Wimbledon Tennis Championships: The weather, strawberries and cream and Tennis.

June sees London hosting its annual Tennis event at Wimbledon. This competition is the highlight of Britain's tennis calendar and contestants from around the world participate.

This event has become synonymous with torrential rain, expensive strawberries and cream and last but not least world class tennis. June 2010 has been kind to Wimbledon and the UK has experienced some glorious sunny, summer weather. In fact it may have been a little too muggy for Tennis. It is early July and the finals are imminent. For those of you new to Wimbledon here is a little history and information.

Location

Wimbledon is a large area in South London. This district is situated in the London Borough of Merton. At just 7 miles south west of Charing Cross getting there from the heart of London is fairly easy. Take the tube, underground train, for easy access. London taxis can be expensive and a London bus may seem to take forever.

Wimbledon's tennis beginnings

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships have been held at the All England club in Wimbledon since 1877. This makes this tennis competition the oldest of its kind in the world.

The All England Club was originally created in 1868. At that time its main sporting activity was croquet. In 1874 lawn tennis was invented by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. This game was added to the itinerary at the All England club in 1875.

Early in 1877 the club's name was changed to The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and the first lawn tennis championship took place.

As was the norm back in the 19th century the contest was originally dominated by male players. In fact only male players were allowed to participate.The principal tennis court was located in the centre which is why to this day this court is called the Centre Court. Tennis took off and by 1872 croquet was dropped from the club.

1884 saw the first women involved in the competition participating in ladies singles. In 1913 ladies doubles and mixed doubles were introduced.

Wimbledon memories

Despite the fact that I rarely watch Wimbledon the news is full of coverage. This means that is hard to miss events. In the past we had babies Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe playing exceptionally well but often being remembered for their tears and tantrums.

Bjorn Borg who retired whilst still a successful tennis player at the age of 25 was one for the ladies. He played a stylish game and was memorable also for his headband.

In the fifties the female players had conservative white short dresses. These became shorter and shorter over the years. The days players like the Williams twins play dressed in sports wear perfect for the job in hand.

There have been some grunters over the years who have huffed and puffed their way to stardom. I often wonder if this is tactics to distract the opposition.

June in England is traditionally our Strawberry season. If the weather has been good there will be a glut of them in the shops. So much so that the price plummets swiftly. Not so at Wimbledon. Traditionally champagne is drunk at Wimbledon and strawberries and cream are scoffed. All of this comes at a hefty price.

Wimbledon tennis

The competition has continued to grow and increase in popularity over the years. In 2009 after so many years of the competition being delayed due to rain a retractable roof was installed. Perhaps this is what has heralded a new era of good weather.

Wimbledon and tennis will not appeal to everyone. However for those fans who are passionate sleeping outside of the All England club in order to buy the best seat tickets is normal practice. The BBC runs full coverage of the contest and its channels are dominated by tennis for a few weeks each summer.

The last English person to win at Wimbledon was Fred Perry back in the thirties. Fred was the world number one seed from 1934 to 1938. Since then England has had the odd glimmer of hope but little success. Tim Henman was England's hope for many years and although he often won through to the later stages of the contest he never actually won.

The English are funny creatures and Scotsman Andy Murray is now England's best chance of future success. When we English have no-one left in the competition we adopt our British neighbours as our own. Andy won through to the semi-finals for 2010 but lost out to Nadal.

Wimbledon 2010 has run from 21st June until 4th July. The final matches are being played 3rd and 4th July.

Wimbledon 2011

Tickets for Wimbledon 2011 will soon disappear. If you are interested in attending check out the Wimbledon website. You will need to follow the steps to the letter.

For example step one:

"You may apply for the 2011 Public Ballot from 1 August 2010.

You need to fill in a Public Ballot application form:

To obtain an application form, send in a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: AELTC, P.O. BOX 98, London SW19 5AE by 15 December 2010.

No letter required. If you do not send in a stamped, self-addressed envelope, you will not receive a form.

There is a separate ballot for wheelchair spaces so please make sure you write clearly “WHEELCHAIR” on both the outer and on your return envelope.

Non-UK residents should send in an International Reply Coupon instead of a stamp. If your post office does not provide these, please send your self-addressed envelope with a letter.

• The self-addressed, stamped envelope should have your return address and should be approximately 110mm x 220mm, (4 1/4 " x 8 5/8")
• Requests postmarked after 15 December 2010 will NOT be processed
• We will not issue forms to personal callers after 15 December 2010"

Good luck to those of you applying for tickets. As Wimbledon is popular, especially those games held in the Centre Court, entrants are put into a ballot. This is claimed to be a fair draw which means that there are no guarantees you will receive tickets.