What surface is Wimbledon played on? What to know
When Wimbledon comes around on the tennis schedule, it's hard not to have a conversation about the difficulty that the tournament presents to the best men's and women's tennis players in the world.
One of the reasons for that has to do with the playing surface of the Grand Slam tournament.
"It’s a completely different surface than the others," Lorenzo Musetti told The Athletic. Defending back-to-back Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz told The Athletic last year that he has to "learn how to move better" and "how to play better" when he takes the courts at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
Here's what you need to know about the playing surface at Wimbledon:
What is the playing surface at Wimbledon?
The playing surface at Wimbledon is a grass court.
Per Wimbledon's website, it takes 15 months to prepare a Wimbledon Championships standard court before it can be played on in competition. Additionally, all courts are re-lined, rolled and mowed daily during the two-week tournament.
As for the height of the grass, it is 8 millimeters, or 5/16 of an inch. Since the playing surface is grass, it is a shorter playing surface for players compared to other Grand Slam courts and plays a bit faster than a hard court or a clay court.
Here's a breakdown of the length and lines of the courts at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on Church Road in London:
- Total area of grass on each of Centre and No. 1 Courts is 41m x 22m
- Singles Court length 23.77m (78’) x width 8.23m (27’)
- Doubles Court length 23.77m (78’) x width 10.97m (36’)
- All the lines are 50mm wide, except the baselines, which are 100mm.
How many tennis Grand Slam tournaments are played on grass?
Of the four Grand Slam tournaments in the tennis season — the others being the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open — Wimbledon is the only one that is played on a grass surface.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 player in the world, said in an interview with The Athletic that playing on a grass court brings its own challenges and playing styles compared to playing on a hard or clay court.
"You have to be more focused on the footwork here," Alcaraz told The Athletic after winning the 2024 Wimbledon Championship. "Moving on grass is the key to everything on grass. I can’t slide as I do on clay or on a hard court."
Here's a full breakdown of the surfaces for tennis' four Grand Slam tournaments:
- Australian Open: Hard Court Surface
- French Open: Clay Court Surface
- Wimbledon: Grass Court Surface
- U.S. Open: Hard Court Surface
How to watch Wimbledon 2025: TV channel, streaming
- TV channel: ESPN family of network
- Streaming options: ESPN+ | Fubo (free trial)
The 2025 Wimbledon Championships will be aired nationally across several channels in the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Streaming options include ESPN+, ESPN's subscription streaming service, and Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial for new subscribers.
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