Wimbledon, founded in 1877 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in southwest London, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and the only Grand Slam still contested on grass. It sits third on the calendar, the close of a compressed grass swing that follows the clay of Roland-Garros and runs through tune-up weeks at Halle, Queen's Club, Eastbourne, and Bad Homburg. The 2026 edition runs June 29 through July 12.
The surface dictates everything. Grass keeps the ball low and fast, rewards the serve and the first strike, and shortens rallies in a way no other major does — the premium on returning low balls and moving on a slick court still separates grass specialists from the rest. The institutional character matches the surface: an all-white dress code enforced to the hem, no courtside sponsor boards, and a Centre Court retractable roof that has insulated the marquee matches from London weather since 2009. A second roof over No. 1 Court followed in 2019.
The recent honor roll has narrowed to the game's two best. Carlos Alcaraz broke through in 2023, outlasting Novak Djokovic across five sets — 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 — to end the Serb's Centre Court reign. Two years later Jannik Sinner reversed the order against Alcaraz, dropping the opening set before taking three straight 6-4 to claim his first Wimbledon title in 2025. On the women's side, Barbora Krejcikova edged Jasmine Paolini in three for the 2024 crown.
The grass has changed too: the 1877 lawns evolved through decades of resurfacing into the slower, more durable 100% perennial ryegrass courts in use today — a shift that lengthened rallies and shaped the baseline-driven grass game that now produces these finals.