A look at Wimbledon, the year's third Grand Slam tennis tournament:
Surface: Grass courts.
Site: The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Schedule: Play begins Monday, June 21. The women's singles final is July 3; the men's singles final is July 4. There is no play scheduled for the two-week tournament's middle Sunday, June 27.
2009 Men's Singles Champion: Roger Federer of Switzerland.
2009 Women's Singles Champion: Serena Williams of the United States.
Last Year: Federer beat Andy Roddick of the United States 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, the longest match and fifth set - in terms of games - in Grand Slam final history, eclipsing records that had stood since 1927. It gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon championship, one shy of the record, and allowed the Swiss star to raise his career total to 15 Grand Slam singles titles, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras for most in history. Williams won her third Wimbledon singles title by beating older sister Venus 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the final. It was the eighth all-Williams major final; Serena leads 6-2.
Key Statistic: 19-2 - Rafael Nadal's record at Wimbledon from 2006-08. He won the 2008 championship, after losing to Federer in the 2006 and 2007 finals. Nadal returns to the tournament this year after withdrawing because of knee tendinitis in 2009 and declining to defend his title.
Two Other Returns: Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, multiple Grand Slam title winners, are back at the All England Club after mini-retirements. Clijsters last appeared in 2006; Henin in 2007. Neither has won Wimbledon.
The Queen: Queen Elizabeth II is planning to attend Wimbledon on Thursday, June 24, her first visit to the tournament since 1977.
When It Rains: As of last year, Centre Court is fitted with a retractable roof, which will allow for matches to be played during wet weather.
New This Year: A ``Championships Poet'' will compose a poem a day about Wimbledon.
Prize Money: Total is about $20.3 million (13,725,000 pounds), with about $1.48 million (1 million pounds) each to the men's and women's singles champions.
TV: ESPN2 (starting Monday), Tennis Channel (starting Monday), NBC (starting June 26).
Online: http://www.wimbledon.org/en-GB/index.html