• The very first Wimbledon Championship was in 1877 when it was watched by some 200 spectators. In 1999 it was broadcast to 174 countries, with an estimated global audience of 1 billion people.
• British Player Greg Rusedski has the world’s fastest serve, clocked at a staggering 149 mph. In 1999 he served 685 aces, accounting for 79% of all his points for the year.
• Slazenger has provided every tennis ball for The Championships Wimbledon since 1902.
• Tennis Equipment has changed drastically over the years. Early wooden rackets were replaced with graphite alternatives and the very last wooden racket used in a Championship was at Wimbledon in 1988.
• Tennis fashions have changed over the years too. Bunny Austin was the first man to ever wear a pair of shorts on court at Wimbledon in 1933. Conversely, Yvon Petra was the last champion to ever wear long trousers on court in 1946.
• Women’s fashions have caused a similar stir. When Gussie Moran wore a short, lace trimmed skirt in 1949 she was accused by the AELTC of ‘bringing vulgarity and sin into tennis’ Quite a contrast to the revealing clothing sported by today’s women players!
• Pete Sampras is the tennis world’s record breaker. He has now won 12 Grand Slam titles and his tennis career has earned him in excess of £38 Million. Sampras has won Wimbledon 6 times, just one behind the current record holder William Renshaw (1881-1889). He also holds the record for the longest unbroken run. Between June and August last year he won 24 matches in succession.
• Royalty has presented the trophy to every men’s singles champion at Wimbledon since the war, except in 1986 when Boris Becker received the trophy from famous French Davis Cup legend John Borotra.
• Boris Becker is another tennis record breaker. In 1985 he became the youngest , the 1st German and the 1st unseeded player to ever win Wimbledon.
• Steffi Graf won a minimum of seven tournaments a year for eleven straight years 1986-96.
• Along with Don Budge, Fred Perry and Roy Emerson, American Andre Agassi is one of only a handful of players to have won all four Grand Slam titles, the first player to achieve this feat for 31 years.
• Serena William’s favourite place to visit is the mirror in her house, whilst her sister Venus claims her favourite place is anywhere that accepts credit cards!
• Each year, 24 tons of Kent strawberries are ordered for The Championships at Wimbledon.
• The Championships, Wimbledon introduced a radio station, Radio Wimbledon in 1992, broadcasting throughout the Championships on 87.7FM. Since it’s inauguration Wimbledon has been the leader for the other Grand Slam events, with 2000 seeing the launch of a Championship Radio station at the Australian Open in January.
• Monica Seles is a partner in the All-Star Café, a sports restaurant chain, with athletes Andre Agassi, Tiger Woods, & Joe Montana.

cliffrichardtennis.org