Wimbledon 2018: Everything you need to know about this year's tennis tournament

Wimbledon makes its annual return on July 2-15, with the crme de la crme of tennis stars vying for the highly acclaimed champion title

Wimbledon makes its annual return between 2 and 15 July, with theÂ best of tennis talent all vying for the highly acclaimed champion title.

Here’s everything you need to know about Wimbledon 2018, including important dates and how to watch the games.

Key dates for Wimbledon 2018

June 25: Qualifying begins

Wimbledon 2018 will be screened by the BBC with a team presenting live matches during the day on BBC1 and BBC2

June 29: The Draw

June 30- July 1: Pre-event media conferences

July 1: Order of Play released

When does Wimbledon start?

Andy Murray may miss out on this year's Wimbledon due to an injury in his right hip

Qualifying will be held at the Bank of England Sports Centre in London from Monday 25 until Thursday 28 June.

The men’s and women’s tournaments begin on Monday 2 July, with the doubles starting on Wednesday 4 July and mixed doubles beginning on Thursday 5 July.

The juniors, wheelchair and invitational matches will commence on Saturday 7 July. There is no play on Sunday 8 July 2018

When is the final of Wimbledon 2018?

The women’s final will be shown on BBC One from 1pm on Saturday 14 July and the men’s final will be shown on BBC One from 1:50pm on Sunday 15 July.

Which TV channel will Wimbledon be shown on?

Wimbledon 2018 will be screened by the BBC with a team presenting live matches during the day on BBC One and BBC Two

An evening round-up, Today at Wimbledon, will be hosted by Clare Balding on BBC Two.

Footage is also expected to be made available on the red button and via a live stream on the BBC website.

This year, the cameras that capture all the action will be taken in-house, with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, choosing the footage to be shown on our TV screens for the first time, not the BBC.

Eurosport are also expected to pick up rights to matches. Last year saw the broadcaster show 250 hours of live coverage, with exclusive broadcast rights to multiple countries, including Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Eurosport also ensured that the qualifying tournament was available to TV viewers for the first time.

Who will be playing at this year’s Wimbledon?

Prominent players expected to take part in this year's tournament include Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (if he is fit and able to play) and recent French Open winner, Rafael Nadal.

Murray has been sidelined with a problem in his right hip for the best part of a year, and had a thre hour long surgery in January this year.

Former champion Serena Williams is also one of the bookmakers' favourites to win, but she faces strong competition from Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep.

It has been announced that Britain's Dan Evans has not been awarded a Wimbledon wildcard. This is due to what organisers describe as a matter of "principle" after he served a ban for taking cocaine.

Evans has been on fine form since his return to tennis in April and was runner-up in the Nature Valley Open final in Nottingham on Sunday 17 June.

The 28 year old must now play in this week's pre-qualifying tournament.

Who won Wimbledon in 2017?

Men's singles: Roger Federer took his eighth men's singles title

Women's singles: Garbiñe Muguruza

Men's doubles: Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot

Women's doubles: Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina

Mixed doubles: Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray