On Site At Wimbledon 2025 Ahead Of Famed The Hill's Makeover

Forbes

6 hours ago

Renderings of an updated The Hill at Wimbledon that increases capacity and access.
For Wimbledon crowds able to enter the historic grounds, but not get a seat inside Centre Court, The Hill has turned into a coveted spot to watch tennis. For 2025, The Hill will again offer views onto the giant screen of the world's top players, whether Carlos Alcaraz coming off his five-set, come-from-behind Roland Garros victory against top-ranked Jannik Sinner on his quest for a third straight Wimbledon title or Coco Gauff hoping to make it two tennis majors in a row for her first Wimbledon championship.
And while The Hill has history, it will come new in 2027.
Located next to No. 1 Court—the large screen is mounted onto the side of the No. 1 Court stadium—fans gather to relax and watch live action from the around the grounds. Following the conclusion of The Championships in 2026, a new-look Hill will take shape in time for 2027, when the All England Club plans to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Championships in 1877.
Planned upgrades include greater accessible viewing across the various tiers of The Hill and more seating through a mix of new low-slung retaining walls to optimize the visibility of the large screen by reducing the gradient on the existing tiers. Officials claim the changes will expand the capacity 20%.
Spectators watch the big screen from The Hill during day ten of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at ... More All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 10, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by)
Updates include removing existing paths and replacing them with permeable pathways while introducing sun shading and a rain cover via a new pergola. New floral installments will get added to the top of The Hill.
'The redevelopment of our world-famous Hill, in time for The Championships 2027, will allow even more tennis fans to enjoy its unique atmosphere and vantage point,' says Deborah Jevans, chair of the All England Club. 'It is an exciting opportunity as we look toward 2027 and the 150th anniversary of the first Championships.'
The latest update to the site of the All England Lawn Tennis Club comes as the site has moved and evolved.
Wimbledon Site History
Since its start in 1877, the world's oldest tennis tournament has enjoyed two homes, both in London's southwest suburb of Wimbledon, with the well-known postal code of SW19. The AELTC was founded as a croquet club in 1868 on four acres of leased meadowland between Wimbledon's Worple Road and a railway line. As lawn tennis gained popularity over the next few years, the club added the sport to its offerings and the first edition of The Championships—open only to men, with 21 competitors—was held in 1877. By 1884, the AELTC added permanent stands around the club's Centre Court, named for its location within the grounds.
The Worple Road site enjoyed modest growth prior to World War I, but shortly after the war the tournament had simply outgrown its leased site and the All England Club purchased land off nearby Church Road in 1920, playing there for the first time in 1922. (Upon moving from Worple Road, the site changed uses and is now enjoyed by local students at Wimbledon High School.)
For over 100 years now, the Church Road home of Wimbledon has undergone both turmoil and change. One of the most momentous updates in the past few years was the addition of a second retractable roof in 2019, this for No. 1 Court.
An aerial view of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club's centre court, outer courts and ... More grounds, Wimbledon, London, July 14th 1954. (Photo by Evening Standard/)
In 2022, to coincide with a 100-year celebration, Wimbledon refreshed Centre Court by removing a tented rain covering structure to open an extra three feet of space from the edge of the grass to the start of the seating. That helped create a new player entrance. At the same time, an unused camera position was converted into 47 new premium seats.
Getting to the place of modern change, though, required 100 years of history.
When opened in 1922, the 14,000-seat Centre Court was joined by 12 other courts. The original No. 2 Court came in 1923 and the original No. 1 Court in 1924.
Just over 15 years after moving to Church Road, World War II put a halt on the tournament from 1940 through 1945 and included the bombing of Centre Court in 1940. During the war, the facilities housed fire and ambulance services and a decontamination unit. Troops camped at the club, including within the concourses.
When the club was restored after the war, growth remained quiet for many decades. A 1,088-seat addition joined the top of Centre Court in 1979, bringing its total capacity to just shy of 15,000 seats, including 80 dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs within the Royal Box, which the Queen attended in 1957, '62, '77 and 2010.
The real changes, though, started in the 1990s.
The addition of a new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park—the 11 acres located to the north of Centre Court—gave The Championships a second major stadium, this with 11,393 seats. Also in 1997, a new broadcast center and two additional grass courts joined the grounds.
A major non-structural change occurred in 2000 when the All England Club switched from a mixture of 70% ryegrass and 30% red fescue for its playing surface to 100% ryegrass for increased durability. The tournament still uses Rufus, a trained Harris Hawk, to patrol the courts for one hour the mornings of The Championships prior to the gates opening as a deterrent to pigeons roosting on the grounds.
Modern Updates at Wimbledon
In 2009, a new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court replaced No. 13 Court. (There is now no longer a No. 13 Court on the grounds, as the 18 championship grass courts are all numbered 1 through 18, except for Centre taking the place of 13.) At the same time, a brand-new No. 3 Court gave The Championships a 2,000-seat venue where the old No. 2 Court and No. 3 Court previously stood.
While the Wimbledon grounds enjoyed the addition of 6,000 new stadium-style seats in 2009, the most talked about addition that year came with Centre Court's brand-new retractable roof. Then came the second roof in 2019 over No. 1 Court. The 80,000-square-foot fabric covering required 11 new 112-ton steel trusses atop the grounds' second-largest stadium. What originally opened in 1924 with a seating capacity of 2,500 and standing room for about 750 additional spectators became a new No. 1 Court in 1997 with a capacity for 11,432. Now it has shifted to house over 12,000.
Other changes in the last few years include an additional story on the Museum Building, a new Southern Village public area and updates throughout existing buildings. Next up: The Hill.
MORE: The Last 8 Club At Wimbledon Has History And Keeps Growing