Wimbledon has come and gone this year, with Jannik Sinner winning the men’s singles title and Iga Świątek claiming the women’s singles title.
All of the fluorescent-yellow tennis balls used at Wimbledon are supplied by Slazenger, continuing a partnership that has been in place since 1902. Each match starts with six new balls. To maintain a consistent feel and bounce, they are replaced with a new set after the first seven games and then after every nine subsequent games. This means that over two weeks of play, approximately 55,000 tennis balls are used at Wimbledon.
Unlike in some other sports, if a tennis ball lands among the spectators, it is supposed to be returned to the court. A missing ball would need to be replaced to maintain the set of six balls in use. However, the replacement ball would have tighter felt and would be faster than the others, potentially throwing the players off their game.
Where do all of the used balls end up after their time on the court? Many are sold to fans to raise money for the Wimbledon Foundation. During each afternoon of the tournament, fans can purchase cans of three or six used balls from a kiosk near Court 14.
Leftover balls are also donated or recycled in various other ways. For example, the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts sometimes repurposes Wimbledon tennis balls into homes for harvest mice. This federation of 46 independent conservation charities works to promote and preserve habitats and species across the UK, including the tiny and vulnerable harvest mouse, which has seen a dramatic decline in its natural habitat due to the loss of grasslands, hedgerows, and farmland. Placed on a pole with a mouse-sized hole cut into it, a tennis ball can take the place of the spherical nest naturally constructed by harvest mice in the tall grass, providing shelter and protection from predators.
The 2025 Wimbledon Championships at a glance:
- At the 2025 Championships, Italy’s Jannik Sinner defeated Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in four sets to win the men’s title, ending the Spaniard’s 5-0 undefeated record in major finals. It was Sinner’s first Wimbledon and fourth major title.
- With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray now retired, and Novak Djokovic losing to Sinner in the semifinals, 2025 was the first Wimbledon final since 2002 without any of the “Big Four” players present. Djokovic had made it to the final in each of the previous six Wimbledon Championships.
- In the women’s final, Poland’s Iga Świątek defeated Amanda Anisimova of the United States to win her first Wimbledon title and sixth major title. The match's 6-0, 6-0 scoreline hadn’t been seen in a Wimbledon final since 1911. It was also the first major final since the 1988 French Open to end in a “double bagel.”
- The 2025 Wimbledon Championships were the first to use electronic line-calling instead of real line judges. The French Open is now the only major to still employ human line judges.
