Wimbledon Tennis 2022 Recap

After a cancellation in 2020 and a reduced capacity crowd in 2021, it was great to see Wimbledon rebound from the pandemic, with around half a million fans flocking to see the action over the past two weeks.

Since 1877 The Wimbledon Championships have been held annually (barring 2020) on the grass courts of the All England Club in London.

On Sunday (10/07/22), the Serbian Novak Djokovic was crowned the Men’s Singles Champion as he beat the Australian Nick Kyrgios in four sets to lift his seventh cup at the tournament. The win moves him to within one victory from matching the record held by the legendary Roger Federer (8 wins).

The Women’s Singles took place on the Saturday before the men’s and was won by Elena Rybakina, the first player representing Khazakstan to have won a Grand Slam tournament. Since 2007 Wimbledon has had equal prize money for the men’s and women’s championships, with both winners pocketing around £2 million.

Highlights

As much as Wimbledon is considered the most prestigious event in the tennis calendar, it’s also a quintessentially British event, attracting celebrities and royalty to enjoy strawberries and cream courtside.

Wimbledon has a reputation for etiquette and attire, with strict rules enforced for both guests and players. This year was no exception, with David Beckham, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Tom Cruise all spotted looking sharp, enjoying the top names in tennis battle it out on Centre Court.

The seriously eagle-eyed amongst you might even have spotted our CEO Ryan Kenny rubbing shoulders with the stars on Centre Court.

2022 was also a fortunate year for the tournament in terms of rain, which has often plagued the outdoor, grass-court action, so much so that the club have installed retractable roofs on their Centre Court and No 1 Court. This year though, the rain only managed to delay play for a few hours in the early rounds, with the finals being played in fierce sunshine.

The only notable downer this year was the forced retirement of the former champion Rafael Nadal, who pulled out of his semi-final contest with a rib injury. But, of course, we hope to see him back in action in time for Wimbledon next year.

Fans At Home

For years, the BBC has aired coverage of Wimbledon over its two main channels, BBC1 and BBC2, with viewers now able to access it via the iPlayer as well. 2022 saw record viewing numbers across the platforms with around a 50% increase on the 2021 figures taking the total to roughly 79 million streams (combined TV, online and iPlayer).

Wrapping Up

Wimbledon is a tournament steeped in tradition, with many of the rules and regulations enforced by the club dating back several years. Still, the club has also been progressive in awarding equal prize money to male and female winners, along with their use of technology to challenge line calls.

In years to come, it would be great to see more technology utilised to augment the sports fan experience, especially with the popularity of the competition around the world. Perhaps 2023 will see the use of NFT ticketing or Web3 technology to enhance the famous tournament’s action.