10 important things to know about Wimbledon 2009

Centre Court roof 1. Some important dates to remember: Monday 15 June Wimbledon Qualifying begins Thursday 18 June Wimbledon Qualifying finishes Friday 19 June Wimbledon draw Monday 22 June Wimbledon begins Saturday 27 June Junior Wimbledon begins Sunday 28 June No play scheduled Saturday 4 July Ladies’ singles final Sunday 5 July Men’s singles final 2. The roof over Centre Court Should it rain this year it will take about seven minutes for the roof to close but 30 minutes before play can resume. The roof is made of a lightweight material called Tenara that is stretched over the court's opening by 10 trusses and is 16m above the court surface. The decision to close the roof is made by tournament referee Andrew Jarrett. 3. Tennis ball numbers If you were to fill Centre Court with tennis balls while the roof is closed you would need 290 million. 4. New Court No2 Built at the southern end of the grounds, the new Court 2 can hold 4000 spectators. It was built 3.5m below ground level so it wouldn't obstruct the views across the ground. 5. New court names Because of the new Court 2 all the courts have been re-numbered. The southern courts have been re-numbered in sequence so the old Court 2 becomes Court 3 up to Court12. There is no Court 13 – unlucky for some. 6. Blogs This year Wimbledon.org is adding more blogs to our match report and feature coverage. Topping the bill will be a blog from writer and comedian Tony Hawks, who once travelled round Ireland with a fridge and played the Moldovan football team at tennis. The other blogs with cover comment & analysis, fashion and junior Wimbledon while the popular ‘As it happens’ live blog will return. 7. Wimbledon gets social. Wimbledon is making an extra effort with its social media this year because we want to bring Wimbledon fans together from all over the world. Our Facebook page (www.facebook/wimbledon) has more than 100,000 users and our Twitter account (www.twitter.com/Wimbledon) provides exclusive updates. 8. Watching Wimbledon online You can watch live coverage from Centre Court, No.1 Court, No.2 Court and three other courts during Wimbledon with Wimbledon live, just follow the link to video from the homepage. (Please note this service is not available in some territories.) 9. iPhone App Wimbledon has an iPhone app that will provide latest news, scores, draws and video highlights from The Championships. The app will be available from the AppStore during Wimbledon. Other mobile phone users can visit m.wimbledon.org. 10. Fred Perry at the museum There is a new exhibition at the Wimbledon Museum celebrating the Centenary of Fred Perry's birth. The exhibition looks at his life and legacy, and includes his World table tennis trophy as well as pieces commemorating his three successive Wimbledon wins in the 1930s. There is also footage of Perry in action and photos of his life with the stars in Hollywood.