Pages

Total Pageviews

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Why Wimbledon is such a huge deal

 

1)One of the most coveted Grand Slams of the tennis calendar, the tournament gets its name from Wimbledon, a suburb of London where it has been held since 1877. The championship is preceded by the Australian Open, the French Open and the US open. Moreover, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament played on grass—something that gave the game its original name, lawn tennis.

2)The dress code is rather strict, with all the tennis players having to wear all-white ensembles—something that has been the oldest tradition at Wimbledon. No dark colours, nothing bold and no fluorescent hues; every player ought to wear everything white.

3)Spectators and players at the tournament are offered strawberries and cream. Till date, this remains the quintessential dish at the tournament, so much so that 28,000 kg of strawberries are eaten at the tournament every year.

4)At the tournament, ball boys and girls are known as BBGs—they play a crucial role in the functioning of the tournament. They get a brief stating that a good BBG ‘should not be seen’; they must blend in with the background and work silently

5)The Queen is presently the sponsor of the All England Club while the Duke of Kent is the ruling President. It was earlier a rule that the player must bow on entering or leaving court if any member of the British royal family was present as a spectator. This rule was abolished in 2003, and today, only the Queen and Prince are honoured in this style

6)Martina Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam Singles titles and won a record 9 Wimbledon Singles titles. Boris Becker was 17 when he first won his Wimbledon title in 1985. He then won 3 Singles titles. Pete Sampras won 7 Wimbledon Singles titles, which is a record he shares with Roger Federer. Steffi Graf has won a staggering 7 Wimbledon Singles titles and only missed out on the title in 1990 and 1994. Serena Williams won 5 Wimbledon Singles titles and is ranked No. 1 in Women’s Singles tennis.

No comments:

Post a Comment