BLAST and All England Lawn Tennis Club launch esports tournament Wimbledon eChamps

“In terms of innovation in tennis, in our sport, I think it’s necessary.” These are the words spoken by Novak Djokovic after beating Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the third round. While Djokovic was talking about boosting the sport at the grassroots level, tennis is being innovative in the digital realm. The sport has taken another big step with a new official esports tournament that will run alongside Wimbledon. The tournament is called the Wimbledon eChamps and will be played on TopSpin 2k25. Tennis needs to do much more to attract people to the sport, and this new tournament will help the sport branch out to a new target market.

Rise of Esports Alongside Traditional Sports

The esports industry is growing fast. This year it is projected to be worth $2.4 billion, with a projected worth of $10.91 billion by 2032. Across the world, esports is big business on a number of levels, with many cities holding dedicated esports tournaments. Like traditional sports, there are also huge industries behind them. Just as with traditional sports, esports betting has become a big part of the sport. Many enthusiasts study esports betting tips to understand the unique odds associated with different games. The most popular games are currently Counter-Strike 2, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and VALORANT. Soon, however, we could see esports related to traditional sports joining that list. This is because official esports tournaments of popular sports have exploded in popularity in recent years, with both soccer, through the FIFAe World Cup, and the NBA, through the NBA 2K League, becoming increasingly well-known and respected. The Wimbledon eChamps is the next step in the rise of esports.

Tennis Esports

The Wimbledon eChamps isn’t the first official esports tennis tournament. The Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas started in 2018. That tournament was initially played on Tennis World Tour, with the 2024 edition of the tournament being played on Tennis Clash. The tournament has become increasingly popular with the official site reporting that it was an “overwhelming popular success in 2023, attracting 400,000 participants from 217 territories competing in 4.2 million matches.” There is also an esports game on Meta Quest called Tennis Esports. This is a virtual reality game that allows players to replicate the experience of playing the actual sport. It could be the future of tennis esports as technology develops to create a more authentic experience.

Wimbledon eChamps

Presented by American Express, the official partner of Wimbledon since 2019, and run by BLAST, an esports producer, Wimbledon eChamps will be the first tennis esports tournament to use TopSpin 2K25. Players from four regions will play in the open qualifier tournaments to earn points in their regional leaderboard. The qualifiers will run in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the US, Mexico, and Canada. The top 16 players from each leaderboard will play in Wimbledon qualifiers, and the top two players from each region will make it to the Wimbledon eChamps. The winner will receive a unique gold-plated PlayStation 5 that is engraved with the champion’s name, achievement, and the Wimbledon logo, as well as £1,000 ($1,280) worth of gaming accessories, a £500 ($640) PS5, Xbox, or Steam voucher, plus an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the Gentlemen’s Singles Final at the Championships 2025.

This tournament is an important step for the tennis esports industry. Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing and Commercial Director for the All England Club, said before the tournament: “Over the years, Wimbledon has witnessed many historic firsts. We are excited that this year, alongside our partner American Express, we will be adding to this with the first-ever Wimbledon eChamps.” The arrival of TopSpin 2K25 provided the perfect opportunity for us to create this exciting esports tournament, and we cannot wait to welcome the qualifiers to Wimbledon in September.” In partnership with BLAST, which recently put on 3 major UK esports events for Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike 2, and Rocket League, this could be the innovation that tennis needs to attract more players to the sport.