Starstruck Serena Williams double faults over Michael Jackson

Serena Williams pulverized the Italian Roberta Vinci and then went all sweetly dippy on the subject of Michael Jackson.

Serena drooled over Jacko's memory, didn't seem to have too firm a grasp on his back catalogue and then said: "I've done Farrah Fawcett hair before, what a great loss." Welcome to la-la land.

Serena did not even receive one query about her 6-3, 6-4 victory before she was asked about Jackson. She said: "You think of the Beatles, you think of Elvis Presley, you think of Michael Jackson. The things he did were beyond iconic.

"I've met him a few times. Any celebrity who met Michael Jackson was completely in awe. I know I was. I kept thinking, 'Oh my God, Oh my God. It's him, it's him.' For me he was the celebrity of all celebrities. I wouldn't even mention my name and his is the same sentence at all.

"Michael Jackson goes way beyond the black community. Everyone, of every colour, every nation, every race, are Michael Jackson fans. Even though I met him, knew him, if I would ever have saw him on the streets, I still would have been, like, 'Aaaah!! He is just iconic on all levels."

So what was Serena's favourite Jacko song. "I don't remember the name of it. It's a slower one. It's a duet with someone. I don't remember." Like she said - beyond iconic and possibly beyond recall.

It's hard to imagine Celebrity ever stalking Serena Williams and taking her out with a lethal dose. Serena doesn't do frail. If Fame's Reaper ever turned up on the other side of the net from Serena, she would biff down one of her 120mph serves and take it out between the eyes.

Not that the younger Williams is immune to celebrity's charms. On Friday she turned up six minutes late for her match on Court Two. Apparently she was waiting for an escort that never arrived. That's the trouble with being a star. No one else is ever on time.

When she did show up Serena strode onto court in her glam white mac without a glimmer of an apology. The umpire smiled subserviently and then laid down the ground rules to both players. Vinci listened while Serena took wild, venomous swings of her racket on the other side of the net.

That was the way of the match. Vinci listened while Serena swung away. The younger Williams didn't play particularly well. Her forehand was wayward, she dropped serve twice with double faults and she is a sucker for the drop shot or lob. Ask Williams to push off or turn and she is as agile as a high-heeled starlet on the red carpet.

Dad Richard was so interested that he started polishing the lens of his camera. Serena is a wonderful player, but she is not a wonderful entertainer. In some ways she is too good. She is, however, a celeb. As she once said: "I'm my biggest fan."

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Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova to be reunited for double act at Wimbledon

Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova will team up to play in the women's senior doubles at Wimbledon this year.

The duo, who were once ranked as the No 1 doubles team in the world, are likely to be strong favourites to win the invitiational event at SW19.

Hingis and Kournikova won the Australian Open women's doubles title in 1999 and three years later in 2002.

Hingis, 29, won five Grand Slam singles crowns before retiring in 2007, when she was suspended for two years for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon.

She denied taking the drug but did not appeal the ban, which ended last September but has not ruled out the possibility of playing some more doubles on the WTA tour.

Kournikova, 28, reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals in 1997 but has not played regularly on the WTA Tour in seven years.

"I'm so excited to be returning to the UK to play doubles with Martina again," said Kournikova.

"This tournament has always held a special place in my heart, and it will be a great honor to play on the courts of Wimbledon again. I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun.

"Anna and I have had a lot of success together and I look forward to being reunited with her at Wimbledon," said Hingis.

"Having won singles in 1997 and doubles in 1996 and 1998, I am excited about returning to the place where I have had some of the best memories of my career."

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Williams sisters advance to final in doubles

WIMBLEDON, England Venus and Serena Williams won in contrasting fashion Thursday to set up their fourth all-sister Wimbledon final and eighth meeting in a Grand Slam title match.

Two-time champion Serena saved a match point and overcame Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 in 2 hours, 49 minutes the longest women's semifinal at Wimbledon in at least 40 years. Five-time winner Venus, meanwhile, needed only 51 minutes to demolish Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 and reach her eighth Wimbledon final.

"Oh, my God, this is my eighth final, and it's a dream come to true to be here again and have the opportunity to hold the plate up," Venus said.

The sisters with 17 Grand Slam titles between them -- will face each other Saturday in a Fourth of July final.

"A fourth final -- it's so exciting. It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama," Venus said, referring to Serena's semifinal. "It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams."

One Williams or the other has won seven of the past nine championships at the All England Club. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals, and Venus came out on top against her younger sister last year.

"All I know is a Williams is going to win," said the sisters' father, Richard.

Venus is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.

There have been seven previous all-Williams championship matches at majors, with Serena holding a 5-2 lead. Overall, the sisters are 10-10.

"The more we play, the better it gets," Serena said. "When we play our match on Saturday, you know, it's for everything. This is what we dreamed of when we were growing up in Compton 20-something years ago. This is what we worked for, and this is what we want. Like I wanted her to win today and she wanted me to win today. It's all come down to this."

Venus said she was rooting for Serena to win Thursday but will now do all she can to stop her sister and win her eighth major title.

"I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and defeat her," Venus said. "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win. I don't want to see myself disappointed. I need to get my titles, too. I'm still the big sister, but I'm still going to play great tennis."

The difference in the two semifinals couldn't have been more striking.

Dementieva said: "The only regret I have, maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line."

It was Serena's eighth straight win in a Grand Slam semifinal going back to the 2003 French Open. She is 14-2 overall in Grand Slam semifinals.

It was almost too much to handle for father Richard, who watched with other family members and friends in the guest box.

"Serena nearly gave me a heart attack," he said. "Venus played as if she had someplace to go and she was in a major league hurry to get a great dinner."

Serena served 20 aces -- the most for a woman at Wimbledon since 2000 -- and had 45 winners and 28 unforced errors. Dementieva produced 27 winners, 26 errors and eight double-faults.

"That was the best match we ever played against each other," Dementieva said. "It was a real fight from the beginning until the end. I feel like I finally played some good tennis here. It was not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion. She was serving very well today. I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side."

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Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina in women's double wimbledon

Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva (born 15 October 1981) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has won two medals in singles, including the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She has also reached the finals of two Grand Slam events. Her career high ranking was World No. 3 which she achieved on April 6, 2009. As of 22 March 2010, her ranking is World No.6.

Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a teacher, both recreational tennis players. She was rejected by Dynamo Sports Club and the Central Red Army Tennis Club at the age of 7, before enrolling at Spartak Tennis Club, where she was coached for 3 years by Rauza Islanova, the mother of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. She then moved to the Central Red Army Club with Sergei Pashkov, when she was 11. She is now coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod. She has homes in Monaco, Moscow and Boca Raton, Florida, and enjoys snowboarding, baseball, reading and traveling. Dementieva played and won her first international tournament, Les Petit As, in France at the age of 13. In 1997, she entered the WTA top 500. She turned professional in 1998 and entered the top 100 in 1999.

Dementieva's breakthrough year was 2004. In Miami, she defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Nadia Petrova in the semifinals.
In 2005, Dementieva reached six semifinals, the most important being at the US Open. She also reached the final in Charleston, losing to Justine Henin, and Philadelphia, losing to Amélie Mauresmo despite serving for the match at 5–4 in the third set. In the quarterfinals of the US Open, Dementieva defeated top ranked Lindsay Davenport 6–1, 3–6, 7–6(6) for her second.

Dinara Mikhailovna Safina (born April 27, 1986 in Moscow) is a Russian professional tennis player. Currently Safina is ranked world number 3. She has been in three Grand Slam singles finals and won the women's doubles title at the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. She also won the Olympic silver medal in women's singles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her most recent achievement is runner-up in the 2009 French Open.

She is the younger sister of former World No. 1 men's player Marat Safin. She and her brother is the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve #1 ranking. Safina made her debut in the main draw of a WTA Tour tournament in May 2002, on clay at Estoril, where she lost in the semifinals. She won her first title of her career in Sopot, defeating two seeds – including World No. 24 - en route to the final, which she won when opponent Henrieta Nagyová retired during the second set.

Safina continued to climb the rankings in 2005. At the Australian Open, she lost in the second round to Amélie Mauresmo. However, she defeated Mauresmo in the final in Paris three weeks later, in order to win the third title of her career. This marked her first win over a player ranked in the top 5. Following her win, Safina remarked: "You can't imagine how happy I am. I can't find words to explain how I feel right now. It's by far the best day of my career. I played well, took my chances and beat a Top 5 player. It's just too much in one day.


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Venus and Serena Williams, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva reach Wimbledon semi-finals

The third seed Venus Williams stayed on course for a third consecutive Wimbledon title with a 6–1, 6–2 victory over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in their quarter-final while Serena Williams kept the possibility of another all-Williams final alive with a straight sets win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Venus, seekinrg her sixth title at the All England Club, has not lost a set at Wimbledon since the third round two years ago, and Radwanska, the 11th seed, rarely threatened a shock on a sun-drenched Court One.

"That first set for me was almost perfect," said Venus. "Do I feel invincible? I'd like to say yes, but I really do work at it. Day in and day out. To clock these matches out takes a lot of work."

Williams took the first set in just 27 minutes and although the Pole broke early for a 2–0 lead in the second, the seven-times grand slam winner reeled off six straight games to advance to the semi-final, where she will play Dinara Safina..

Serena Williams produced an error-free opening set to draw first blood against Azarenko, who was the first woman from Belarus to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon since Natasha Zvereva in 1998. The American made light of the heat to produce a running forehand in the third game and then out-hit her young opponent to gain the first break to lead 4-2. She consolidated the break with a two-handed backhand and broke once more to take the set in just 26 minutes.

Azarenko briefly raised her game in the second set to suggest her straight-sets victory over Williams in Miami earlier this year was no fluke. She threatened to strike back in the opening game of the second set, successfully challenging a baseline call to force her first break points of the match, but Williams simply produced three booming serves to avert the danger.

There was a rare moment of alarm for the American when she went over on her ankle in a baseline tumble but quickly got back on her feet to force a break point. The 19-year-old Azarenko had to dig deep to hold serve in the fourth game after coming up with two double faults, and then pounced on a series of second serves from Williams to achieve the first break of the second set.

But Williams broke back immediately, held to love and then broke the teenager again before serving for the match. Her 6-2, 6-3 victory sets up a meeting with Elena Dementieva and ensures that both Thursday's semi-finals will be American-Russian affairs,

Dinara Safina recovered from going a set down to the unseeded German Sabine Lisicki to win 6–7, 6–4, 6–1. It was the second day running the Russian had lost the first set and she admitted she would have to serve better to stand a chance against Venus Williams. "My service today, I think I was Santa Claus serving so many double faults," she said. "On the practice court I don't serve a single double fault. The serve is there, I just have to put the brain there.

"I know what I have to do, I'm just not doing it. It's not going to be easy against Venus on grass but I have nothing to lose. I want to go out there and enjoy it and show my best tennis. I'm happy that I'm in the semis – I was tough mentally and I think that was the key today."

Safina's compatriot Elena Dementieva reached her second successive Wimbledon semi-final with a straighforward victory over Italian Francesca Schiavone on Court One. The Olympic champion and fourth seed won 6–2, 6–2 to set-up a semi-final against Serena Williams.

"I'm just very happy to be in the semi-final again," said Dementieva. "It was a tough match despite the score. The weather conditions were tough today so I'm glad to go through. I was trying to play very aggressive and make it as quick as possible because it is very hot out there. I am sure it will be a tough challenge for me against Serena, as she likes to play on grass. But I just want to give myself another try."

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Zimonjic makes light of wrist woe

Nenad Zimonjic overcame a broken bone in his wrist to partner Daniel Nestor to victory in the men's doubles final. The big-serving Serb, who injured himself after clattering into a line-judge in the semi-final against Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy, was undoubtedly the player of the match as the No. 2 seeds beat veterans Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett 7-6 (14-12), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours and 39 minutes.

The Wimbledon title, the first for both players, hands Yugoslavian-born Canadian Nestor a place in history as the eighth man in the Open era to win a career Grand Slam of doubles - the others being Bjorkman, Bob and Mike Bryan, Mark Woodforde, Todd Woodbridge, Paul Haarhuis and Jacco Eltingh..

The Canadian won the Australian Open in 2002, Roland Garros in 2007 and the US Open in 2004, all with former long-time partner Mark Knowles. It also tops a great year for the partnership, who reformed as a pair in October 2007 after a six-year hiatus. They have been on a roll in recent months winning 21 of 23 matches, including the Wimbledon warm-up title at Queen's and reaching the final at Roland Garros.

The pair were deserving champions, producing an almost faultless display of serving with 19 aces in total and just one double fault and superb reaction skills on blustery conditions on Centre Court.

The first two sets could have gone either way. There were no breaks of serve and it came down to two tight tie-breaks and a test of nerves. The first went to the Serb/Canadian partnership, after the longest tie-break in Wimbledon men's doubles history, 14-12 when Bjorkman netted a forehand volley after a frantic rally.

Zimonjic, 32, and Nestor, 35, slapped hands in delight, but their one-set advantage was soon cancelled out after Bjorkman and Ullyett, in their swansong at Wimbledon, took the second set tie-break in much easier fashion, 7-3 after the Swede punched a volley winner home.

With so few points separating the pairs it seemed impossible to pick a winner as the match went into a third set. However after fifteen consecutive games had gone with serve, Zimonjic fizzed a forehand return to bring up a break point for the No.2 pairing.

They quickly seized the opportunity and moved 3-1 ahead after the Swede pushed a volley long. Bjorkman and Ullyett, who joined forces this year, had a chance to break Nestor back as he served for the set at 5-3, however the Canadian wiped out the opportunity with a fantastic serve out wide and held his nerve to seal the set.

The No.2 seeds then went on to carve out a 3-2 lead in the fourth set after breaking the Ullyett serve when a volley error by his 36-year-old Swedish partner was followed by a brilliant forehand into the tramlines by Nestor.

"We focused really hard. It's one of those matches where you don't want to give an inch. Every game and point is tough. You feel like you have to focus really hard because you're playing against one of the best competitors over the years, singles and doubles, Bjorkman. Ullyett is playing great doubles, too. They beat the Bryans and they're confident."

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Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in doubles

Daniel Mark Nestor born on September 4, 1972, in Belgraden tennis player from the Toronto area.

In his career so far he has won 68 men's doubles titles, including a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Tennis Masters Cup, and 5 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. In addition, Nestor won the 2007 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Elena Likhovtseva. This pairing also reached the finals of the 2006 Australian Open and the 2006 French Open. Nestor reclaimed the Men's doubles world #1 ranking, after winning doubles at Wimbledon. On July 4, 2009, Nestor and his partner, Nenad Zimonjić, repeated as doubles champions at Wimbledon. His 68 doubles titles makes him the most decorated champion active and he is the only player in tennis history to have won all the Grand Slams and Masters Series events at least once.

He won three Grand Slam doubles titles together with longterm partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas. The tandem won the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 U.S. Open and the 2007 French Open. He and Knowles also reached the final of the 1995 Australian Open, the 1998 French Open and U.S. Open, the 2002 French Open and Wimbledon, the 2003 Australian Open and the 2005 Wimbledon He became the number one ranked doubles player in the world in August, 2002. Nestor's career high singles ranking is World No. 58, which he reached in August, 1999. In mixed doubles, he reached the 2003 U.S. Open final and the 2006 Australian Open final, as well as winning the mixed doubles event at the 2007 Australian Open with partner Elena Likhovtseva.

Nenad Zimonjić born June 4, 1976 in Belgrade, Serbia is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 1 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis player from Serbia to hold the highest doubles ranking, after Slobodan Živojinović.

Zimonjić turned pro in 1995 and remained relatively unknown outside his native country until a surprise victory in the Mixed Doubles at the 2004 Australian Open. Paired for the first time with Russian Elena Bovina, he beat defending champions Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes in straight sets in an hour and nine minutes, 6–1, 7–6 (3). Alongside Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, he won the 2006 French Open crown with a straight-sets victory over Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovrtseva, 6–3, 6–4. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Zimonjić reached the final of the Men's Doubles (alongside France's Fabrice Santoro) and the quarter-finals of the Mixed Doubles.

In 2007, Zimonjić reached the 2007 French Open mixed doubles final as the defending champions with Katarina Srebotnik and lost to Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram. He left Fabrice Santoro after Wimbledon and teamed with Mahesh Bhupathi until after the 2007 U.S. Open. After the U.S. Open, Nenad left Bhupathi and partnered with Daniel Nestor who won the French Open earlier in the year alongside Mark Knowles. The team won the 2007 St. Petersburg Open without losing a set.

While Zimonjić is known as a doubles specialist, he has recorded two big wins in his singles career. In 2004 he defeated Andre Agassi 6–2 7–6 in St Pölten and in 2005 on the grass of Halle he defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6–7(1) 6–3 6–4, both of these were first round victories. At the 2008 Wimbledon tennis tournament, Zimonjić won his first Doubles Grand Slam triumph with Daniel Nestor of Canada.

In 2009, Zimonjić won the World Team Cup as a part of the Serbian team. His partner Victor Troicki and him won two decisive games against Italian and Argentinian teams; as a result, Serbia has finished first in its group and then proceeded to beat Germany in the final encounter.

In 2008 he married former model Mina Knežević. On December 4, 2008, his wife gave birth to twins, Leon and Luna.

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Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Tennis Players

The men’s doubles event at the All England Club has been dominated by the partnership of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, and more recently Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman. From 1993 until Todd Woodbridge’s retirement from tennis in 2004, only three other doubles pairings have been successful at Wimbledon.

In each of the past three years, a different team has claimed the men’s doubles crown. In 2005 it was Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie, in 2006 the fabulous Bryan brothers claimed the honours and in 2007 it was the turn of the number eight pairing on the Stanford ATP doubles ranking, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.
Effectively the men’s doubles event is now an entirely open event. There is no one team in dominion, so it is possible that one of the top ranking teams will be successful at the 2008 tournament.

Although the Bryan brothers are currently ranked as the number one team, they have been more successful at the other Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open in particular. There is no reason, however, for them not to claim their second win in London.

Known as the “dream team” the twin brothers, Bob and Mike, have been at the top of the rankings for a straight three years. They clinched the 2007 Australian Open and took three ATP Masters Series titles at Miami, Monte Carlo and Hamburg and then went on to end the season with three ATP tournament wins in Basel, Madrid and Paris. This takes the Wimbledon men’s doubles tennis players to 44 career doubles titles.

Defending champions Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra must fancy their chances of a back-to-back win at Wimbledon. Although they have won only seven matches in the four Grand Slam events of the 2007 season, they did claim the biggest prize of all, and that, of course, was the Wimbledon men’s doubles crown. Llodra has won successive Australian Open titles with his previous partner, Fabrice Santoro.

Partners, Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett are currently ranked number three on the Stanford ATP doubles ranking. They reached the Australian Open semi-finals and were runners-up at the Masters Series events at Hamburg and Montreal, and the end-of-year Grand Slam, the US Open.

Zimbabwean, Ullyett has won two Grand Slam titles with previous partner Wayne Black – the 2001 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open.

Swede, Simon Aspelin and partner, Austrian, Julian Knowle had a fantastic debut season. They reached the semi-finals of the Masters Series events at Monte Carlo and Hamburg and after playing only four tournaments together they claimed their first win at Poertschach. They quickly followed up the win with titles at Halle, on grass and Bastad, on clay.

At the US Open they caused a major upset by ousting the favoured Bryan brothers to claim the title, and they ended their 2007 season by reaching the quarterfinals at Madrid and the semi-finals in Paris, and ranked number two.

Any of these teams could grab the honours at Wimbledon 2008, but if experience is an important variable, then you would have to put your money on the American duo of Bob and Mike Bryan.

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Bob and Mike Bryan in double

Twin brothers Robert Charles Bryan (Bob) and Michael Carl Bryan (Mike) are American professional tennis players. Between 2005 and 2006, they set an Open Era record by competing in seven consecutive men's doubles Grand Slam finals, three of which they won. On February 20, 2010, they recorded their Open Era record 600th match win by defeating Taylor Dent and Ryan Harrison in the semi-finals of the Delray Beach ATP 250 tournament.

Born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being older by two minutes, and Bob taller by 3 cm, The Bryans, as they are known, have won 60 tour titles (second only to The Woodies' 61 titles). They have a career Grand Slam that includes victories at the French Open (2003), US Open (2005, 2008), Australian Open (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010), and Wimbledon (2006). They won the Tennis Masters Cup Doubles tournament thrice (2003, 2004 and 2009), and have been finalists in 38 other occasions. They won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They also won the 2007 Davis Cup along with Andy Roddick and James Blake.

The twins are part of the United States Davis Cup team, with a 16–2 record in doubles matches. Their two losses were to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4 and in 2008, to France's Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Both brothers have played Davis Cup singles matches.

Bob and Mike won their first doubles tournament at age 6, in a 10-and-under event. They had an outstanding junior career, winning well over a hundred junior doubles titles together. They won the 1991 USTA National Boys' 14 Doubles Championships, the 1992 USTA National Boys' 14 Clay Court doubles title, the 1994 USTA National Boys' 16 Clay Court doubles title, the 1995 USTA National Boys' 18 Clay Courts doubles title, the junior doubles title at the 1995 Ojai Valley, California Tennis Tournament, and the first-ever Easter Bowl boys' 18 doubles title.

The Bryans made their professional and Grand Slam debut at the 1995 U.S. Open, where they lost in the first round to Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith.

Their first tour win came in 1998, at the Atlanta ATP tournament, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, over Trevor Kronemann and Dave Randall. They reached the quarter-finals and lost to Grant Stafford and Kevin Ullyett. They made the semi-final of the ATP tournament at Washington, D.C. and won two Challenger tournaments, at Aptos and Burbank.

In 1999, the twins reached their first ATP final at Orlando, falling in the finals to Jim Courier and Todd Woodbridge, 6–74, 4–6. They reached the semi-finals at Scottsdale, and the quarter-finals at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. The brothers were successful on the Challenger Circuit, winning three tournaments (Amarillo, Birmingham, Burbank), and reaching the finals in four others.

2001 was the first real successful season for the Bryans as they captured four titles (Memphis, Queen's Club, Newport, Los Angeles) in five finals (were finalists at Washington to Martin Damm and David Prinosil).

2003 was a landmark season for the Bryans. They reached their first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, where they also won their first Grand Slam title, beating Paul Haarhuis and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-6 (7-3) 6–3 in the final, and did not drop a set all through the tournament.

In 2005, the Bryans reached all four Grand Slam finals, and though they lost in the first three (Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon), they won the second Grand Slam of their career at the U.S. Open in front of cheering home fans. They also won tournaments at Scottsdale, Queen's Club and Washington ATP, and made it to the finals at Memphis, Monte Carlo TMS and Rome TMS.

In 2006, the twins won the first Grand Slam of the season, the 2006 Australian Open, where they beat Leander Paes of India and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the final.

2007 saw the Bryans win 11 titles.

The Bryans then ended their title-drought at Masters Series since 2008 by winning the Rome Masters defeating compatriots John Isner and Sam Querrey in the final. They are currently just one title shy of The Woodies' all time record of 61 doubles titles.

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Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic blunt twin threat to win doubles

The start of the men's doubles final usually means a stampede for the exit doors at the other grand slams.
Not at Wimbledon, where a capacity Centre Court crowd were rewarded with a masterclass from the world's leading exponents of the doubles craft.

Victory went to the defending champions, Canada's Daniel Nestor and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic, over the world's top-ranked pair, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, but it was not until the fourth set that there was anything to separate them as they cancelled each other out with their brilliant serving.

With the three preceding sets having all gone to a tie-break and with just two break points, neither of them taken, to show for their efforts in 2¼ hour's play, a marathon five-setter looked on the cards.

But Nestor and Zimonjic finally took their chance to break at the start of the fourth set before wrapping up the match 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.

The Bryan brothers, normally so ebullient on court, looked subdued by the quality of their opponents' play and managed just one of their trademark chest bumps in the entire match when they won a crucial point in the second-set tie-break.

The pair are keen musicians in their spare time, playing gigs on the men's tour as the 'Bryan Brothers Band', and have been joined from time to time for a bit of rapping by their pal Andy Roddick.

A bit of his on-court firepower would have come in handy yesterday as they slumped to their third Wimbledon final defeat, though they did manage to win it in 2006.

Zimonjic was the star of the show and Nestor was full of praise for what they have achieved. He said: "We've won back-to-back titles, which is incredible.

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Doubles tennis champions, identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan ride passion, friendship to top

Bob Bryan, left, and twin brother Mike were the world’s No.1 men’s doubles team four times in five years, competed in seven straight Grand Slam finals — an Open Era record — and have 49 ATP victories and an Olympic bronze medal.

They have played before countless crowds around the world, won each of tennis' crown jewel events for a career Grand Slam and are the first men's doubles team to rank No. 1 four times in a five-year span. But two months ago, 30-year-old identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan found themselves on a different kind of stage — and feeling more than a little nervous before the 25,000 spectators hanging on their every move. Of course, these moves had nothing to do with hitting winners on the hardcourts of the U.S. and Australian opens, the grass of Wimbledon or the clay of Roland Garros. They involved Bob serving up a keyboard solo and Mike taking a swing at acoustic rhythm guitar with a little solo of his own, while sitting in with the Counting Crows at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa. "That was a dream come true," said Bob, sitting with Mike in the weight room at the Saddlebrook Resort, where they live and train part of each year. "It's something we've really dreamed about for a long time, playing on stage with an incredible band like that."

The Bryan brothers have been big fans of the band since the 1990s. They met Counting Crows drummer Jim Bogios last summer at Wimbledon and helped him get tickets to the men's singles final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

"I hit on the grass with him at the All England Club, and he wanted to repay us," Mike said.

They helped Bogios with tickets again at the U.S. Open, where they won the title a second time in September, and the drummer mentioned that they should plan to sit in with the band for a song on tour. Just in case, Bob learned the song Bogios suggested, Hanging Around, but as time passed, they forgot about it.

"I thought he was just throwing it out to be nice," Mike said. "But we were flying in to Tampa the night of their concert, and I get a text when we land that says, 'You guys are sitting in tonight. You're not getting out of it.' And I started getting nervous, thinking no way is this happening."

But their rock concert debut went off without a hitch — one more harmonic moment for a chart-topping tennis twosome doing a lot more these days than hanging around.

Doubles is traditionally overshadowed by the glitzier singles game and marquee names that put fans in the stands. But since establishing their dominance in 2003, the Bryans have done their part to enhance the profile of the pursuit — and they've given the United States a firm grip on doubles play in the process.

That was more evident than ever in December 2007 in Portland, Ore., at the 32nd annual Davis Cup. Bob, a left-hander who is 6-4, 200 pounds, and Mike, a right-hander who is 6-3, 192 pounds, employed their aggressive, attacking style to sweep Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev.

Their 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 triumph clinched America's first Davis Cup crown in 12 years. It was their 13th doubles victory in 14 Davis Cup appearances, and the crowd of 13,000, along with a national television audience, saw the exuberant brothers complete the momentous win with their trademark chest bump.

"That was the peak of our career," Bob said. "It was a five-year process with ups and downs, being together with the same team (including Andy Roddick and Tampa's James Blake) the whole way through — and winning it in the U.S. was amazing."

"We'd dreamed of playing in Davis Cup since we were 10 years old," Mike added, "and every match we played felt like a Grand Slam final."

They know something about that. From 2005 to 2006, the Bryans competed in seven straight Grand Slam finals, an Open Era record. They've earned 49 ATP victories and an Olympic bronze. And though they slipped to No. 2 in the world in their final match of 2008, with Bob bothered by a lingering shoulder injury, they're looking for a return to the top when the 2009 campaign begins Jan. 19 at the Australian Open.

We just want to get better every day, because every year the game gets better," Bob said. "We want to stay healthy and do this as long as possible, because it's a great gig."

Wimbledon 2010 Tickets

Heroes of Wimbledon Tennis from 1877 to 1880

spencer gore winner of 1877

Spencer Gore is immortalised in history as the first winner of a Grand Slam title. Gore, an old Harrovian, was born and bred in Wimbledon and was a good all round sportsman. He played the game of rackets, real tennis and played cricket to a good standard as well. Tennis was always inferior to cricket in Gore's mind. He is famous for saying "That anyone who has really played well at cricket, tennis, or even rackets, will ever seriously give his attention to lawn tennis, beyond showing himself to be a promising player, is extremely doubtful; for in all probability the monotony of the game would choke him off before he had time to excel in it." In the inaugural Wimbledon championships in 1877 Gore came through a field of 22 entrants and some time after half past four on Thursday 19th July 1877 he beat William Marshall in the final to become the first ever Wimbledon champion. The following year Gore stood out until the Challenge Round, where he met Frank Hadow. Hadow used the lob successfully, beating Gore at the net and Gore surrendered his title in straight sets. That was the last time Gore played tournament tennis. He died in 1906 at the age of 56.

Frank Hadow winner of 1878

Frank Hadow only entered one Grand Slam event in his career and he won it. Hadow, an old Harrovian, had emigrated to Ceylon to become a tea planter. He was visiting England in the summer of 1878 and learnt to play the game of lawn tennis, having previously played the sport of rackets to a good standard. The Wimbledon championships were being held so Hadow entered the event, along with his brother. Despite the fact he was suffering from the effects of a flu-like virus he had acquired, Hadow made his way through to the Challenge Round, where he met defending champion Spencer Gore. The bug Hadow was suffering from reached its peak on the day of his match with Gore. Hadow saw no point in trying to pass Gore down the line over the high part of the net, which at that time was four feet nine inches high, so he lobbed instead. Hadow won in straight sets. Hadow is the only man to have never lost a set in the Wimbledon championships. He went back to Ceylon in the autumn of 1878 and did not return to Britain until 1926, when he attended the Jubilee championships. He may have only played the game of tennis for a few months in 1878 but Hadow is immortalised as a Wimbledon champion. He died in 1946 at the age of 91.

JOHN HARTLEY winner of 1879 and 1880

The Reverend John Hartley was an old Harrovian who graduated from Oxford. The 30 year old Hartley, who also played the game of real tennis, first entered the Wimbledon championships in 1879. He had not expected to do very well in the tournament so had made no arrangements for anyone to take over his Sunday sermon. Consequently he found himself scheduled to play the final on Monday when he had made no provision for his Sunday duties in church. He rushed back to his parish in Yorkshire to give his sermon, then got up at the crack of dawn on Monday and caught the train down to London in time for his Wimbledon final later in the day. In that All comers final Hartley faced the Irishman Vere St. Leger Goold. Hartley's great retrieving prowess provided a great spectacle, many onlookers rating this match the best ever seen up until that point. Hartley won in straight sets. Frank Hadow was not defending his title so there was no Challenge Round that year. In 1907 Goold was convicted of murdering a Danish widow in Monte Carlo. How ironic that Hartley, the only clergyman to win a Grand Slam title, and Goold, the only tennis player convicted of murder, should have faced each other in a Wimbledon final. Hartley successfully defended his title in the Challenge Round the following year beating Herbert Lawford. In 1881 Hartley defended his title in the Challenge Round once again, but this time he found William Renshaw's power game far too good. Hartley managed to win just two games. Hartley didn't enter the event the following year and made his final Wimbledon appearance in 1883, where he lost in the second round to Herbert Wilberforce. Later he became Canon Hartley and was Rural Dean in the Ripon Diocese for 25 years. He died in 1935 at the age of 86.Premier Events - We supply concert tickets, sport tickets, theatre tickets, music tickets, opera ballet tickets, Wimbledon tennis tickets, rugby six nations tickets. We are specialists in Wimbledon Hospitality and tickets to the worlds most sought after events. We can offer you every
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Roger Federer a real hero in tennis field.........2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009

Roger Federer began playing tennis when he was eight years old. By the time he was ten, people were already talking about Roger's sweet touch with the racket and his competitive attitude. Roger would sometimes beat other kids his age so badly they would start crying and Roger would often cry and smash rackets himself if he ever lost a match. Roger left home when he was 13 to train at a top-rated tennis academy in Switzerland and was the number one ranked junior player in the world by the time he was 16.
In 1998, Roger Federer began playing on the professional tennis circuit. He won his first ATP tournament in Milan in 2001 and quickly worked his way up the men's world tennis rankings. In 2003, he won six tournments including his first Grand Slam tournament by defeating Mark Philippoussis at Wimbledon. By 2004, Federer was the number one ranked tennis player on the planet and won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments that year including Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. Federer has since gone onto win twelve more Grand Slam titles, bringing his grand total up to 13. Roger has won the US Open five times and the Aussie Open, three times. The only major tournament that he has not won is the French Open in Paris.

Roger Federer's professional tennis career is still quite young, but some are predicting he could beat Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam tennis titles in 2009. Federer is an extremely intelligent tennis player who's known for his dominating forehand and rarely making mistakes on the court. He has already won 13 Grand Slam titles and his smart, consistent play means he'll be a favorite to win several more before his career is over.

Roger Federer speaks three languages - English, German and French.

Roger Federer is one of the few professional tennis players in the world that does not have a full-time coach.

Roger Federer's favorite music is anything by AC/DC or Lenny Kravitz.

In 2007, Roger Federer became the first living Swiss person to be featured on a Swiss stamp. The postage picture features Roger holding the Wimbledon trophy.

Roger Federer is dating former professional tennis player Mirka Vavrinec. Ther pair met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where they were both representing Switzerland.

I can't stay No. 1 for fifty years, you know. We'll see what happens.
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Roger Federer defeats Andy Roddick to win men's singles title

This was the day when Andy Roddick’s serve was broken just the once, in the 77th game of a 77-game Wimbledon men’s final. That one break of Roddick’s delivery, after more than four and a quarter hours of play on Centre Court, was all that Roger Federer needed to take the fifth set 16-14, to become the first man to win 15 grand slams, and to regain the world No 1 ranking.
“Roger is a legend, an icon and a stud,” said Pete Sampras, who had flown in from California to sit in the front row of the Royal Box to see his 14 slams being superseded.

It would seem that winning the men’s Wimbledon singles final in straight sets, or in anything approaching a straightforward manner, has gone out of tennis fashion.

Federer’s 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 victory meant that, going on the number of games that had been played on Centre Court, this was the longest Wimbledon final of all time, plus the longest final played at any of the four majors, and the 30-game fifth set was the longest played in a title-match at the majors.

Just a year ago we had the longest Wimbledon men’s final, if you measure a match with the clock, as Rafael Nadal required 4hr 48min to beat Federer 9-7 in the fifth set, when the stadium was so dark that the umpire should have provided night-vision goggles.

This was half an hour shorter than last year’s final, and last summer’s Nadal-Federer match remains at the top of the leaderboard of greatest finals contested on these lawns. Though Federer started slowly on Sunday, he won a sixth Wimbledon trophy, putting him just one short of Sampras’s record seven titles – something to aim for next summer.

Roddick turned in one of the sharpest performances of his tennis life, and yet when he returned to the locker room he had pink-tinged eyes, and he was holding the silver runner-up’s plate, and not the champion’s golden, pineapple-shaped trophy.

This was the third time that Roddick had lost a Wimbledon final, after defeats to Federer in 2004 and 2005, but this was the most difficult for the American to accept. “Tennis is cruel,” said Federer, who was in Roddick’s position last summer; emotionally battered. Now Federer is the happiest that tennis has seen him. This month, he and his wife Mirka will become parents for the first time.

If Federer had not broken Roddick in the 30th game of the fifth set, they might have ended up playing through the night and into this morning.

The fifth set was extraordinary. Serving at 8-8, Federer found himself at 15-40, but he produced a couple of big serves to get back to deuce, and he held.

When Roddick came out to serve at 14-15, it was the 11th time that he had got up off his chair to serve to stay in the match. Roddick had won his previous 37 service games. A forehand error from Roddick’s racket brought up match point for Federer.

Another forehand mistake from Roddick, and the match was over. Federer had served 50 aces in the match, just one fewer than Ivo Karlovic’s Wimbledon record.

Federer’s reaction to victory was to leap into the air. Roddick’s reaction, after an embrace with Federer at the net, was to fling his racket on to the grass, and to then sit down on his changeover chair, and to put his head in his hands as he waited for the prize-giving ceremony. Meanwhile, Federer put on a white tracksuit with a golden “15” embroidered on the back.

It was not just the closeness of the fifth set that would have been so upsetting for the American, it was also the fact that he had held four points in the second-set tie-break to go two sets up, and on the fourth of those, when he had most of the court to play with, he could not keep his backhand volley inside the lines.

Sampras had jumped on a plane to watch Federer, a close friend. It was the American’s first visit to Wimbledon since he lost early in the 2002 Championships to a Swiss sub-journeyman player, George Bastl. This was not about Federer confirming his place as the greatest player to have picked up a racket and swished it at a tennis ball, as he had already done that by winning his first French Open last month. This was about the accumulation of grand slam titles, about Federer becoming the most successful player in history.

There were two very different tennis players out there on the grass. Federer walked out to play in a white-and-gold outfit of jacket, trousers and man-bag. If Sacha Baron Cohen’s camp Austrian fashionista, Bruno, was into tennis, he would not dress that differently to how Federer did.

Federer peeled off the jacket and trousers, and showed that he is a smooth and sophisticated presence on court.

Roddick emerged wearing his baseball cap, and then started banging down his serves. Roddick led 6-2 in that second-set tie-break, so holding four set points, only to then lose six points in a row. Many other players would have faded away. Roddick did not.

Roddick’s performance was a fine one; people have played tennis of a much lower quality and won Wimbledon’s Challenge Cup.Premier Events - We supply concert tickets, sport tickets, theatre tickets, music tickets, opera ballet tickets, Wimbledon tennis tickets, rugby six nations tickets. We are specialists in Wimbledon Hospitality and tickets to the worlds most sought after events. We can offer you every
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Rafael Nadal was the Winner of 2008….

Rafael Nadal was born in 3 June 1986 is a former World No. 1 Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Nadal has won six Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, 16 ATP Masters Series tournaments and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004 and 2009.

Nadal was ranked World No. 1 from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. Nadal was ranked World No. 2, behind Roger Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot. In 2009, he became the first player to simultaneously hold Grand Slam titles on clay, grass and hardcourt. His success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay".

In 2008, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis.

In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the World No. 762 Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the open era to do so before the age of 16.The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984.

During 2004, Nadal played his first match against World No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters, and won in straight sets. He missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle. Nadal at 18 years and six months became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation.

At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by World No. 1 Roger Federer.

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander’s previous teenage record of nine in 1983. Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2005 with eleven 6–0 sets during the year. Also he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open. To complete the spring hard court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters.

Nadal and Federer have been playing against each other since 2004, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers:

They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in 7 Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning 5 of the 7 finals. Three of these 5 wins were on Nadal's best surface, and he has beaten Federer twice in non-clay major finals: Wimbledon 2008 and the Australian Open 2009.

Their 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match of all time by many long-time tennis critics.
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Rafael Nadal Vs Roger Federer Who Is The Best?

It's hard to think of a rivalry that captured the imagination of the tennis world more then the one between Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal. Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg vs John Mcenroe are some of the other great rivalries that comes to mind.

Those were awesome rivalries in their own right, but may be Federer-Nadal is the best yet. The contrast in their styles and their mental make-ups are just a couple of things that makes this such an interesting and appealing rivalry.

i will give a detailed review of this rivalry and explain why it is so good.

Nadal leads Federer 13-7 in career meetings.

Federer has beaten Nadal only twice out of eleven career meetings on clay.

Nadal beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final in an epic match that is considered by many as the best match of all time with a score of 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7.

I've touched upon the contrasting styles and mental make-ups of Federer and Nadal in the introduction. If you look at all the great rivalries this was one of the key ingredients.Borg was the emotionless, calm base liner, while everyone is aware of the antics ofJohn Mcenroe, his emotional outbursts is the stuff of legend.

But not only was their psychological make-ups a stark contrast but so was their playing styles. Mcenroe was the attacking serve-and-volley player. Same thing for the Sampras-Agassi rivalry. Sampras had the big serve and the attacking serve-and-volley game, while Agassi had the best return and ground strokes maybe in the history of tennis.

Sampras was quite and calm, while Agassi was intense and flamboyant, also known as the showman from Las Vegas. Just like these great rivalries Nadal-Federer is not short of any contrast. Federer is the ultimate gentleman. He plays with a considerable amount of grace, finesse and touch. In a game that is mostly dominated by power he shows that it is still possible to outsmart opponents with skill and finesse.

Its only a player with the genius of Federer that can achieve this rare feat though. Not that he has his fair share of deadly weapons in the arsenal. Federer plays with a combination of power and grace that has probably never before been seen in tennis. The same goes for his personality, you would be hard pressed to find a more popular player among fans and opponents alike.

On the other hand Nadal is robust to the extreme. He can intimidate an opponent with the sheer desire to win that he shows out on court. Nadal is all about muscle and guts. He NEVER gives up and plays every point as though his life depended on it. He is mentally maybe the best in the game.

When it comes to sheer natural ability he is light years behind Federer, but he makes up for it with desire and physical presence. His forehand is unorthodox, with the follow through ending up over his left shoulder instead of the right! But then again Nadal never cared as much about appearances as about winning.

Both Roger and Rafa have a chance to become the GOAT(Greatest Of All Time). Roger probably has another 2-3 slams in him while Rafa is piling up grand slam titles at a fierce rate as well. Who do you think will win the most grand slam titles and how many?

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Tennis: Chinese Women Celebrate Wimbledon Breakthrough

Li Na and Zheng Jie celebrated their Wimbledon breakthrough in London on Wednesday when they became the first Chinese players to reach the third round at the All England Club.

Peng Shuai joined them in the third round yesterday after dishing out an impressive 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) straight sets win over the Israeli 20th seed Shahar Peer.

Li, seeded 27, defeated Meilen Tu of the US 6-2, 6-4, while Zheng Jie won a tough three-setter against the Czech Republic's Eva Birnerova 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-3.

Both players said they are pleased with their second round victories.

"I played very good tennis today and it is a satisfying result for me," Li said.

"It was a very tough match for me," Zheng said. "She has powerful serves and a good backhand. But I am so happy because this is my best performance so far in Wimbledon."

Zheng joined the tournament in 2004 but was ousted in the first round.

All Chinese players skipped the tournament last year due to the National Games.

Playing at Wimbledon for the first time, Li, China's No.1, now faces former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian fifth seed, for a place in the last 16.

Zheng has an equally tough task, facing Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters

Later yesterday, Sun Tiantian was unable to advance as she lost to Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.

China has six women in the top 100 and all of them were in the main draw here. By contrast, China's top tennis star, Wang Yu, is ranked at a humble 353.

"I think they're too skinny," Peng pointed out. "They need to get stronger. May be the men need to eat more."

The 20-year-old, who played the first round on her debut here in 2004, splits her time between Florida and China and is convinced the Olympic doubles gold medal success of Sun and Li Ting in Athens in 2004 will spur even more Chinese women to take up the game.

As it is, the ladies have exceeded their French Open performance.

Four Chinese girls made it through to the second round at Roland Garros earlier this month with Li surviving until the round of 32.

This year, there were six Chinese women in the main draw and their emergence has been noted by former world No.1 Martina Hingis.

"When I kind of moved away, it was still a lot of Russians. But now it seems like it's moving more to the East," Hingis commented.

Two of the Chinese contingent were beaten on Tuesday by French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, the world third seed, who beat Yuan Meng 6-0, 6-1, and Russian 30th seed Anna Chakvetadze who saw off Yan Zi 6-3, 6-2.

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Women get equality at last at Wimbledon

The All England Club will give men and women equal prize-money at this year's Wimbledon Championships. It will be the first time in the tournament's history that there has been equal pay through all rounds for men and women, ending 123 years of inequality.

"Tennis is one of the few sports in which women and men compete in the same event at the same time," said, Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman. "We believe our decision to offer equal prize-money provides a boost for the game as a whole and recognizes the enormous contribution that women players make to the game and to Wimbledon.

"In short, good for tennis, good for women players and good for Wimbledon."

The decision has been welcomed by women players, none more so than Venus Williams, the three-time Wimbledon champion, who in an opinion piece for The Times during last year’s Championships said that the reasons against paying the same are no longer relevant.

"The greatest tennis tournament in the world has reached an even greater height today,” said Williams. "I applaud today's decision by Wimbledon, which recognizes the value of women's tennis.

"The 2007 Championships will have even greater meaning and significance to me and my fellow players."

Maria Sharapova, another former Wimbledon champion, added: "Wimbledon has always been a leader in so many ways in the world of tennis. This decision will only strengthen the bond between women players and one of the world's great sporting events."

"Wimbledon is one of the most respected events in all sports and now with women and men paid on an equal scale, it demonstrates to the rest of the world that this is the right thing to do for the sport, the tournament and the world."

Larry Scott, the Sony-Ericsson WTA Tour chief executive, a supporter of the move, added: "This is an historic and defining moment for women in the sport of tennis, and a significant step forward for the equality of women in our society.

"We commend the leadership of Wimbledon for its decisive action in recognising the progress that women's tennis has made."

When women started competing at Wimbledon in 1884, the champion received a silver flower basket to the value of 20 guineas, while the men’s winner took home a gold prize worth 10 guineas more. In 1968, the first year of Open tennis, the men’s champion received £2,000; the women’s £750. There was not the same dissent in those days that has been raised in recent years as the All England Club closed the gap but refused to equate the respective prize-moneys. Last year, the difference was £30,000, with the men’s winner, Roger Federer, earning £655,000.

Phillips stated that the cost to the All England Club of bringing equality will be £600,000 and that the decision taken on Wednesday night was unanimous.

"We believe it will help Wimbledon's reputation. Every year we analyse in considerable detail the relevant factors, both social issues and market data, and then the committee makes a judgment which they believe is right for Wimbledon.

"We believed that since we wanted to make a further increase on prize money that it was so close (between the men and women amounts) that the time was right to equalise fully.

Last year Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, joined the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of British tennis, and the Women's Tennis Association, in calling for an end to the inequality.

However, Phillips said that he did not believe Wimbledon's previous position was morally indefensible.

"We think now is absolutely the right time to make this move. We have a reputation both for the championships and for the All England Club and we have to look after that.

"We always want the top players to enjoy coming here. It's been a problem in that we don't want them to feel bad about things. We looked at all the options and decided this was right for Wimbledon.

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Women’s tennis Wimbledon history and records

Women’s singles started to be played at Wimbledon in 1884, seven years after the foundation of the tournament. Women’s doubles and mixed doubles were first played in 1913. Here are some facts and records:

Youngest singles winner was Charlotte (Lottie) Dodwho won Wimbledon in 1887 at the age of 15 years, 285 days. Later on she won four more Wimbledon titles, in 1888, 1891, 1892, 1893.

It’s unbelievable how times have changed. Take a look at Dod’s tennis outfit! I'm speechless.

And note this: besides playing tennis she was a member of the national field hockey team, British Amateur golf champion in 1904 and the archery silver medalist at the 1908 Olympics.

The youngest ever player at Wimbledon was Mita Klimaof Austria, who was 13 years old in the 1907 singles competition.

Martina Hingis was the youngest doubles winner, being only 15 years, 282 days old when she became a champion in 1996.

First African-American winner: In 1957 Althea Gibson became the first African-American to win a Wimbledon singles championship, and defended her title a year later. She is sometimes referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the "color barrier".

Chris Evert Lloyd was the last married woman to win singles, that happened in 1981. She was also a player with most runner-up positions at Wimbledon, 7.

The shortest person to compete in Wimbledon was Miss C.G. Hoahing who was just 4 feet 9 inches / 1.45 meters.

And here’s the absolute queen MARTINA NAVRATILOVA holds five records! She has most singles titles, as much as 9 (1978, 1979, 1982–1987, 1990)! She has most consecutive singles titles, 6! Navratilova also holds the record for the largest number of matches played she played 326 matches at Wimbledon. Along with Billie Jean King, Martina was also the winner of most Wimbledon titles, having 20 of them. In addition, she was the oldest champion winning the mixed doubles title in 2003 at the age of 46 years, 8 months.

Most doubles and mixed doubles titles belong to Elizabeth Ryan who won 12 doubles titles, and 7 mixed doubles. She also won 5 consecutive doubles titles, which is the record that she shares with Suzanne Lenglen.

Venus Williams and Serena Williams were the lowest seeded winners of Wimbledon..

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The Women of Wimbledon Are Women of the World

Grunting seems to be a hot topic in women’s tennis these days, but if there’s a word that describes women’s tennis better than ‘loud’, surely it’s ‘international’. It seems like players come from a wider range of countries than ever.

It’s no exception at this year’s Wimbledon, where the end of the first week means that only 16 of 128 women remain in the ladies’ singles draw. If you’ve been following women’s tennis, you probably guessed—correctly—that many of the remaining women are from the United States, Russia or Serbia—or have been asked about them. Their responses are often varied, ranging from the mildly amusing to the seriously informative and the absolutely zany.

Russia

The Russians are not coming in the world of women’s tennis, they’re already here. Half of the women in the top 10 are Russian.

Serena Williams, World No. 2, isn’t likely intimidated though. For one thing she has more Grand Slam titles than all of them combined in a sport where that number is often used to quantify tennis greatness. Serena isn’t lonely either since she’s joined in the top 10 by her older sister Venus, who’s World No. 3. One thing Serena is, by her own admission, is confused.

“Everyone is from Russia,” she said. “Sometimes I think I’m from Russia too… All these new ‘ova’s—I don’t really recognize anyone.”

While you can’t always count on Serena to be gracious in a post-match interview, you can generally count on her to be newsworthy. Naturally journalists prodded her for more.

“So are you saying you came to Compton when you were seven years old from Russia?” one journalist asked.

Serena happily obliged: “I think I am, and I think my name must be ‘Williamsova’.”

When told about Serena’s statements, No. 4-ranked Elena Dementieva chuckled before giving her take on why the Russian army has invaded the top of women’s tennis: “We have a very tough competition, and that’s what makes us work hard and improve our game. I think it’s always good to have lots of girls practicing all together trying to be the best one. It always helps with the motivation.”

USA

While it’s not surprising that four of the remaining 16 women in the singles draw are Russian, it’s shocking that three of them are American. People expect two—not more, not less. Few expect an American woman whose last name isn’t ‘Williams’ to make it to the second week of a Grand Slam.

Definitely not a 17-year-old who’s ranked No. 124 and who had to make her way through a qualifying tournament just to get to Wimbledon. Her name is Melanie Oudin, and she beat former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the third round.  The big win made it to the MSN home page. (The headline was suitably dramatic—‘Stunner: Former No. 1 upset by teen at Wimbledon’.)

Tennis watchers aren’t the only ones who focus on the Williams sisters. Just ask Oudin. Recounting memories of watching her first Wimbledon on TV, she said, “When I started playing tennis, I saw Venus and Serena Williams playing here, and I was like, ‘Mom, I really, really want to play there one day.’”

Venus, for her part, called Oudin’s victory “super good news” and described Oudin as “super nice” and “very well-adjusted.”

That, however, isn’t why the French apparently tried to claim Oudin as one of their own.

“There’s a group of French journalists behind the Americans,” said one journalist. “They’re claiming you today. You have more a French name than American name.”

Oudin cleared things up: “My last name is French. But I’m totally American, for sure.”

Serbia

The woman Oudin beat is from Serbia. Where women’s tennis is concerned, Serbia has probably gotten more attention than any other country the past few years. There are two reasons for this, and their names are Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

Just about every article that goes into their background mentions that Ivanovic grew up playing tennis in an abandoned swimming pool during the time of the NATO bombings in the 1990s. (Why should this article be the exception?)

At Wimbledon last year they were the top two seeds. Recently both women have seen a decline in their rankings (and their confidence). Ivanovic, who beat Australian Sam Stosur to get to get to the fourth round, is ranked No. 12, and Jankovic, who lost to Oudin in the third round, is ranked No. 6.

Still there’s no denying their talent. Many believe—or at least hope—their rankings will improve and they’ll win more Grand Slams.

Either way they’ve put Serbia on the tennis map. Jankovic was asked why Serbia’s seeing its athletes succeed in various sports.

“I think we’re quite talented,” Jankovic said, laughing. Ever the entertainer, she continued, “I don’t know how to explain it. But we have… the talent in us. We have that… hunger. We are big fighters. We want to be the best that we can. We don’t really accept… second places.”

China

What about China? Seeing as how it’s the most populous nation in the world, shouldn’t it get some mention? Fret not—No. 14-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat two Chinese players in a row, has China covered.

After a competitive third-round victory over China’s Na Li, Radwanska said, “She’s very good player, so I didn’t expect it’s gonna be easy.” Using a broader brush to sketch out the rest of the explanation, she added, “Against Chinese is always very difficult.”

At Wimbledon, it was apparently easier this year than last. This year none of the Chinese women made it past the third round. Last year Jie Zheng surprised many—and perhaps herself most of all—by making it all the way to the semifinals (beating top-ranked Ivanovic along the way).

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Wimbledon Women's Final 2009: Serena Wins Battle of Williams Sisters

WIMBLEDON, England -- Venus and Serena Williams won in contrasting fashion Thursday to set up their fourth all-sister Wimbledon final and eighth meeting in a Grand Slam title match.

Two-time champion Serena saved a match point and overcame Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 in 2 hours, 49 minutes -- the longest women's semifinal at Wimbledon in at least 40 years. Five-time winner Venus, meanwhile, needed only 51 minutes to demolish Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 and reach her eighth Wimbledon final.

"Oh, my God, this is my eighth final, and it's a dream come to true to be here again and have the opportunity to hold the plate up," Venus said.

The sisters -- with 17 Grand Slam titles between them -- will face each other Saturday in a Fourth of July final.

"A fourth final -- it's so exciting. It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama," Venus said, referring to Serena's semifinal. "It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams."

One Williams or the other has won seven of the past nine championships at the All England Club. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals, and Venus came out on top against her younger sister last year.

"All I know is a Williams is going to win," said the sisters' father, Richard.

Venus is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.

There have been seven previous all-Williams championship matches at majors, with Serena holding a 5-2 lead. Overall, the sisters are 10-10.

"I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and defeat her," Venus said. "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win. I don't want to see myself disappointed. I need to get my titles, too. I'm still the big sister, but I'm still going to play great tennis."

The Serena-Dementieva match was the longest women's Wimbledon semifinal by time since 1969; records are incomplete before then. Venus' win was the most one-sided women's semifinal since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals by the same score in 1969. The last time a semifinal ended 6-0, 6-0 was in 1925.

After Serena's tense, drama-filled escape against Dementieva, Venus barely broke a sweat against Safina. The Russian is ranked and seeded No. 1 despite never having won a Grand Slam tournament. Safina won only 20 points and was completely outclassed by the third-seeded Venus, who has been playing some of her best grass-court tennis at this tournament.

"She's just too good on grass," Safina said. "It's not my favorite surface, and it's her favorite surface. I think she gave me a pretty good lesson today."

"I don't know if there's such a thing as perfect for an athlete, but I felt happy with it," Venus said. "And I felt like my performance has been building each round better and better. ... I think the score just showed my level of play. I was just dictating on every point."

In the 10th game of the final set, Serena faced match point on her serve with Dementieva ahead 5-4. Serena chose to attack, coming forward and hitting a backhand volley that skipped off the net cord and into the open court for a winner.

"I thought ace," Serena said. "It's my serve, if I can just stay calm. I was just trying to think positive."

Dementieva said: "The only regret I have, maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line."

It was Serena's eighth straight win in a Grand Slam semifinal going back to the 2003 French Open. She is 14-2 overall in Grand Slam semifinals.

It was almost too much to handle for father Richard, who watched with other family members and friends in the guest box.

"Serena nearly gave me a heart attack," he said. "Venus played as if she had someplace to go and she was in a major league hurry to get a great dinner."

Serena served 20 aces -- the most for a woman at Wimbledon since 2000 -- and had 45 winners and 28 unforced errors. Dementieva produced 27 winners, 26 errors and eight double-faults.

"That was the best match we ever played against each other," Dementieva said. "It was a real fight from the beginning until the end. I feel like I finally played some good tennis here. It was not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion. She was serving very well today. I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side.

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