Wimbledon 2014 has just started but some people are seeking information about the 2015 tournament.
This year’s tournament started on Monday, June 23 and will run through Sunday, July 6.
Next year the dates will actually be moved back one week. The tournament will start on Monday, June 29 and run through Sunday, July 12.
The move is part of an effort to extend the grass-court season. There will be three weeks of the season leading into the Wimbledon thanks to the change.
“We have been delighted with the response to our initiative for the creation of a three-week gap between Roland Garros and Wimbledon and the establishment of a longer and more significant grass court season within the international tennis calendar,” said Philip Brook, chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, the venue of the Wimbledon tournament, in a statement.
“Nottingham has been a successful venue for grass court tennis and the new ATP250 event will offer the players another excellent opportunity to prepare for The Championships, while giving tennis fans the chance to see more top class tennis entertainment.”
The ATP season will include events in Stuttgart, ’s-Hertogenbosch, London-Queen’s, Halle, and Nottingham, while Newport will be pushed back a week as well and still be held after Wimbledon.
The women’s calendar will feature events in Nottingham, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Birmingham, and Eastbourne.
“The extended grass-court season, with additional Emirates ATP Rankings points at stake, is a positive step forward,” said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, in a statement.
“One of our assets as a sport is to provide for variance across playing surfaces throughout the season, so the strengthening of the grass-court season is a significant enhancement for the overall calendar. In particular, I would like to thank the All England Club, led by Philip Brook, for the instrumental role it has played in achieving this positive outcome.”
Check out the latest from this year’s Wimbledon below.
Murray soaks it in as Wimbledon welcomes him back
LONDON—It had been, famously, more than 75 years since a British man arrived at Wimbledon as the defending champion.
So Andy Murray took a moment — and, really, only a moment — to take in the sights and sounds Monday at Centre Court as nearly 15,000 spectators, including Shaquille O'Neal up in the Royal Box, rose to greet him with a raucous standing ovation.
Murray’s parents and grandparents were present. So, of course, was his much-discussed recent choice as coach, Amelie Mauresmo. The other player, 105th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium, was little more than a bystander for all of the proceedings, which wrapped up a little more than two hours after they began with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory for Murray.
“I was pretty nervous and stuff before the match. Then when you’re walking to the court — I have a lot of memories obviously from last year. To come to the court and get that reception, it was very nice,” said Murray, who last year became the first man from Britain since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the nation’s prestigious tennis tournament.
That title for Perry was his third in a row at the All England Club, but he did not try for another one in 1937.
Murray heeded advice from Mauresmo, the 2006 women’s champion at Wimbledon, who told him to soak in everything while walking out to play because, as he put it, “You never know if you'll get the chance to do it again.”
He responded to the crowd’s reaction with a quick wave and a glance around the arena.
“Enjoyed it for the walk to the chair,” Murray said. “Then when I sat down, it was time to get on with business.”
Certainly took care of that. He was crisp and clean, finishing with only 10 unforced errors and saving the only two break points he faced. He pounded serves at up to 131 mph (211 kph) and returned Goffin’s not-quite-as-fast offerings with ease.
All the while, the fans roared for his winners and groaned as a group when their man lost points, no matter how or what significance. They gasped when Murray’s leg buckled a bit and he slipped to the fresh turf in the third game. He rose to his feet quickly and won that point, part of racing to a 3-0 lead.
No matter the attention and expectations heaped on him by a nation, Murray handles it quite well, particularly when’s on the court. Even when he’s away from the action, he’s been at ease, pausing less than two hours before Monday’s match to oblige a fan’s request to pose for a selfie.
“I always say the buildup to the tournament is the hardest part. Once the tournament starts, it’s fine,” said the third-seeded Murray, whose other Grand Slam title came at the 2012 U.S. Open. “I mean, I say it every year. I don’t turn the TV on. I don’t watch too much of the tennis. I don’t read any of the papers. I don’t go online. I just avoid it, concentrate on playing.”
Andy Murray of Britain signs autographs after his first round match against David Goffin of Belgium at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday, June 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The man he beat in last year’s final, No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic, won in similarly easy fashion on Day 1, taking the first 11 games and never facing a break point en route to beating 56th-ranked Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.
“A great start,” said Djokovic, the 2011 champion.
All in all, it was a relatively quiet start to a tournament that a year ago was as tumultuous as ever, including exits by the end of the second round for past champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. That trio, along with five-time champion and No. 1-seeded Serena Williams, play their opening matches Tuesday.
Williams’ older sister Venus won Monday, her first victory at Wimbledon since 2011. But there were losses for 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur, 18th-seeded Sloane Stephens and 27th-seeded Garbine Muguruza, the 20-year-old Spaniard who surprisingly beat Serena Williams in the second round of the French Open last month.
Three lower-seeded men lost, too: No. 18 Fernando Verdasco, No. 25 Andrea Seppi and No. 31 Vasek Pospisil.
Stephens had reached at least the fourth round at six consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, the longest active streak for a woman, but she ran up against a former top-10 player in Maria Kirilenko and was beaten 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Muguruza, meanwhile, saved a hard-to-believe 12 match points but couldn’t erase No. 13, double-faulting twice in a row to get edged 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 by 22-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe, an American ranked 51st.
“It was crazy at the end,” Vandeweghe said.
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