 "Carlos Alcaraz will be defending his title at Wimbledon, which will be without line judges for the first time this year and where the iconic strawberries and cream will become more expensive. Reuters")
The grass court season is well and truly underway, and it’s almost that time of the year when some of the world’s top players show up at SW19 for the Wimbledon Championships – the 138th edition of which gets underway in a couple of days time in London.
The grass-court Grand Slam takes place less than a month after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played out one of the most breathtaking matches in recent memory in the French Open final, in which the former prevailed from two sets down.
Also Read | Wimbledon’s controversial expansion plan approved: What is planned and who opposed it?
And before the tournament gets underway, we take a look at what’s different in this year’s edition:
No line judges
The biggest talking point ahead of this year’s Wimbledon is the grass-court Major joining hard-court Grand Slams Australian Open and US Open in replacing on-court line judges with electronic line calling. And it’s not just half of the Grand Slams that have implemented this technology – electronic line calling is the norm in a majority of ATP and WTA events.
Which means that the 2025 edition will be the first in Wimbledon history that will not have its best-dressed officials on court. And while organisers insist the technology is almost fail-safe, they will have a team of reserve line judges, part of a team of 80 match assistants. Two reserve line judges will be present on each court to not only provide support to the umpire but to act as back-up should the electronic system fail.
Start time
The start time for the women and men’s singles finals has been pushed by a couple of hours, and will start at 4 pm local time instead of 2 pm. Additionally, the marquee fixtures will be taking place after the doubles finals instead of preceding them.
Record prize money
Wimbledon will have a record prize money of £52 million ($71.3 million) on offer this year, witnessing a hike of 7.1 per cent. The men and women’s singles champions are set to earn £3 million ($4.1 million) each, with £38.8 million ($53.2 million) available for players in the two draws. Players suffering a first-round defeat are guaranteed to walk away with £66,000 ($90,565) – a 10 per cent hike from last year.
More expensive strawberry
Costs have gone up at Wimbledon this year, and while players are being paid more handsomely, the iconic strawberry and cream that is synonymous with the grass-court Grand Slam is set to become more expensive – from £2.50 ($3.43), which had been the fixed price for the last 15 years, to £2.70 ($3.70).