Wimbledon is the sporting event of the summer in the U.K. It finds its way onto all the televisions in the land, in pubs, in schools, in restaurants and waiting rooms. It is one of the last great institutions of a romanticized old Britain, prim and neat, with mown lawns and infamous statistics that crop up every summer about the tonnage of strawberries and cream consumed during the tennis. It is amazing that the physical exertions, the grunts and the screaming of sweat drenched sportsmen and women, struggling against each other in an agony of competition, can be offset by such an atavistic Britishness.

Wimbledon is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world. Despite a Brit inventing the game, no man from this glorious island has won the Men’s Singles since 1936, when Fred Perry took the title. Besides the 5 main categories, there are four junior events and four invitational competitions. Wimbledon is also the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments to use grass, the original surface of the game. It used to be that the French Open was the only one to differ (with clay), but the Australian and U.S. Opens long ago switched to hard surfaces. The courts are now sown with perennial Rye grass, which is cut to a height of 8mm on each day of the tournament.

The tension will run even higher this year as the nation places its hopes on the shoulders of Andy Murray. London short stay accommodation will be packed out, hotels and serviced apartments across the city likewise. Murray’s victory over Rafel Nadal in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, earlier this year, pushed him up to No. 3 in the world rankings, proving alongside his brief spell in the No.2 spot last summer, he’s got what it takes to be up there with the best of them. However, a crushing defeat in the finals from the man who was won 16 Grand Slam titles to Murray’s 0, kept Federer on top. Now we’re not a betting agency but it’s worth keeping in mind that Murray has won over half the times he and Federer have met. But now I do feel sentimental as I’ve succumbed to the “well you never know…” school of thought. This is the sort of non-committal hope that will be expressing itself in nods, winks and raised eyebrows over many drinks, in many pubs across the land this summer. Poor Andy Murray seems to have had Tim Henman’s mantle thrust upon his shoulders without any say in the matter. But then again, it wouldn’t be Wimbledon without the whole of the United Kingdom projecting their hopes onto one contestant, who has no say in the matter.

Click here for a great Wimbledon countdown. Because it’s simply not enough to just know the dates.

Buy Tickets here.

For guided tours and the museum click here.

To read more about Wimbledon, you’ll have to wait for our up and coming magazine.

If you’re really lucky you’ll see one of these















, but as for now – Get a short term flat for it here.

If you like this post then consider sharing it with others.