:00:12. > :00:20.Welcome to Newsround and welcome to the first day of Wimbledon -
:00:21. > :00:26.one of the world's biggest tennis tournaments right here in the UK.
:00:27. > :00:33.Right now it's really quiet but in just a few hours this place
:00:34. > :00:36.is going to come to life when nearly 40,000 tennis fans
:00:37. > :00:39.Just five minutes down the road from here, many are queuing,
:00:40. > :00:43.as we speak, in probably the longest line you could imagine.
:00:44. > :00:45.Here's some fun facts about this year's Wimbledon
:00:46. > :00:51.So this year at Wimbledon there will be 674 matches played.
:00:52. > :00:56.And if one match was played a day, it would last for over two years.
:00:57. > :01:02.Over 54,000 tennis balls will be used during the tournament.
:01:03. > :01:08.The longest ever match at Wimbledon was in 2010.
:01:09. > :01:13.It lasted 11 hours and five minutes over three days.
:01:14. > :01:18.And as a treat the players were given mashed potatoes
:01:19. > :01:25.The fastest ever serve was by Taylor Dent in 2010
:01:26. > :01:33.That's double the speed limit for a motorway so,
:01:34. > :01:35.as you can imagine, that's really fast.
:01:36. > :01:40.At Wimbledon, it's tradition to eat strawberries and cream and over
:01:41. > :01:46.the two-week period over 28,000kg will be eaten.
:01:47. > :01:53.That's the same weight as nearly three elephants.
:01:54. > :01:55.Wimbledon has its very own hawk called Rufus,
:01:56. > :01:57.who flies for one hour every morning of the Championships
:01:58. > :02:01.Mr Popular even has his own Twitter account.
:02:02. > :02:08.Well, we've got a great line-up of British stars playing today.
:02:09. > :02:13.Andy Murray will be opening play on Centre Court
:02:14. > :02:18.But it was a bit touch and go over whether he'd be able to play.
:02:19. > :02:21.He's been struggling with a hip injury but Murray says he should be
:02:22. > :02:26.OK and hopes it won't cause him too much bother.
:02:27. > :02:32.On a happier note, he and his wife Kim are expecting their second baby
:02:33. > :02:34.so congratulations to them. Well, Johanna Konta, Heather Watson
:02:35. > :02:37.and Laura Robson are just some of the other Brits in action today
:02:38. > :02:41.but just who is being tipped to win We asked the BBC's tennis
:02:42. > :02:44.expert, Russell Fuller. Andy Murray is the obvious name
:02:45. > :02:47.to start with as the defending champion, the world number one,
:02:48. > :02:50.but he's had a very poor 2017 by his standards so far and has had
:02:51. > :02:53.problems with his hip heading But he is a two-time
:02:54. > :02:57.Wimbledon champion, The world number one
:02:58. > :03:06.is Angelique Kerber. Her year has been a bit
:03:07. > :03:09.like Andy Murray's year. She hasn't had a great deal
:03:10. > :03:11.of success since becoming the world number one but she was in the final
:03:12. > :03:16.in 2016 here at Wimbledon and she definitely has
:03:17. > :03:19.the game to become champion Roger Federer is another
:03:20. > :03:26.name that lots of people He's won the Wimbledon
:03:27. > :03:30.title seven times. He's had a bit of a break recently
:03:31. > :03:33.but that did him no harm He'd not been on court
:03:34. > :03:37.for six months before that and he won the Australian Open
:03:38. > :03:44.at the age of 35. There are high hopes
:03:45. > :03:48.of Britain's Johanna Konta. She's performed very,
:03:49. > :03:51.very well in the big tournaments in the last couple of years
:03:52. > :03:54.and will be the sixth seed She did have a nasty
:03:55. > :03:57.fall at Eastbourne. Seemed to hit her head and her back
:03:58. > :04:01.very, very hard on the grass but, as we saw with the way she played
:04:02. > :04:06.there, beating the world number one and the reigning French Open
:04:07. > :04:08.champion on the same day, Rafa Nadal is the
:04:09. > :04:15.French Open champion. He won the title in Paris
:04:16. > :04:19.just three weeks ago. He has won Wimbledon twice
:04:20. > :04:21.in the past but historically has suffered knee problems
:04:22. > :04:24.here at Wimbledon. The ball bounces lower and therefore
:04:25. > :04:28.Nadal's knees have to bend more to get down to the ball and that's
:04:29. > :04:31.caused him problems. A five-time Wimbledon champion
:04:32. > :04:43.but she has been playing wonderfully well over the past couple of years
:04:44. > :04:47.and her chances are not to be That's all from me at Wimbledon
:04:48. > :04:55.for now but I'll be back Stay where you are -
:04:56. > :05:11.Wild And Weird is next. And today's Fave At 5 is
:05:12. > :05:13.brand-new Hetty Feather, and Hetty and Sheila are...settling
:05:14. > :05:17.into their new home. Yeah. Yeah! There's only one bed. I was only
:05:18. > :05:22.expecting one maid-of-all-work.