tennis

1. the magic of wimbledon: richard williams's 20 favourite moments

   
   
   every year for a fortnight, we all fall in love with tennis. on the eve of this year's wimbledon championships, richard williams picks his 20 favourite moments - from last year's sublime men's final, to the ridiculous ...20. the final streaker, 1996richard krajicek and malivai washington were standing by the net, posing for the finalists' traditional pre-match photograph, when a female streaker dashed from one end of the court to the other, naked except for a tiny pinafore, which she flipped up as she passed the players. "i never thought i'd see that on the centre court," said the bbc's john barrett. "the two boys hardly knew where to look." the smiles on their faces gave a different impression.19. britain's last homegrown final, 1961on the 75th anniversary of the championships, the women's final was contested by two british players for the first time since 1914. with maria bueno, the winner in 1959 and 1960, removed from contention by illness, the shrewd and dogged angela mortimer outlasted the hugely popular christine truman, who was hampered by a thigh injury after a tumble in the second set. just imagine how many of the world's top women would have to succumb to illness to open the way to an all-british final this year ...18. people's sunday, 1991so badly was the 1991 tournament affected by rain that, for the first time, play was scheduled to take place on the middle sunday, with low-cost tickets and unreserved seating on the show courts. it was the beginning of the end of the uptightness and exclusivity of the all england club, which took off its corset and enjoyed the experience.17. henman's most agonising failure, 2001"tiger tim" was 26 and in his prime when he met the unseeded goran ivanisevic in the semi-final. this was his best chance to become the first briton to win the men's title since fred perry in 1936, and he looked like taking it when - in a match that rainstorms stretched out over three agonising days - he led 5-7, 7-6, 6-0. but there were traumatised scenes out on henman hill as a legion of middle englanders watched the tall croatian come back to win the last two sets. and just to rub it in, he also took the final.16. cliff and the raquettes, 1996on a filthy july afternoon, sir cliff richard stood up in the royal box, grabbed a handy microphone, and with martina navratilova, pam shriver, hana mandlikova and virginia wade among his backing singers, delivered a 20-minute set including living doll, all shook up and congratulations to a crowd resolutely clapping on the on-beat. if you can bear to watch, it's on youtube. and now, thanks to the sliding roof, it can never happen again.15. tennis gets the fashion tip, 1959no one wore teddy tinling's tennis frocks with as much grace as maria bueno, the stylish brazilian who won wimbledon three times. "she was an actress," tinling said. "i would leave her alone for a few minutes and she would do her poses in front of the mirror and satisfy herself how the dress was going to look on her." most years she can be seen in the royal box, still as gamine as when she won her first victory, aged 19.14. cash's climb, 1987leaving a crushed ivan lendl to contemplate a straight-sets defeat, pat cash astonished strait-laced wimbledon by leaping into the stands and clambering up to the players' box, where the ebullient 22-year-old aussie greeted his family, his girlfriend and his coach. someone out there has the checkered headband he wore while condemning his czech opponent to a career lacking only a wimbledon victory.13. novotna's tears, 1993when she finally won her third wimbledon final, beating nathalie tauziat in 1998, jana novotna was making up for the most spectacular choke in tennis history. five years earlier she had been leading steffi graf 4-1 and 40-15 in the final set, only to suffer a complete collapse of confidence and surrender the next five games in a fusillade of wild mis-hits. after receiving the runner-up's trophy, she wept on the shoulder of the duchess of kent, who assured her - to general disbelief - that one day she would return in triumph.12. billie jean takes the stage, 1962billie jean moffitt was an 18-year-old history student making only her second visit to wimbledon when she knocked out margaret court, the world no1, in the second round. court had been given a bye, so this was the first time the women's top seed had been eliminated in her first match. known after her 1965 marriage as billie jean king, she went on to win six wimbledon singles titles and attain legendary status in the game.11. becker blows them away, 1985 boris "boom-boom" becker played wimbledon's senior tournament for the first time in 1984, aged only 16, and a year later he blew the tournament apart, becoming the first unseeded winner. the german was a force of nature on grass, his flying volley a thing of incomparable drama. he came back to win again a year later, and made it three in 1989. on the way, he invented the fist-pump.10. return of the rocket, 1968roy emerson, pete sampras, roger federer - all have held the record for grand slam men's singles titles, and all have known their records would be marked with an asterisk that asks: "how many would rod laver have won, had he not been on the professional circuit between 1963 and 1967?" in 1968, the year tennis went open and he was re-admitted to wimbledon, the rockhampton rocket took the title in straight sets. comparisons with federer honour both men, but those who saw the 5ft 8in australian left-hander will always insist on his pre-eminence.9. graf's golden year, 1988did steffi graf have the best forehand in tennis? she had a lot of other stuff, too, to help her to seven wimbledon titles, principally a lithe athleticism that gave her running shots a unique beauty. at the age of 19 she ended martina navratilova's run of six consecutive wimbledon titles - and went on to win the so-called "golden slam" of all four championships plus olympic gold in a single calendar year: a unique achievement. 8. the longest ever match, 1969the moody and gifted richard "pancho" gonzales never won wimbledon, but he will always be remembered for this marathon first-round struggle, the tournament's longest ever match, in which he defeated the big-serving charlie pasarell. it lasted five hours and 12 minutes over two days' play, and gonzales had resisted seven match points by the time it finished 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. the winner was 41 years old, the weather was hot, and in those days the players weren't even permitted to sit down while changing ends.7. a classic in straight sets, 1999a men's final does not have to go to five sets, or even four, to assume the dimensions of a classic. this one, an all-american confrontation on the fourth of july between andre agassi and pete sampras, finished 6-3, 6-4 7-5 to sampras, the sixth of his seven wimbledon singles titles. that sounds simple enough, but the bare statistics disguise the quality of play produced by both men. "he walked on water," an admiring agassi said afterwards. for the spectators, there was scarcely a chance to draw breath.6. wade's jubilee triumph, 1977if the sex pistols' god save the queen represented a contrarian response to the silver jubilee, this match was its celebration. elizabeth ii has made only two recorded visits to wimbledon - the second to see this final, in which virginia wade set the centre court aflutter by coming back from a set down to beat her powerful but limited dutch opponent, betty stove. thirty-two years later, wade remains the last british singles champion. stove, meanwhile, gave her name to a dutch punk band, betty serviert (betty serves). 5. the unforgettable tie-break, 1980it was a contest in every dimension: ice versus fire, precision versus touch, the phlegmatic versus the choleric. bjorn borg had his racket strings tensioned to 86lb per square inch, john mcenroe to 62lb; the ball sprang off the face of the swede's racket but it lingered on the american's strings, waiting for the late turn of the wrist that would confound even the most alert and athletic response. their legendary tie-break came in the fourth set: it lasted 22 minutes, included 34 contested points (still a record), and ended 18-16 in mcenroe's favour after seeming to include more swings of fortune than many entire tournaments. the final twist, though, saw borg take the fifth set for the last of his five consecutive wimbledon singles titles.4. venus's celebration, 2000venus williams was not the first african-american to win the women's singles title - althea gibson won in 1957 and 1958 - but she was the first whose family provided a very visible support system. richard and oracene williams instilled ambition and stoicism into their champion daughters, but also the sense of a life outside tennis. the 20-year-old venus's victory over lindsay davenport in 2000, the first of her five wins, was followed by a wonderfully unrestrained celebration in which she followed pat cash's example by climbing up into the players' box to embrace her sister serena, whom she had beaten in the semi-final.3. the ferocious final, 2008as the 2008 men's final entered its fifth set, the evening was drawing in. by the time it was all over, night had fallen and the court was slippery with dew. attempting to better bjorn borg with a sixth consecutive men's singles title, roger federer was rocked by rafael nadal's aggression and athleticism. the first two sets went to the spaniard, but federer fought back and only the gathering darkness separated the world's top two as they fought out the final set. at 9.20pm, after four hours and 48 minutes of brilliance from both men, nadal finally took the set 9-7 and the challenge cup. "he's still the no1, still the best, still five times champion here - i've just won one," the new champion said, his chivalrous tribute a fitting coda to the most ferocious of tennis matches.2. martina's last hurrah, 2003brought up on clay courts in prague, the 16-year-old martina navratilova arrived at wimbledon in 1973 to discover that its grass courts offered a perfect platform for her powerful all-round game. she would reach the final of the women's singles 12 times, including nine in succession between 1982 and 1990. she would also collect 11 wimbledon doubles titles, the last of them coming in 2003 with leander paes to make her, at 46 years and eight months, the oldest grand slam champion in the game's history. by that time she had long since overcome the wimbledon crowd's early resistance to her air of steely determination, and this last triumph was greeted with a wave of emotion.1. the final that had everything, 1975this was a contest with an abundance of compelling subtexts. twelve months earlier, the 21-year-old jimmy connors had demolished ken rosewall, 18 years his senior, in a final so one-sided as to be difficult to watch. romantics and aesthetes mourned as the australian veteran's artistry was contemptuously swept aside. not much hope was given for the 30-year-old arthur ashe's chances, either, when he faced the seemingly invulnerable connors in the following year's final. ashe, however, gave the matter some thought, and had a brainwave. instead of trying to match connors's power, he would offer him nothing but, to use his own word, "junk". dinking and chopping and slicing the ball in a supreme display of self-restraint, he gave connors no pace with which to work. the bemused and befuddled defending champion could find no answer as ashe won 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. in the end, the grace and creativity of ashe prevailed over the steel-framed racket and loutish provocations of connors.wimbledontennisguardian.co.uk © guardian news & media limited 2009 | use of this content is subject to our terms & conditions | more feeds
   
   




2. tide advances to ita national team indoor championships - crimson white online

   
   
   the no. 25 alabama men?s tennis team (2-1) capped off 2010 ita kick-off weekend by coming back to defeat the 18th-ranked duke blue devils (2-1) 4-2 sunday at the university of alabama tennis stadium. with the win, the crimson tide advances to the ita national team indoor championships, which will
   
   




3. wettmanipulation im sport

   
   
   absichtlich verlorene fuЯballspiele, irregulдre elfmeter, abgesprochene tennis-matches. nicht nur unter experten gilt wettbetrug mittlerweile als grцЯere gefahr fьr die akzeptanz des sports als doping.
   
   


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