– Imo Uzochukwu, ABH Press
The 2019 Wimbledon Championships is underway with biggest and best in tennis returning to the London as they compete for glory, fame and, of course, riches. The tournament is set to hold from Monday 1 July 2019 to Sunday 14 July 2019 and it will feature 16 qualifiers from 128 professional tennis players in both Women’s and Men’s Singles. The tournament is taking place on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon in London.
The tournament will consist of men’s (singles and doubles), women’s (singles and doubles), mixed doubles, boys (under 18 – singles and doubles) and girls (under 18 – singles and doubles) and singles & doubles events for men’s and women’s wheelchair tennis players, also hosting singles and doubles events for wheelchair quad tennis for the first time.
The prize money for the 133rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships stands at a staggering £38million, with the winners of the men’s and women’s singles set to take home £2.35m each. First-round losers, meanwhile, will earn £45,000.
Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber are currently the defending champions in the singles competitions for men and women respectively.
To kick start your journey through the exciting experience of Wimbledon 2019, here are five things you should know regarding the first day of the tournament.
1. Oldest meets youngest in the ladies’ draw as 39 year-old Venus Williams takes on 15 year-old qualifier Cori Gauff in an all-american clash.
2. Defending champion Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a fifth Wimbledon Title against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
3. Japan’s Naomi Osaka is the highest-ranked ladies player in action. The world number two plays Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putinseva.
4. Former World number one Victoria Azarenka faces Alize Cornet in a high-quality first round encounter.
5. Kyle Edmund is the top British player on the line-up. The 30th seed is up against Spain’s Jaume Munar.
Good news as Andy Murray will be competing in the doubles at Wimbledon after undergoing a hip resurfacing surgery in January. The former World No 1 had struggled with a serious hip injury for 18 months resulting in him revealing at the Australian open that his career may be over. He made a remarkable comeback from injury by winning the men’s doubles title with Feliciano Lopez at Queen’s Club Championship last week.
