Wimbledon 2025: empty seats, curfew, online calling and calling voice explained

BBC Sport asked your questions during the first days of Wimbledon 2025.

Hundreds of you have been in contact and we have chosen some of the best to take a look.

Read the rest for an overview of our Ask me team in service strategy, skin security and strawberries …

John in Bedford

There were many unoccupied seats visible in the stands of the central courtyard and the courtyard on the opening day of the 2025 championships, even if the voting tickets were sold months ago. For what?

Wimbledon operations director Michelle Dine spoke on Tuesday at BBC Sport.

“Because it was so hot, there are many more people wandering on the ground, finding shadow,” she said.

“We are publishing messages all the time by telling people to get water. So maybe there were a few more people who were outside the fields trying to find shadow and take a break.”

Spectators are only allowed to move to Wimbledon only during the end changes, which occur after the two games. If a spectator buys food or drink, the time spent getting out of the arena, the queue, the return and waiting for a change of end, could mean a major game of play.

The game starts at 11 a.m. and can work for 12 hours. Some fans may not spend the whole day at SW19 – Travel plans may mean that some arrive a few hours after the start of the game or leave before the end.

A ticket for one of the two Wimbledon exhibition courts also allows fans to watch matches on one of the outdoor shorts. There may be points of the day when fans take a break in their designated exhibition seat in order to watch another match that they would prefer to see elsewhere.

Russell in Frome

Men playing matches to the best of five sets while women only play three is a tradition dating from the end of the 19th century.

When the Wimbledon single male tournament took place for the first time in 1877, matches for the best of five years. When the female singles followed in 1884, they played the matches at the best of the three sets due to a perception that they had less endurance.

Men continue to play the best sets in the four Great Chelems in Tennis, returning to the best of three in other tournaments throughout the year.

Zac in the Lancashire

The tennis balls are made of a hollow rubber nucleus, filled with pressure air, with a composed felt lid composed of cotton, nylon and wool.

But that hasn’t always been the case.

When modern lawn tennis developed in the middle of the 19th century, the first bullets were entirely rubber. The wear outside the rubber finally led to efforts to create a protective coating.

The flannel coating began to be sewn on the balls, improving both their sustainability and their performance, and the solid rubber nucleus was finally replaced by pressure gas.

Owen in Manchester

In the past, tennis bullets were traditionally black or more often white, depending on the color of the courtyard.

All of this changed when David Intéborough – now the most famous naturalist in the world – was BBC Two controller at the start of his television career.

While color televisions became more common in the late 1960s, Intanborough was determined to improve the quality of color diffusion. He sent four colored cameras to Wimbledon in 1967, believing that a very popular sporting event was the perfect canvas for the color to be brought in the salons of the nation.

But the white ball was often difficult to do against the white lines on the ground, and viewers had trouble saying if shots landed or came out.

Attaborough suggested a change in color in something more visible. The International Tennis Federation has carried out a series of tests to find out which color of color could be seen most clearly, finally setting up on fluorescent yellow.

The yellow balls were used for the first time at the US Open in 1973, before being late in Wimbledon in 1986.

Robert in Brixton

Tennis players usually take three ball team balls before serving.

They will generally make one, will put one in their pocket and will keep the third. The second ball is held in the pocket so that if the first service is a fault, the game can continue without another ball which must be transmitted to the player.

When he holds the three balls, the players generally examine them by view and touch it before choosing which one to keep and which to restore. They do so to try to get an advantage.

Whenever a tennis ball is affected, it loses air pressure inside and hair outside becomes more efficient.

A bullet that has a high level of atmospheric pressure and smooth outdoor will move faster in the air, which makes it preferable for a first fast service.

Meanwhile, a bullet that has a little less atmospheric and more external pressure effiloged can be more suitable for slower service with more rotation, which makes them potentially useful for the second service.

The players assess their options and decide which bullets suit them best according to their style of play and the state of the game in the match.

Beth in Essex

There are 32 seeds in each of the simple male and feminine prints with the four Grand Slam. The sowing is decided according to the classification of players in the perspective of the tournament. For the 2025 edition, the deadline was June 23.

For male singles, this is done via the ranking of TP players. For women’s singles, the WTA Tour ranking is used. The players are classified in the order in which they rank.

Sometimes the number of seeds of a player can be higher than its ranking if the more classified players withdraw.

For example, Casper Ruud, Arthur Son and Sebastian Korda were all classified this year, but retired because of an injury. Consequently, Alex Michelsen, Tallon Griekspoor and Matteo Berrettini were classified respectively 30th, 31st and 32nd.

Seeds are also given to the double teams of male, feminine and mixed competitions depending on their ranking.

Craig in Wrexham

Presented in parallel with the unveiling of the roof of the central court in 2009, the All England club announced a curfew at 11 p.m. in play in Wimbledon.

The curfew was applied to “balance the consideration of local residents at the level of an international tennis event which takes place in a residential area”.

Another key consideration was the “transport challenge” inside and outside Wimbledon, with public transport options for fans later decreasing in the evening.

Becky in cumbria

The players apply the sunscreen before the games and can do it again during the end changes.

Sweating and the use of towels can decrease its efficiency, which is why players can sometimes be seen by adding more protection during the matches.

Rainer at Oxford

Now that line judges belong to the past in Wimbledon, automated line calls can be heard when a shot is affected by the game or that a faulty player on a service.

Players and fans complained that the voices were difficult to hear from the judges of the bellows line used when they were called during the action.

The voices broadcast by the technology of the All England Club are those of its staff and tourist guides behind the scenes.

Sarah at Derby and Jack in Nottingham

The cream used in the classic Wimbledon snack is a double cream, which comes from British dairies.

There are also vegan options available.

This article is the last of the BBC Sport Ask me team.

Ask me that everything is a dedicated service to answer your questions. These questions were submitted by Chris to Sutton Coldfield, Heidi in Leeds, Zac in Lancashire, David in Chesterfield, Beth in Essex, Sarah in Derby, Craig in Wrexham, Becky in Cumbria, Angela in Chichester and Lorna in Oxfordshire. Thank you, everything!

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