Wimbledon 2024 by the numbers: How many balls are used and how much alcohol is drunk at SW19?

• The first weekend of Wimbledon 2024 is coming up, with more people expected to travel to SW19.
• Every year, an estimated 500,000 people attend the North London-based tournament.
• But how many bottles of champagne and Pimms are consumed and how many strawberries and cream are consumed?
• Benjamin Jackson takes a look at Wimbledon by the numbers for your next pub quiz outing

Is anyone up for a spot of tennis this weekend, as Wimbledon 2024 continues?

One of the world’s biggest sporting events, watched by millions the world over, is coming up to its first weekend (July 6-7 2024), with those who couldn’t attend for work reasons expected to increase the amount of footfall around North London.

With that comes an increased demand for food and drink, despite how costly it may seem, with champagne and Pimms the drink “du jour” throughout the fortnight the championships run each year. 

That’s got to be a lot of back bar work for the diligent staff working the tournament, right? Actually, how many people do work during the championships owing to the nearly half-million people that attend each year? Someone has to ensure the grounds are kept clean alongside the diligent work of ball boys and girls. 

Ever one to call myself a “treasure trove of pub quiz knowledge,” no matter how useless it may seem at times, I’ve taken a look at some of the facts and figures that you might get asked at the pub or venue you frequent next time around.

So if you ever wanted to know who the oldest person to win Wimbledon that isn’t just the open/modern era, this one might be for you.

Wimbledon - by the numbers

54,250

A total of 54,250 tennis balls are reported to be used each year throughout Wimbledon, with Slazenger having provided the Championships with their official tournament ball since 1902. 

Between 5 to 10

Curious how many tennis racquets a player goes through during the fortnight of Wimbledon? Estimates suggest that players on average go through around five to ten racquets, not accounting for those occasions where someone trashes their racquet during a particularly arduous set. 

If you include players that went through the qualifying rounds of the Championship, that comes to a total of several hundred rackets used throughout the two weeks.

6,000

Around 6,000 people work at Wimbledon each year, including officials, groundskeepers, security, catering staff and those all-important ball boys and girls you see standing behind the players throughout the tournament. 

Those ball boys and girls also go through a rigid amount of training before the tournament, with the youngest possible ball person being 14 and the age limit for those helpers being 18 years old.

190,000

A total of around 190,000 portions of the traditional strawberries and cream are consumed throughout Wimbledon each year, with some rough math revealing that 22.8 tonnes of strawberries and 5.7 tonnes of cream are used each year.

Take into account that this year the cost of the delicacy is £2.50, Wimbledon would earn a gross of £475,000 for the item that, as Alex Nelson wrote, usually would set you back £4 from a supermarket that would serve around four people. 

45,000

That is a wild estimate given the temperatures in recent years, but an average of around 29,000 bottles of “champers” (darling) are quaffed throughout the tournament, while those who prefer a Pimm’s cup are said to consume 16,000 bottles. 

In total, those high-end alcoholic beverages come to an average of 45,000 bottles per year, but again - those temperatures mean sometimes a lot more is drunk - responsibly, of course, to avoid “poor form” while watching a game. 

11 hours, 5 minutes

The longest tennis match to take place in Wimbledon history lasted three days when American 23rd seed John Isner played against French qualifier Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the 2010 Championships.

Play began at 6:13pm on June 22 2010 and finally ended at 4:47 pm on June 23 2010, with Isner finally winning 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 after total of 183 games.

34 minutes

At the other end of the scale, Women’s great Steffi Graf has historically been the shortest match to take place at Wimbledon. She beat Natasha Zvereva in 34 minutes in 2002, with the match finishing 6-0 6-0 for Graff.

But before the Open Era, William Renshaw originally held the record, when he defeated John Hatley 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes.

Five

Close but no cigar or trophy on five separate occasions for tennis player Ken Rosewall, who reached the final four times (1954, 1956, 1970, and 1974) but never won. Don’t feel too bad for the Australian tennis ace - he ended up winning the Australia Open four times, the French Open twice and the US Open twice. 

16 years, 278 days

Martina Hingis pips Boris Becker as the youngest winner of a Wimbledon singles title, when she won in 1997 at the age of 16 years and 278 days, beating Becker’s record when he won the title as an unseeded entry at the age of 17. 

41 years 

Before the modern era, Arthur Gore was the oldest person to have won Wimbledon, winning the 1900 Men’s title, while Charlotte Cooper Sterry earned the Women’s title in 1908 at the age of 37 to become the second oldest winner at SW19.

In the modern era? That honour goes to US player Arthur Ashe, who won the Men’s championship in 1975 at the age of 31 - ten years younger than Gore’s feat. 

One

Only one wildcard entry has ever won Wimbledon - but it was an incredibly famous victory at that. Goran Ivanisevic defied all expectation and punditry when he bested Pat Rafter to win the Men’s championship in 2001, leading to the now widely seen celebrations as the Croatian player jumped into the crowd to celebrate with his family and coaches. 

Have you any Wimbledon facts that people aren’t aware of, or is there a question you have regarding some Wimbledon statistics? Leave a comment down below or drop the writer of this piece an email - [email protected].