon coverage with NBC, will become the exclusive American broadcaster of the tournament for a 12-year period beginning in 2012. Under the agreement, all matches will air live, as opposed to tape delaying some matches as NBC has been criticised for doing.

Attendance

Members of the British Royal Family attended the championships. With The Duchess of Cornwall attending the tournament on the first Wednesday, on official duty, where she met six ball boys and girls before watching the days play on Centre court from the Royal box. While on the second Monday The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the championships, while on a private visit. The pair took in all three matches on Centre Court. After the first match, which was won by British player Andy Murray, the pair briefly met him, after the Scot bowed towards them while on court at the end of the match.

On the second Monday temperatures topped 30 degrees, and a 146 patrons needed medical assistance by 16:30, due to the heat. This was a significant rise compared to other days as in the two days previous days of the championships 90 and 87 people were treated respectively.

Protests

On the middle Saturday, 14 people were arrested at the gate when trying to obtain access to the grounds. The All England Club shut the gates of the ground forcing spectators who had camped overnight to wait outside for 45 minutes before letting them in at 11.15 am. The group wore yellow shirts and had paint and other equipment to make banners once inside of the ground. A source stated that the group were planning to demonstrate against government policy.

Singles seeds

The following are the seeded players and notable players who withdrew from the event.

Men's Singles

The Men's singles seeds is arranged on a surface-based system to reflect more accurately the individual player's grass court achievement as per the following formula:

Women's Singles

For the Women's singles seeds, the seeding order follows the ranking list, except where in the opinion of the Committee, the grass court credentials of a particular player necessitates a change in the interest of achieving a balanced draw.

Wild card entries

Below are the lists of the wild card awardees entering in the main draws.

Mixed doubles wild card entries

1. Jamie Delgado / Melanie South
2. Colin Fleming / Jocelyn Rae
3. Ross Hutchins / Heather Watson
4. Jonathan Marray / Anne Keothavong
5. Ken Skupski / Elena Baltacha