How to Follow Wimbledon

Check on the times of TV coverage from Wimbledon (See resources below for details). Set your TiVo or DVR if you can't watch the action live and get ready to greatly enhance your enjoyment of the event by hosting a Wimbledon watching party for your tennis fan friends.

For basic Wimbledon fan planning, be aware that the tournament usually runs the last week of June and the first week of July. There's no play the middle Sunday unless matches have been rained out and they're catching up.

For all the details of TV coverage, go to the NBC Sports website and cable channel ESPN, which both carry extensive coverage of the matches.(See resources below for more details.)

For up-to-the-minute information on day-to-day play, check out the BBC website - the broadcasting company has been televising Wimbledon since 1937 - or go to the official Wimbledon Tennis website which, for really diehard fans, offers streaming video of all the games on the Internet for a subscription of about $25.(URL's below)

During the first week, the early rounds of the Men's and Ladies' Singles, Men's, Ladies' and Mixed Doubles are played on all courts, with the top seeds' matches on the Center and No. 1 Courts.

Before you get glazed over watching the ball flip to and fro over the net against the green background, familiarize yourself with the rules at the eHow page, "How to Play Tennis." This article will give you a basic rundown of what you need to follow the game.

The most important thing to remember about scoring is that the matches are comprised of games and sets. A tennis match is made up of one to five sets and the sets contain games which are won by scoring points. Usually the first player to win six games wins a set but, if the score becomes five-games-all, one player must be two games ahead to win the set. So that matches don't go on all day and into the night, once the score reaches six-games-all, a tie break is played to decide who wins the set. At Wimbledon, the men's matches have five sets and the women's three. Wimbledon is structured as a knockout tournament: Once a player loses a single match he/she is eliminated immediately.

And don't get flummoxed by the French terminology which has been part of the game since it was patented in 1874 by Welshman, Maj. Walter Clopton Wingfield. Actually, the term "tennis" comes from the French "tenez" which means "hold!" You'll hear terms like, "deuce" which comes from "à deux le jeu" ("to both is the game"), which just means that the two players, or teams, have the same score. And there's always lots of "love" being bandied about. This term comes for "l'œuf" (the egg), and is a cryptic reference to the symbol for zero, as in zilch, which, depending on how you look at it, resembles an egg. Points in the games increase from 15, to 30, to 40 because, it's said, the French words for these numbers sounded nice to early spectators and players. So, you see, "deuce," "love" and the rest are an easy code - the tennis snobs are not really trying to hard to confuse you!

For those who can't get to the courts in London, Wimbledon Tennis on TV is a great excuse to have a brunch party while watching the world's tennis greats compete on Center Court. As the tennis ball pops off the rackets - with a pleasant lazy fat thwack -- you can chill out in front of the box with your favorite British foods. If you're having difficulty finding or making Bangers and Mash, Toad in the Hole, Shepherds Pie, Cornish Pasties and the like, just make sure you have plenty of strawberries -- and oodles of heavy whipping cream to go with them -- and you'll at least have the traditional snack that's synonymous with the garden party atmosphere at Wimbledon.

Thirsty? You can drink British beer if you want - hard cider would be better -- but the traditional drink at Wimbledon is Pimm's No 1, a gin based tipple with a reddish hue and subtle citrus taste. If you can't get Pimms, you can approximate the flavor by mixing one measure of gin, one of Orange Cuacao and one of red Vermouth. Serve over ice.

If you want to get really fancy with your Pimms, whip up a Wimbledon Cup - a variation on the salad-like Pimm's Cup. Salad like? Yes Siree! As well as alcohol and lemonade, the brew contains mint and borage leaves, wedges of cucumber and slices of lemon, orange and strawberry. To make your own Wimbledon Cup you'll need equal amounts of Pimm's No. 1, gin, mandarin or sweet orange juice and heavy cream, as well as half of the same measure you used for the other ingredients, of strawberry syrup. Toss it all together, chill, shake, strain and serve.

As you swill back the Pimms look out for some fast and unpredictable play. That's because while most tennis in the US is played on clay or hard courts -- cement or asphalt - Wimbledon is a one of the few remaining great grass courts. Grass is a fast surface and causes low ball bounces, which keep rallies short, giving hard-serving and hard-hitting players an advantage. Grass can also throw up unpredictable ball bounces. To handle the surface you will see players at Wimbledon wear special grass-court shoes which are designed to grip the surface and prevent sliding.

Don't know who to root for? If you're feeling generous and sentimental, you might want to cheer on the Brits since they need all the help they can get! Although they've hosted the tournament since 1877, no British man has won the singles event there since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977. Ah shucks!