It was the 129th edition of the championships, the 48th in the Open Era and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, played on grass courts and part of the ATP World Tour, the WTA Tour, the ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour. They were organised by the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the International Tennis Federation. The tournament was held one week later than in previous seasons, giving a three-week gap from the end of the 2015 French Open. The change, announced in 2012, is intended to provide players more time for recuperation and preparatory grass-court tournaments.[1]
The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2015 ATP World Tour and the 2015 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event. There were singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which were part of the Grade A category of tournaments, and doubles events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category. The tournament was played on grass courts and took place over a series of 19 courts, including the four main showcourts, Centre Court, No. 1 Court, No. 2 Court and No. 3 Court.[5]
Point and prize money distribution
Point distribution
Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.
Senior points
Event
W
F
SF
QF
Round of 16
Round of 32
Round of 64
Round of 128
Q
Q3
Q2
Q1
Men's singles
2000
1200
720
360
180
90
45
10
25
16
8
0
Men's doubles
0
—
—
—
—
—
Women's singles
1300
780
430
240
130
70
10
40
30
20
2
Women's doubles
10
—
—
—
—
—
Wheelchair points
Event
W
F
3rd
4th
Doubles
800
500
375
100
Junior points
Event
W
F
SF
QF
Round of 16
Round of 32
Q
Q2
Q1
Boys' singles
375
270
180
120
75
30
25
20
0
Girls' singles
Boys' doubles
270
180
120
75
45
—
—
—
—
Girls' doubles
Prize money
The Wimbledon total prize money for 2015 has been increased by 7% to £26.75m. The winners of the men's and women's singles titles will earn £1.88m, up £120,000 from the previous year. The figures for doubles events are per pair.[6]
Seeds are adjusted on a surface-based system to reflect more accurately the individual player's grass court achievement as per the following formula, which applies to the top 32 players according to the ATP rankings on 22 June 2015:
Take Entry System Position points at 22 June 2015.
Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months (16 June 2014 – 21 June 2015).
Add 75% points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that (17 June 2013 – 15 June 2014).
Rank and points before in the following table are as of 29 June 2015.
Because the tournament takes place one week later than in 2014, points defending includes results from both the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and tournaments from the week of 7 July 2014 (Newport, Båstad and Stuttgart).
Seeds are based on the WTA rankings as of 22 June 2015. Rank and points before in the following table are as of 29 June 2015.[8]
Because the tournament takes place one week later than in 2014, points defending includes results from both the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and tournaments from the week of 7 July 2014 (Bucharest and Bad Gastein).
Prior to the finals, the two had faced off 39 times, with Federer having won the most matches, 20–19. At the time of the finals Djokovic was ranked No. 1 and Federer at No. 2. This encounter was their third meeting in a Grand Slam final, when the last two previous were split between the two at the 2007 US Open and 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Federer got the first break of serve in the match, during the first set, yet Djokovic quickly broke back leveling the match.[11][12] When Djokovic was serving to remain in the first set, he had to fend off two set points from Federer, which he eventually got the set into a tiebreak, and it was a lopsided tiebreak that sent Djokovic up one set to none.[11][12] The second set was a closely fought affair, but was decided to Federer's edge in the tiebreak.[11][12] The last two sets were rather uneventful in the spectrum of the match because Djokovic got the breaks of serve, allowing him to win his third Wimbledon title, and second in a row.[11][12] This put Djokovic eighth on the all-time list of Men's Grand Slam singles champions, and putting him fifth during the Open Era.[11][12] He now possesses as many Wimbledon singles titles, as his coach Boris Becker won in his career.[11][12]
This was their first encounter in a Grand Slam final, whilst all of the past meetings, occurred in Grand Slam events, from the first-time playing each other at the 2013 Australian Open, that Serena Williams won the match in two sets, during this second round match.[13] Their next contest occurred, at the 2014 French Open in the second round, yet this time around Garbiñe Muguruza, turned the tables to with the match in two sets.[13] The third tie came, at the 2015 Australian Open, and it went three sets in a fourth round encounter, to the eventual victory by Serena in three sets.[13] This bout would be their fourth meeting, and it got off to a rocky start by Serena, who served up three double faults, in order to get broken, during the first game of the match.[14][15] Muguruza would get out to a four games to two advantage, when Williams held serve, and let out a "Come On".[14][15] This rallied the twenty-time Grand Slam champion to win the first set, 6–4, when she broke the serve of Muguruza.[14][15] Serena would get off to a fast start, during the second set, that she ended up getting breaks of serve from Muguruza in the fourth and sixth games of the set, to go up to a five games to one advantage.[14][15] The momentous meaning the match held, for Williams ended up hitting her, when she had two bad service games, getting broken, letting Muguruza to come back to a five games to four set.[14][15] This allowed Muguruza, the opportunity to serve in an attempt to stay in the match and set, yet she quickly got down in a love–40 hole, which she could not escape.[14][15] The victory gave Serena her second "Serena Slam", and that was with the 2014 US Open win counted from the previous year.[14][15] This victory was her twenty-first Grand Slam singles title, putting her one behind Steffi Graf in the Open Era of tennis, and three behind the all-time record held by Margaret Court.[14][15] The win meant she became the oldest women's singles Grand Slam champion in the Open Era of tennis, besting the mark previously set by Martina Navratilova.[3]
