Wimbledon

Wimbledon is the third Grand Slam of the tennis season and the only one still played on grass, staged each summer at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in south-west London. First held in 1877, it is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and the 2026 edition was the 139th Championships.

Tradition is the brand, but it is not fixed. The all-white clothing rule still binds every player from the first round to the final, while 2025 was the first Championships in 148 years without line judges, every out and fault call handed to electronic line calling. Prize money has moved just as sharply. The 2026 purse rose 20 percent to a record £64.2 million, with each singles champion collecting £3.6 million. Wimbledon came late to equal pay, though: men and women were only paid the same from 2007, some three decades behind the US Open.

Grass rewards a different player than the rest of the calendar. Flatter bounces, shorter rallies and a premium on the serve and first-strike tennis, on courts that shift from slick to worn across a fortnight. Jannik Sinner and Linda Nosková took the 2026 singles titles.

For Arena Bulletin, Wimbledon is the peak of a short grass season that turns the tennis year on its head for two weeks.

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