Courts and toilet breaks – your Wimbledon questions answered

BBC Sport has been asking for your questions during Wimbledon 2025.

Hundreds of you have been in touch and we’ve picked out some of the best to take a look at.

Michael in York

Seven-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic may only be the sixth seed at this year’s tournament, but his status as a legend of the sport means big crowds are still very keen to watch him – more so than some of his higher-ranked rivals.

That means that, more often than not, he is given highest billing.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which operates the Championships, told the BBC: “The scheduling of the order of play each day is a complex operation. We take great care when scheduling matches and allocating courts. All decisions are made with fairness and the best interests of the tournament, players, spectators and our worldwide broadcast audience at heart.

” Novak is a 24-time Grand Slam singles champion so that is certainly a factor when scheduling. “

The last time Djokovic played anywhere other than Centre Court at Wimbledon was in 2021, when he beat American player Denis Kudla in straight sets on Court One.

Natalie in Surbiton

Yes, although they do their best to avoid it.

An umpire’s job is to manage a tennis match as efficiently as possible, without impacting play. Therefore, taking a toilet break and delaying play is far from ideal.

Umpires often restrict how much they eat and drink before matches in order to avoid having to take a bathroom break.

In fact, when Swedish umpire Mohamed Lahyani officiated the longest match in Wimbledon history between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in 2010, he did not take a bathroom break at any point.

Andy in Northampton

Isner and Mahut may have produced the longest ever match in Wimbledon history, but they didn’t play the longest individual game.

The longest game played in the singles at Wimbledon was between Spaniard Tommy Robredo and Italy’s Potito Starace in the first round in 2004. Though 20th seed Robredo won in straight sets, their match included a game which reached a whopping 34 points.

The second longest game was the 32-point epic produced during the 2023 final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. That lasted 26 minutes.

Amy in Cambridgeshire

The fastest serve ever recorded at Wimbledon was hit this year by Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard during his first-round defeat by Taylor Fritz.

The 6ft 8in 21-year-old smacked down a 153mph serve, though Fritz won the point.

The fastest serve ever recorded was 163.7mph – by Australian Sam Groth at the 2012 Busan Open Challenger.

That event is not recognised by the elite ATP Tour. The fastest ever serve at one of its competitions came from Isner during a 2016 Davis Cup tie against Australia.

The fastest ever women’s serve was 136.7mph – by Spanish player Georgina Garcia Perez at the 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open, though the fastest on the elite WTA Tour was from Sabine Lisicki of Germany, who hit a 131mph effort at Stanford in 2014.

At Wimbledon, the fastest women’s serve is the 129mph Venus Williams achieved in 2008.

Duncan in Northampton

When athletes finish a match in some sports, they are interviewed by a reporter who stands in close proximity to them.

Not so at Wimbledon, where post-match interviews are conducted from a few feet away. The reason? Quite simply, so there is a clear view of the players.

Katie in Shrewsbury

New tennis balls are used after the first seven games of a match, then after every nine subsequent games. New balls are used so that old ones with reduced air pressure from play do not compromise the quality of matches.

The AELTC estimates about 55, 000 balls are used per year.

Keith in Poole

Before serving, a player can bounce the ball no more than once.

The majority of players engage in a routine ball-bouncing routine; both the number and the strength of the bounces are individual.

The bouncing serves no practical purpose, but is designed to aid with concentration, giving the player a few seconds to focus on what kind of serve they are aiming to hit, to allow the crowd to quieten, and to create a rhythm between the ball and body while calming any nerves.

However, two things can prevent a player from bouncing the ball.

The shot clock is the first. From the end of the previous point, the server has 25 seconds to hit their first serve. If it is longer, the umpire may declare a violation. Verstöße can eventually result in a point’s concession. Umpires are generally lenient with the shot-clock rule unless a player’s delays are especially egregious.

An irritated opponent might object to a player who performs a particularly high number of bounces before serving or feints to serve before continuing to bounce further.

Glastonbury’s Alisson

Some players use rubber or silicone shock absorbers, or dampeners, to attach small, rubber shock absorbers to the strings of their rackets.

There are two types of dampener – button (round) and worm (long but thin and woven through strings).

When the ball is struck, especially if it is made off-centre, they are used to lower the level of vibration that is felt through the racket.

The goal is to make the player feel more at ease when connecting with a shot and to make the transition more muted and soft.

Dampeners also alter the sound that is made when the ball is struck – lowering the high-pitch ping into a thud.

However, not everyone players use dampeners. Some people favor bare strings because they feel more natural.

Marilyn in London

The boys ‘ and girls ‘ tournaments at Wimbledon feature players aged between 14 and 18 on 1 January each year.

Junior players are given points that count toward their international junior ranking, but they don’t receive any prize money.

Young people from all over the world travel to play.

Of course, players below the age of 18 can participate in the senior Wimbledon tournament if they are ranked highly enough, come through the qualifiers, or are given a wildcard.

When Boris Becker won the 1985 men’s singles, he was only 17 years old.

Allan in Aberdeen

Unforced errors are subjective in nature, but they are typically used to describe shots that were missed by a player while they had complete control of their body and racket.

For example, if a player is standing in the middle of the baseline and crashes a basic forehand against the back wall, that would count as an unforced error as they missed because of their own error.

However, if a player is under a lot of pressure from their opponent and eventually misses a shot after being forced out wide and barely connecting with a powerfully struck shot, the error has been forced because their rival’s play severely damaged their body movement and racket swing.

Unforced error totals are a fascinating way to evaluate a player’s overall performance on the court.

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