Strawberries, Royals and "The Queue": These are the traditions at Wimbledon

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Without the many strawberries, the tournament on Church Road would be simply unimaginable

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Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

The third and most important Grand Slam tournament of the year will take place in Wimbledon from June 28th to July 11th.

The best tennis players in the world duel on the "holy lawn" of the All England Club.

But the spectators are not only offered a lot on the pitch.

The tournament, which was held for the first time in the south of London in 1887, managed to preserve its special traditions as far as possible.

Why the strawberries are so special and why it is cool to queue for a ticket - the strangest traditions at Wimbledon at a glance.

"Mecca of tennis"

Wimbledon is the oldest tournament in the world.

This is probably one of the reasons why the Center Court is considered the »Mecca of tennis«.

The 15,000-seat space was the scene of legendary encounters in the past.

Boris Becker made history in 1985 at the age of 17, as did Novak Djokovic, who defeated Roger Federer in the longest final in tournament history in 2019.

No question about it - anyone interested in tennis must have visited the largest court in the facility once in their life.

Dress code for the stars

Nowhere else are the dress codes so strictly regulated as at Wimbledon.

At least 90 percent of the clothing worn must be white.

This decision was originally made to avoid embarrassing sweat stains.

The example of Federer shows that the organizers don't understand jokes.

The record champion was asked to change his shoes in his first round game in 2013.

The reason: the sole was colored.

Strawberry Madness on Church Road

Without them, the tournament on Church Road would be unimaginable: strawberries.

Hardly any visitor wants to do without them, around 30 tons are sold in the two weeks.

They have been wandering the many sales counters since 1893, and are available in combination with cream for a little under three pounds.

Henman Hill & Murray Mound

In 2013, Andy Murray became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon tournament in 77 years.

In honor of the Scotsman, a small hill on the site was then named after him.

The so-called Murray Mound is also known as "Henman Hill".

But unlike Murray, Tim Henman was denied success at Wimbledon.

The Brit made it to the semi-finals four times between 1998 and 2002, but never won the tournament.

Bowing to the Queen

The Royal Box on Center Court is legendary.

Members of the royal family sit in it.

Until 2003, the players were obliged to curtsy in front of the Royal Box.

This tradition has now been abandoned - with one exception.

Should the Queen watch a game, the pros are still required to bow.

However, this only happens very rarely, most recently in 2010.

"Last 8 Club"

Around 650 active and former professionals are part of an elite club, the so-called "Last 8 Club".

Members are allowed to visit the facility for the rest of their lives.

You have access to the Center Court and Court No.

1, plus - typically British - free coffee and tea.

The prerequisite for being accepted into the club is reaching the quarter-finals in the singles, the semi-finals in the doubles and the finals in the mixed competition.

The most famous snake in the tennis world

There is no other tournament where tickets are sold out as quickly as at Wimbledon.

Because the demand is so great, most tickets are raffled well in advance.

However, fans can still purchase a few tickets at the ticket office.

To increase the chances of getting a card, many visitors spend the night in front of the ticket office.

The result is a never-ending queue, also known as "The Queue".

Manic Monday

Every first Sunday both men and women are allowed to breathe deeply.

So the so-called Manic Monday is all the more beautiful for the audience.

After the game-free day, all round of 16 games will be played within one day.

There are no play-free days at any other Grand Slam tournament, at the French Open the tournament even begins on Sunday.

Order of Play

While in other Grand Slam tournaments the games start either on Sundays or Mondays at 11 a.m., in Wimbledon the defending champions open on Center Court on Monday at 2 p.m. .