June in London Means Wimbledon

June is coming around the corner, which means if you're in London, Wimbledon will be in full court. Ever since the first Championships in 1877, Wimbledon has grown from its grass-roots as a garden-party tournament to a Grand Slam tournament with well over millions of followers around the world watching every year.

2010, Wimbledon starts on June 7th with the LTA Wild Card Play-off at the AELTC; June 8th, the Wild Cards are announced; June 14th, the Qualifying begins; June 16th, Seedings are announced; June 17th, Qualifying ends, June 18th, Wimbledon Draw is announced; and on June 21st, Wimbledon begins! July 3rd, Ladies Singles Finals start and on July 4th, Men's Singles Finals start.

In between tennis matches, check out the new Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, opened in 2006 and was the brain-child of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. The museum highlights the Championship Trophies of the Wimbledon tournaments, a 200 degree cinema screen that immerses the viewer into the world of The Championships by showing a film about the science of tennis. The filming took place during the 2005 Championships on Centre Court of Russia's Maria Sharapova playing against Spain's Nuria Llagosters Vives; its production used a special panoramic rig that used 5 cameras at the same time, the results of which is a film that can be frozen and rotated around the field of action at any time. By using this technique, the film focuses on 20 different aspects of the match and shows viewers just how the players' body and equipment are affected during the course of a professional tennis match.

Another great feature of the museum is the 'Walk Through' of the men's dressing room as it was back in 1980. You'll feel you're seeing John McEnroe's ghost as an old technique called 'Pepper's Ghost' along side new filming technology and projections creates an exciting way to view a scene from Wimbledon's past. In a recreation of the 1980's Gentleman's Dressing Room, a ghost-like image of John McEnroe appears and takes you through a tour of the normally off-limits area. McEnroe reminisces about his memories of the Dressing Room, which includes how he first met Jimmy Connors and how he would emotionally prepare himself of matches.

The museum also offers an exhibit called 'The Whites of Wimbledon' where fashion continues to be a point of attention and significance to the story of tennis and the new museum will continue to house an extensive collection of Wimbledon attire from outfits worn in the 1880's to Rafeal Nadal's dri-fit 'pirate' trousers.

The Museum is open throughout the year from 10am to 5pm daily, but note that the Museum is only accessible to tournament ticket holders during the Wimbledon Championships and no audio guides are available. For non-Championship dates, admission is 10 pounds for adults and 5.50 pounds for children. Guided tours of the museum are 18 pounds for adults and 13 pounds for children.

Make your plans to attend Wimbledon 2010 by booking accommodations at londonhotel.com