Special Sub-Topic: Anyone for Tennis? Click Here To Play: Anyone for Tennis?

By which famous postcode are the Wimbledon Championships often referred to?

SW19. Wimbledon Tennis Club is situated on Church Road between Somerset Road and Wimbledon Park Road in the London Borough of Merton. The other postcodes: NW8 is Lord's Cricket Ground; SW1 is Buckingham Palace and HA9 is Wembley Stadium.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass?

t. The Australian Open is played on a hard court surface, as is the US Open. The French Open is played on a red clay court.

The official title for Wimbledon is the All England Lawn Tennis and ________ Club?

Croquet. The All England Croquet Club at Wimbledon was a private members club founded in 1868. The first Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon in 1877 was an amateur competition for men's singles only.

In which year was the Service Line Monitor installed at Wimbledon?

1980. Affectionally known as 'Cyclops' the device transmits infra-red beams across the Centre Court and Courts One and Two which detect foot faults on service.

Spencer Gore was the first winner of the Wimbledon Men's Singles in 1877. What was his prize money?

Twelve Guineas. Spencer Gore beat William C Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. The admission price for spectators was One Pound with the club making Ten Pounds profit. In British currency a Guinea was worth 21 Shillings.

In 1988 tennis was reintroduced into the Olympic sports programme. In which year was it first played as an Olympic sport?

1896 (Athens). Lawn tennis was played in the Olympic Games from 1896 until it was dropped prior to the 1924 games. The Men's Singles and Doubles were the only matches played. J P Boland of Britain won the Singles and, partnered by Mr Traun of Germany, also won the Doubles. It was readopted as a sport in 1988 with Steffi Graf (Germany) and Miloslav Mecir (Czechoslovakia) being the respective Ladies' and Men's Singles gold medallists.

Wimbledon has how many grass courts in total?

19. The Wimbledon club has 19 grass courts plus five red shale courts, three Continental and one American clay courts, and five indoor courts for club member's use.

Who was the first non-British player to win the Ladies' Singles at Wimbledon?

May Sutton. In 1884 the Women's Singles were first played at Wimbledon, and America's May Sutton was the first non-British player to win the title in 1905. Suzanne Lenglen (France) was Wimbledon Ladies' Singles champion six times (1919-23 and 1925). Maureen 'Little Mo' Connolly (USA) was the first woman to achieve the Grand Slam, winning Wimbledon 1952-54. Althea Gibson (USA) was the first black player to win a Wimbledon title (1957).

Who was President of The All England Tennis Club in the late 1990s and early 2000s?

Duke of Kent. Queen Elizabeth is the Patron, The Duke of Devonshire and Air Chief Marshall (Ret'd) Sir Brian Burnett are Vice-Presidents.

Ken Rosewall held both the youngest and the oldest Men's Singles Champion's title in the Australian Open Grand Slam Tournament?

true. Sydney-born Rosewall won the Australian Open in 1953 at the age of 18 years 2 months. He won again in 1955 and 1971 before winning his last Open in 1972 at the age of 37 years 2 months. During his career he won 169 matches, losing only 62.

Which player was the first 'wildcard' in Wimbledon history to win the Men's Singles?

Goran Ivanisevic. Croatian Ivanisevic beat Tim Henman (GBR) in the semi-finals and went on to beat Pat Rafter (AUS) in a five set match in 2001. A 'wildcard' is a player who has failed to qualify for the tournament but has been selected on merit.

In which year did John McEnroe anger Wimbledon officials with his outbursts of 'Man, you cannot be serious' and 'You guys are the pits of the world'?

1981. During a first-round match against Tom Gullikson, McEnroe screamed those now famous lines. Umpire Edward James docked McEnroe a point for obscenity mistaking 'pits' for something completely different. He went on to win the 1981 title beating Bjorn Borg in the final, thus ending Borg's run of five Wimbledon wins (1976-1980).

How old was Pancho Gonzales when he became the oldest seeded player at Wimbledon in 1969?

41. The 1969 first round match between Pancho Gonzales and Charlie Paserell evolved into a marathon game lasting 5 hours 12 minutes with 112 games being played due to the number of tie-breaks. Gonzalez eventually won with a score of 22-24, 6-1, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. He also won his next two rounds before being beaten by Arthur Ashe (Singles winner 1975).

Which couturier added the lace to Gertrude 'Gussy' Moran's pants in 1949, causing a furore in the tennis world?

Teddy Tinling. Teddy Tinling, the official Wimbledon designer, had made a short rayon dress for Gussy and decided she should wear frilly pants underneath. She wore shorts during the opening rounds but, on reaching the Ladies' Doubles final - thus ensuring a royal prescence, she opted for the pants. It was feared that the 84-year-old Queen Mary would take offence but luckily, perhaps, the Queen was confined to her palace by the heat. Louis Greg the then President of Wimbledon was outraged and Tinling was sacked.

What incident was a source of amusement during the 2002 Wimbledon Men's Singles Final?

streaker ran across the Centre Court. During a break due to rain, Mark Roberts ran onto Centre Court and undressed, did a pirouette, bowed, somersaulted over the net did a jig and attempted to escape the security guards. He was caught by a female guard and escorted from the venue under a red blanket.