Centre Court.html



Centre Court during the 2005 Wimbledon Championships.

Centre Court may be used generically as the British English term for the main court at any tennis complex. However, it is most frequently used as the identifier for the main court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England. Built in 1922, it held 13,810 spectators for the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, to increase to 15,000 for the 2009 Championship. Its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place, but it is arguably the most famous tennis venue in the world. This venue has a premier box that the Royal Family use, as well as other distinguished guests. Centre Court will also be used for the tennis competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Left side at Centre Court during the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

The original roof for the centre court from 1922 was replaced in 1992. The second roof for the Centre Court was removed after the 2006 Championships in preparation for plans over a three year period to add a retractable roof to the venue. For the 2007 Championships, Centre Court had no roof at all for the first time since the stadium opened in 1922. The fixed portion of the new roof was completed by the 2008 championship and the retractable roof structure is scheduled to be in place for the 2009 Championships. Capacity will be increased to 15,000 by adding six rows of seats to the upper tier on the east, north and west sides. New media facilities, scoreboards including video, and commentary boxes will be built to replace those currently in the upper tier. New wider seats will be installed and new additional stairs and lifts will be added.

An inscription above the entryway to Centre Court reads "If you can meet with triumph and disaster / And treat those two imposters just the same" - lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem If— .

Centre Court during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships-the year there was no roof.

See also

• List of tennis stadiums by capacity

External links

• Centre Court Long-term plan features time-lapse video of the construction work
• Information about Wimbledon Centre Court and a Photo Gallery

Coordinates: 51°26′1.48″N 0°12′50.63″W / 51.4337444, -0.2140639

This tennis-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.