You’ve got to have a lot of balls: Wimbledon by numbers

How many strawberries are consumed, how many petunias purchased and just how much racket string is required at the world’s oldest tennis championships? Lotte Brundle serves up the numbers.

Carlos Alcaraz lifts up the Wimbledon trophy infront of a packed crowd on Centre Court
(Image credit: Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images)

Tennis fans rejoice! Grab your tennis whites, pop the champers and prepare your gut for a diet made up exclusively of strawberries, cream, bubbles and Pimms. Wimbledon is back. The Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world — and the most famous. It’s been held most years since 1877 and this year’s competition runs until July 13, at the All England Club in London. If Wimbledon’s own predictions come true then Jack Draper, the World Number Four seed and Britain’s Number One player, will face off against Novak Djokovic, a seven time champion, in the quarter-finals.

Those are some of the numbers floating around on the court, but what about off it? Here at Country Life, our Wimbledon-themed curiosity has reached break point: How many glasses of Pimms are consumed at the annual event? How about litres of cream? And, just how many tennis balls does it take to run the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world?

Here is everything we think you need to know — in numerical form.

3↓

How many days it took John Isner — in 11 hours and 5 minutes — to defeat Nicolas Mahut in a first-round match

John Isner poses after winning on the third day of his first round match against Nicolas Mahut with Chair Umpire Mohamed Lahyani

(Image credit: Alastair Grant-Pool/Getty Images)

7↓

The number of years since records began in 1922 that it has not rained at Wimbledon (1931, 1976, 1977, 1993, 1995, 2009, 2010)


8↓

The number in precise millimetres that the grass on each court must be

Close-up of the net and grass on Centre Court at Wimbledon

(Image credit: Steve Bardens/Getty Image)

15↓

Lottie Dod’s age when she became the youngest ever winner of the Ladie’s Singles title, in 1887, gaining her the nickname, ‘The Little Wonder’

Black and white photograph of Lottie Dod posing with her wooden tennis racket

(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

17↓

Boris Becker’s age when he became the youngest ever winner of the Gentleman’s Singles title


18↓

Match courts


20↓

Practice courts


20↓

Onsite gardeners tasked with keeping the shrubbery looking ace

Flowers in bloom next to Wimbledon's practice courts

(Image credit: Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

40↓

The number of miles of racket string strung


40↓

Physiotherapists to help the players recuperate


41↓

The age that Arthur Gore was when he won the Gentleman’s Single’s title in 1909 — making him the oldest ever winner

Arthur Gore playing at Wimbledon in 1908

(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

47↓

The number of years that Rolex have been involved as the Championship's official timekeeper

Large clock hanging above Centre Court at Wimbledon

(Image credit: Jon Buckle for Rolex)

123↓

The number of balls that Isner and Mahut used in their famously long, three-day match


138↓

Their match featured five sets, including a 138-point fifth set


153↓

The speed in mph of the fastest-ever serve at Wimbledon, by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, yesterday.


204↓

The most aces played in one Championship (Isner in 2018)


280↓

The number of ball boys and girls

Wimbledon ball boys and girls queueing to enter the court

(Image credit: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

300↓

The number of chefs required to feed the thousands of visitors


370 vs 2,000↓

The number of people who work on Wimbledon full-time versus seasonally


More than 7,000↓

Litres of cream poured liberally over strawberries

Boxes of strawberries

(Image credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

14,979↓

Centre Court seats (pictured in 1937)

A busy centre court grandstand in 1937

(Image credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)

26,455 ↓

The number of people who attended the 2024 Championships


28,000↓

The number of plants brought in to decorate the 2025 Wimbledon ground, including 5,000 hydrangeas and 12,000 petunias


55,000↓

Yellow tennis balls


300,000↓

The total glasses of Pimms served each year

Zendaya drinking Pimm's in the Wimbledon stands

Hollywood actress Zendaya (Challengers) picked up a cup of Pimm's when she attended in 2024.

(Image credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

2.5 million↓

Individual strawberries consumed every year


7.5 million↓

TV viewers who tuned in to watch Carlos Alcarez beat Djokovic, live, in 2024’s men’s final



Lotte Brundle

Lotte is Country Life's Digital Writer. Before joining in 2025, she was checking commas and writing news headlines for The Times and The Sunday Times as a sub-editor. She got her start in journalism at The Fence where she was best known for her Paul Mescal coverage. She reluctantly lives in noisy south London, a far cry from her wholesome Kentish upbringing.