46-684: Centre Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as the All England Club) and is the main court used in The Championships at Wimbledon , the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is considered the world's most famous tennis court. It incorporates the clubhouse of the All England Club. Its only regular use for play is during the two weeks
92-510: A retractable roof to cover the entire court. Building work began with the removal of the existing roof over the stands at the end of the 2006 championships. There was no roof over the stands for the 2007 event, and fixed parts of the new construction were visible the following year. The lack of a roof played a key role in the finish to the now-legendary 2008 Wimbledon men's final , which saw the match end in near-darkness after nearly two hours of rain delays. The completed retractable roof structure
138-468: A 3×4 grid and there was no actual centre court. This changed in 1881 when the middle two courts of the middle row were combined to form a Centre Court. The name was kept when the club relocated to its present site at Church Road in 1922. It was not until a further four courts were added in 1980 that Centre Court's location in the grounds again matched its name. The initial capacity of the Centre Court
184-483: A change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod , or pH ), allowing it to maintain fitness across a range of environmental conditions. Acclimatization occurs in a short period of time (hours to weeks), and within the organism's lifetime (compared to adaptation , which is evolution, taking place over many generations). This may be a discrete occurrence (for example, when mountaineers acclimate to high altitude over hours or days) or may instead represent part of
230-671: A higher running speed at warmer temperatures than lizards that were not acclimated to warm conditions. Fruit flies that develop at relatively cooler or warmer temperatures have increased cold or heat tolerance as adults, respectively ( See Developmental plasticity ). The salt content of sweat and urine decreases as people acclimatize to hot conditions. Plasma volume, heart rate, and capillary activation are also affected. Acclimatization to high altitude continues for months or even years after initial ascent, and ultimately enables humans to survive in an environment that, without acclimatization, would kill them. Humans who migrate permanently to
276-689: A longer time to dry after rain than hard courts. Historically for the Grand Slams grass courts have been used at Wimbledon since 1877, the US Open from 1881 to 1974, and the Australian Open from 1905 to 1987. Hard courts are made of uniform rigid material, often covered with an acrylic surface layer to offer greater consistency of bounce than other outdoor surfaces. Hard courts can vary in speed, though they are faster than clay but not as fast as grass courts. The quantity of sand added to
322-412: A periodic cycle, such as a mammal shedding heavy winter fur in favor of a lighter summer coat. Organisms can adjust their morphological, behavioral, physical, and/or biochemical traits in response to changes in their environment. While the capacity to acclimate to novel environments has been well documented in thousands of species, researchers still know very little about how and why organisms acclimate
368-443: A total of 60 ft (18 m) wide and 120 ft (37 m) long. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines , dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) high at the posts, and 3 ft (0.914 m) high in the center. The net posts are 3 ft (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net, 3 ft (0.914 m) outside
414-624: A year that the Championships take place. Centre Court has a premier box, known as the Royal Box, for use by the Royal Family and other distinguished guests. It is the sixth largest tennis-specific stadium in the world by capacity. A retractable roof was installed in 2009, enabling play to continue during rain and into the night up until a council-imposed curfew of 11:00 pm. Centre Court, along with No. 1 Court and No. 2 Court ,
460-656: Is 2 in (5 cm), the other lines are between 1 and 2 in (3 and 5 cm) wide, whereas the baseline may be up to 4 in (10 cm) wide. The ITF's Play and Stay campaign promotes playing on smaller courts with slower red, orange, and green balls for younger children. This gives children more time and control so they can serve, rally, and score from the first lesson on courts that are sized to fit their bodies. The ITF has mandated that official competition for children aged 10 years and under should be played on "Orange" courts 18 m (59 ft) long by 6.4 m (21 ft) wide. Competition for children under 8 years
506-502: Is dictated by their phenotypic plasticity or the ability of an organism to change certain traits. Recent research in the study of acclimation capacity has focused more heavily on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity rather than acclimation responses. Scientists believe that when they understand more about how organisms evolved the capacity to acclimate, they will better understand acclimation. Many plants, such as maple trees , irises , and tomatoes , can survive freezing temperatures if
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#1732772920668552-439: Is not known. In 1881 temporary covered stands (A, B and C) were erected on three sides of the Centre Court and in 1884 stand A was converted into a permanent stand, to be followed in 1885 by the conversion of stands B and C. In 1886 the three stands were joined at the corners to form a continuous structure. The stands were considerably enlarged in 1906 and in 1909 a new stand B was constructed increasing capacity by 600 seats. In 1914
598-577: Is played on "Red" courts that are 11 m (36 ft) long and 5.5 m (18 ft) wide. The net is always 0.8 m high in the center. Tennis is played on a variety of surfaces and each surface has its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game. There are four main types of courts depending on the materials used for the court surface: clay courts, hard courts, grass courts and carpet courts . The International Tennis Federation (ITF) lists different surfaces and properties and classifies surfaces into one of five pace settings: Of
644-612: Is the only major to have been played on three surfaces; it was played on grass from its inception until 1974, clay from 1975 until 1977 and hard courts since it moved from the West Side Tennis Club to the National Tennis Center in 1978. ITF uses the following classification for tennis court surface types: Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to use clay courts. Clay courts slow down
690-403: Is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be used to create a tennis court, each with its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game. The dimensions of a tennis court are defined and regulated by
736-745: Is used for some outdoor courts, particularly in Asia. Carpet is generally a fast surface, faster than hardcourt, with low bounce. Notable tennis tournaments previously held on carpet courts were the WCT Finals , Paris Masters , U.S. Pro Indoor and Kremlin Cup . Since 2009, their use has been discontinued on the top tier of the ATP. ATP Challenger Tour tournaments such as the Trofeo Città di Brescia still use carpet courts. The WTA Tour's last carpet court event,
782-558: The ATP World Tour and World Championship Tennis circuits, though no events currently use them. Historically, other surfaces have been used indoors such as wood courts at the defunct World Covered Court Championships and London Indoor Professional Championships . The conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships , in 2012, was played on the lawn of Centre Court under the closed roof and artificial lights;
828-559: The Halle Open has also seen a number of matches played on its grass court in the Gerry Weber Stadion with the roof closed. These, however, are outdoor venues with retractable roofs. Common tennis court terms: Acclimatization Acclimatization or acclimatisation ( also called acclimation or acclimatation ) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as
874-636: The International -level Tournoi de Québec , was discontinued after 2018. Some tennis courts are indoors, which allows play regardless of weather conditions and is more comfortable for spectators. Different court surfaces have been used indoors. Hard courts are most common indoors, as they are the easiest to install and maintain. If the installation is permanent, they are constructed on an asphalt or concrete base, as with outdoor courts. Temporary indoor hard courts are typically constructed using wooden floor panels topped with acrylic which are installed over
920-524: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) governing body and are written down in the annual 'Rules of Tennis' document. The court is 78 ft (23.77 m) long. Its width is 27 ft (8.23 m) for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches. The service line is 21 ft (6.40 m) from the net. Additional clear space around the court is needed in order for players to reach overrun balls for
966-578: The fourth round Ladies Singles match between Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina . The first full match to be played with the roof closed was a men's singles fourth round match between British player Andy Murray and Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka . Play on Centre Court had never gone past 9:17 pm, but with the roof closed and the floodlights on, the match could be completed after dark – at 10:38 pm. Merton Council 's environmental chief David Simpson said after Murray's late-night win that late-night tennis would not cause any problems. However, when
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#17327729206681012-506: The air-conditioning system acclimatises the nearly 15,000-seat stadium for indoor-grass competition. The tournament rules for the Wimbledon fortnight dictate that the roof, once closed, must remain closed until the end of the match, so some matches may be completed indoors even though the sun has re-emerged. The roof was closed for the first time during a competitive Championships match at about 4:40 pm on Monday 29 June 2009, during
1058-473: The ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass or hard courts. For this reason, the clay court takes away many of the advantages of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, but a clay surface costs more to maintain. Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clay's water content must be balanced; green clay courts generally require
1104-576: The biochemistry of cell membranes making them more fluid in cold temperatures and less fluid in warm temperatures by increasing the number of membrane proteins . In response to certain stressors, some organisms express so-called heat shock proteins that act as molecular chaperones and reduce denaturation by guiding the folding and refolding of proteins. It has been shown that organisms which are acclimated to high or low temperatures display relatively high resting levels of heat shock proteins so that when they are exposed to even more extreme temperatures
1150-484: The cost of sensing the environmental conditions and regulating responses, producing structures required for plasticity (such as the energetic costs in expressing heat shock proteins ), and genetic costs (such as linkage of plasticity-related genes with harmful genes). Given the shortcomings of the beneficial acclimation hypothesis, researchers are continuing to search for a theory that will be supported by empirical data. The degree to which organisms are able to acclimate
1196-714: The courts to be sloped to allow water run-off. Clay courts are more common in Europe and Latin America than in North America, and tend to heavily favor baseline players. Historically for the Grand Slams clay courts have been used at the French Open since 1891 and the US Open from 1975 to 1977. Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use. They consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil, which adds additional variables: bounces depend on how healthy
1242-513: The current four Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian and US Open use hard courts, the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon , the only Grand Slam to have always been played on the same surface, is played on grass. The Australian Open switched from grass to hard courts in 1988 and in its early years the French championship alternated between clay and sand/rubble courts. The US Open
1288-456: The first Wimbledon final to be played partially under a roof. The roof was designed by SCX Special Projects Ltd and controls for mobilising the roof were designed by Fairfield Control Systems Ltd. and Moog who supplied the electric control system comprising electric actuators, servo motors, servo drives and closed-loop controllers. All companies undertake all the planned preventative maintenance. The roof's ten trusses each weigh 100 tonnes, and
1334-472: The form of an increase in the mass of nutritional organs or heat-producing organs, like the pectorals (with the latter being more consistent across species ). While the capacity for acclimatization has been documented in thousands of species, researchers still know very little about how and why organisms acclimate in the way that they do. Since researchers first began to study acclimation, the overwhelming hypothesis has been that all acclimation serves to enhance
1380-452: The grass is, how recently it has been mowed, and the wear and tear of recent play. Points are usually very quick where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and the serve plays a more important role than on other surfaces. Grass courts tend to favour serve-and-volley tennis players. Grass courts were once among the most common tennis surfaces, but are now rare due to high maintenance costs, as they must be watered and mown often, and take
1426-729: The paint can greatly affect the rate at which the ball slows down. The US Open is played on Laykold while the Australian Open is played on GreenSet , both acrylic-topped hard court surfaces. Historically for the Grand Slams hard courts have been used at the US Open since 1978 and the Australian Open since 1988. "Carpet" in tennis means any removable court covering. Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events, but they are not in use any more for professional events. A short piled form of artificial turf infilled with sand
Centre Court - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-525: The performance of the organism. This idea has come to be known as the beneficial acclimation hypothesis . Despite such widespread support for the beneficial acclimation hypothesis, not all studies show that acclimation always serves to enhance performance ( See beneficial acclimation hypothesis ). One of the major objections to the beneficial acclimation hypothesis is that it assumes that there are no costs associated with acclimation. However, there are likely to be costs associated with acclimation. These include
1518-478: The process of plant acclimatisation at different levels of photosynthetic photon flux. Animals acclimatize in many ways. Sheep grow very thick wool in cold, damp climates. Fish are able to adjust only gradually to changes in water temperature and quality. Tropical fish sold at pet stores are often kept in acclimatization bags until this process is complete. Lowe & Vance (1995) were able to show that lizards acclimated to warm temperatures could maintain
1564-433: The proteins are readily available. Expression of heat shock proteins and regulation of membrane fluidity are just two of many biochemical methods organisms use to acclimate to novel environments. Organisms are able to change several characteristics relating to their morphology in order to maintain performance in novel environments. For example, birds often increase their organ size to increase their metabolism. This can take
1610-477: The record late finish was surpassed in 2010 during a match between Novak Djokovic and Olivier Rochus which ran until 10:58 pm it was reported that Merton council had imposed a curfew of 11:00 pm BST on Centre Court. This was then exceeded on Saturday 30 June 2012, when Andy Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis in their 3rd round match, which was completed at 11:02 pm, in spite of the 11:00 pm ruling. On Sunday 8 July 2012, Andy Murray and Roger Federer contested
1656-432: The same layout were installed on Wimbledon courts. These were replaced in 2008 by full colour LED screens intended to provide full Hawk-Eye replays to the crowd in the stadium. There is an inscription above the entryway to Centre Court which reads "If you can meet with triumph and disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same" – lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem If— . Tennis court A tennis court
1702-538: The seating capacity was increased from 2,300 to 3,500 and this remained unchanged until the move to the new ground at Church Road. The court suffered from bomb damage during World War II when five 500 lb bombs hit the Centre Court during an air attack in October 1940. 1,200 seats in the stadium were destroyed and although play resumed on time after the war in 1946, the court wasn't fully repaired until 1949. The original centre court roof from 1922, which partly covers
1748-421: The singles court on each side. Based on the standard rules of tennis, the size of the court is measured to the outside of the respective baselines and sidelines . The "service" lines ("T" and the "service" line) are centered. The ball must completely miss the line to be considered "out". This also means that the width of the line (except for the center service line) is irrelevant to play. The center service line
1794-475: The stands, has been modified several times. In 1979, it was raised by one metre to allow the capacity to be increased by 1,088. Further building work came in 1992 with a replacement of the roof and a modified structure which allowed 3,601 seats to have a clearer view of the court which had previously been restricted by the number of roof supports. A full retractable roof (see below) was completed in 2009, and capacity increased to 15,000 by adding six rows of seats to
1840-444: The temperature gradually drops lower and lower each night over a period of days or weeks. The same drop might kill them if it occurred suddenly. Studies have shown that tomato plants that were acclimated to higher temperature over several days were more efficient at photosynthesis at relatively high temperatures than were plants that were not allowed to acclimate. In the orchid Phalaenopsis , phenylpropanoid enzymes are enhanced in
1886-495: The total weight, including non-moving parts, is 3,000 tonnes. The total area of the roof when fully deployed is 5,200 m. The cost of the roof has not been disclosed by the club, but is estimated at £80–£100 million . The Scoreboard on centre court's present shape and layout closely reflect that of the original scoreboard installed in the 1950s, which featured manually inserted panels for player names and incandescent-lightbulb display of scores. In 1982, dot matrix scoreboards on
Centre Court - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-411: The upper tier on the east, north, and west sides. New media facilities, scoreboards including video, and commentary boxes were built to replace those currently in the upper tier. New wider seats were installed and new additional stairs and lifts were added. After many years of debate by players, fans, media and officials that often occurred during rain delays, the All England Club finally decided to build
1978-500: The venue's standard floor. This is the system used for modern indoor professional events such as the ATP Finals . Clay courts can be installed indoors with subsurface watering systems to keep the clay from drying out, and have been used for Davis Cup matches. Carpet courts were once the most prominent of indoor surfaces, especially in temporary venues, but have largely been replaced by removable hard courts. They were used on both
2024-529: The way that they do. The nouns acclimatization and acclimation (and the corresponding verbs acclimatize and acclimate ) are widely regarded as synonymous , both in general vocabulary and in medical vocabulary. The synonym acclimation is less commonly encountered, and fewer dictionaries enter it. In order to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions, there are several strategies organisms use to acclimate. In response to changes in temperature, organisms can change
2070-479: Was also host to the tennis competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics . The name "Centre Court" derives from the location of the principal court at the All England Croquet Club's original site off Worple Road, Wimbledon – where the main court was located in the centre of all the other courts. For the first Wimbledon Championship in 1877 a total of 12 courts were available which were laid out in
2116-485: Was ready for the 2009 Championships , being unveiled in April 2009 and tested with a capacity audience during an exhibition match on 17 May 2009, featuring Andre Agassi , Steffi Graf , Tim Henman , and Kim Clijsters (subsequently returning from retirement). The roof takes up to 10 minutes to close, during which time play is suspended. However, the time to transfer from outside to inside play can be up to 45 minutes while
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