About Wimbledon - History
Wimbledon on television

I cant post without all the cell and text formatting

Wimbledon is here.I hope nadal does better this year.Hb did u see the secret is out ?He has had a girlfriend from high school for the past 3 years.I am so sad.I thought there was a chance for me.Just 1 Mil would have done the trick.oh well I guess my luck is out.lol
Today Jokovich was beaten by Safin.That was not good to see.

In 2008 the All England Club will award £11,812,000 in prize money to competitors at The Championships.

Complete list of prize money for the 2008 Championships (PDF)
Prize Money Summary:
2007 2008 Increase
Total Prize Money £11,282,710 £11,812,000 4.7%
Gentlemen's Singles Winner £700,000 £750,000 7.1%
Gentlemen's Singles Runner-up £350,000 £375,000 7.1%
Ladies' Singles Winner £700,000 £750,000 7.1%
Ladies' Singles
Runner-up £350,000 £375,000 7.1%
Gentlemen's Doubles Winners £229,000 £230,000 3.2%
Gentleman's Doubles Runners-up £111,440 £115,000 3.2%
Ladies' Doubles Winners £222,900 £230,000 3.2%
Ladies' Doubles
Runners-up £111,440 £115,000 3.2%
Mixed Doubles Winners £90,000 £92,000 2.2%
Mixed Doubles
Runners-up £45,000 £46,000 2.2%

The Lawn Tennis Championship Meeting — the Championships — comes under the joint management of The All England Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) and The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

The All England Lawn Tennis Club is a not-for-profit organisation. The funds generated by The Championships, less tax, are used by the LTA to develop tennis in Great Britain.

The Championships are run by a Committee of Management consisting of 12 AELTC members and seven nominees from the LTA.

The Committee forms sub-committees to look after all major aspects of the tournament such as catering, finance, ground, information technology, press and broadcasting, marketing, order of play, ticket allocations, transport, etc. These sub-committees are supported by the seven full-time executives and the Club staff.

About Wimbledon - Official Suppliers
The Official Suppliers
The Club has always sought to retain the unique image and character of The Championships and has successfully achieved over many years by development a range of long-term mutually beneficial Official Supplier agreements with a range of blue-chip brands, as well as specifically not commercializing the grounds overtly.

The income from the Official Suppliers is an important part of The Championships' surplus which goes back into the development of the British game through the Lawn Tennis Association.

Official Suppliers, of which there are 15 for the 2008 Championships (see below), provide goods and services, which are both essential for the staging of The Championships, and which meet the Club's objective of improving the quality of the service provided to the players, spectators, the media and the staff involved in organizing and running the event.

Official Suppliers have the right to use the Club's crossed rackets logo and to highlight their Wimbledon association through advertising and promotions in key markets around the world.

Russia's Marat Safin defeated Serbian opponent Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Centre Court at Wimbledon. It was a stunning loss for the third-ranked Djokovic.
[color:1e02=#333333! important]Marat Safin scores an improbable 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over the No. 3-seeded player at Wimbledon.
[color:1e02=#999999! important]By Chuck Culpepper, Special to The Times
June 26, 2008
WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon 2008 suddenly has restored to renown one Marat Safin, lending another peek at one of the most unusual elite athletes in sports history.

Few have been as erratic, or as episodically ingenious, or as humorous in a second language, or as refreshingly blunt, and surely none has qualified so resolutely as all of the above.

Even the Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who pretty much reveres the ancient 28-year-old Safin and thought the reverence might've cost him on Wednesday, said after losing to Safin, "He's known for his, you know, mental instability in some ways."

Listeners giggled knowingly.

He's known also for, oh, dropping his pants at the French Open, for blowing gaskets at inexplicable junctures of matches and for dwelling in a deadpan candor that comes off as jolting in an environment full of image-crafting. After he inconceivably became the first man to beat the reliable Djokovic before a semifinal in the last six Grand Slams on Wednesday on Centre Court, Safin freely related that he'd already booked a flight home to Moscow for Wednesday night at 8:30.

It's unconventional chatter for somebody who won the 2000 U.S. Open and the 2005 Australian and once reached No. 1 in the world, but it's impossible to convey how little Safin sweats convention. "There is a flight at 8:30 leaving every evening, so I was almost there," he informed reporters.

Asked if he'd booked another flight, he said, "There is a flight every day. Eight-thirty, arrive at four in the morning in Moscow. Everything is under control."

Asked about re-booking, he blurted, "It's one phone call."

He'd begun the tournament at No. 75 in the world, with a pedestrian Wimbledon history and a record of 10-13 in 2008, so you'd have to be some lunatic to think he gazed beyond the name "Djokovic" in the second round. In a BBC interview immediately after the match, he had zero idea of his third-round opponent (Andreas Seppi).

He'd played his first-round match on the outside Court No. 11, and he spoke a complete lack of resentment about the slight and a picturesque description of life on a remote court.

"You need to go through the stages," Safin said. "I played on Court 11, which is almost in another club. But still you need to go through these kinds of matches to be able to play on the Centre Court. I think my ranking drop, so where you expect me to play?

"I'm 75 in the world and I'm playing against the Italian guy. Actually, not many people they care about this match. Actually, I was surprised it was a full stadium on Court 11. . . . You don't have any challenges there [for line calls], the Hawk-Eye. The chair umpire may be half-asleep."

All along, though, somewhere within his complex being, he retains the capacity for a masterpiece like his 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 win Wednesday, and the right to assess the indomitable No. 3 player in the world with, "He didn't impress me with his game today. I could read his serve. I could return. I could stay with him on the baseline. And that's it."

His flight plan canceled, Safin remains in a tournament he has lampooned on occasion, as last year for overpriced, unacceptable pasta.

"What did I say?" he said. "The strawberries are too expensive. It's true. They don't have enough for dessert. It's true. . . . I was right, I think, in what I said. I didn't make any lies."

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Ivanovic survives marathon; Serena also moves on at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic staved off two match points in a marathon 3-hour, 24-minute second-round match before finally sneaking past veteran Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy on Wednesday at Wimbledon. Two-time champion Serena Williams joined Ivanovic in the third round here.
The French Open champion Ivanovic prevailed 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 in a tremendous bout against the 29-year-old Dechy on Court 1 at the venerable All England Club.
The 97th-ranked Dechy let Ivanovic know that she could be in for a long day by taking the first set via tiebreak.
And leading 5-4 in the second set, Dechy's first of two match points were set- up when Ivanovic misfired long on a two-handed backhand. But the Serbian promptly saved the first one with a forehand winner.
Another crucial, and certainly the most memorable, shot in the match came on the next point, when Ivanovic swatted a forehand that caught the net cord and barely trickled over onto Dechy's side to prolong the bout.
"It felt like time stopped for a moment as I hit that forehand," Ivanovic said. "I thought I hit a pretty good shot and I moved forward, but then the ball hit the net and it was in the air for a couple of seconds. I thought the ball might go out and the match would be over."
Ivanovic went on to hold her serve to level the second stanza at 5-5.
The set eventually went to a tiebreak, which the Serb won handily and closed out with an unreturnable serve.
In the third set, Ivanovic broke for a 4-2 lead, then lost her serve and broke again for a 5-3 advantage. But Dechy then broke and held to tie things up at 5-all.
Ivanovic then held for a 6-5 edge and set-up her first match points of the day with another forehand winner. Dechy, however, like Ivanovic did in the second set, staved off the match points and held her serve for a 6-6 deadlock in the final stanza, amid very windy conditions.
The 20-year-old Ivanovic would finally convert on her fourth match point of the day by launching yet another forehand winner in the 18th game of the epic 1-hour, 23-minute third set.
"I feel very lucky to have won and to have the chance to play again," Ivanovic said with a big smile.
The hard-hitting Ivanovic wound up with 10 aces and broke Dechy six times, compared to five breaks for the game Frenchwoman.
Ivanovic is now 15-1 in her Grand Slam matches this year, including a first- ever Grand Slam title in Paris earlier this month and a runner-up finish at the Australian Open back in January.
Up next for a relieved Ivanovic, who has reached at least the semis in four of the last five majors, will be Chinese Jie Zheng.
A sixth-seeded Williams, meanwhile, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 decision against Poland's Urszula Radwanska on Court 2 and is now 39-6 lifetime at the All England Club.
The former top-ranked Williams owns eight Grand Slam titles, including back- to-back Wimbledon crowns in 2002 and 2003. She also reached the final here in 2004, but lost to Russian Maria Sharapova.
Up next for Williams will be fellow former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo. A 29th-seeded Mauresmo came from behind to beat Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. The two-time major champion Mauresmo, of France, captured the coveted Wimbledon championship two years ago.
Fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova eased into the round of 32 with a 6-2, 6-3 pasting of Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, while eighth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze charged past Romanian Edina Gallovits 6-4, 6-2. Kuznetsova was last year's U.S. Open runner-up and captured the U.S. Open back in 2004.
Kuznetsova's third-round opponent will be Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, while Chakvetadze will battle fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina.
The first round concluded here on Wednesday when fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva snuck past Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3. The match was suspended due to darkness here on Tuesday, with the two-time major finalist Dementieva leading 6-3, 3-3.
In other second-round play involving top-16 seeds, No. 11 Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli handled Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2, 7-5; No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska, fresh off her grass-court title at Eastbourne, routed fellow Pole Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-3; No. 15 Hungarian Agnes Szavay overcame Romanian Monica Niculescu 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; and No. 18 Czech Nicole Vaidisova held off Aussie Samantha Stosur 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. Bartoli was last year's surprise Wimbledon runner-up to four-time champion Venus Williams.
Mild upsets occurred when Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues erased 20th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 7-5, 9-7 and Zahlavova Strycova took out 28th-seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 3-0, retired.
Additional second-round wins came for the aforementioned Zheng, Russians Rodina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Aussie Casey Dellacqua, and American Bethanie Mattek, who handled Russian Vera Dushevina 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Mattek will face Bartoli in the third round.
The second round is scheduled to conclude with 16 women's matches on Thursday, including ones for second-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, a third-seeded Sharapova, a seventh-seeded Venus, and 25th-seeded Lindsay Davenport.
Jankovic will take on Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in a rematch of a French Open quarterfinal won by the Serb, while the Australian Open champion, three- time Grand Slam champ and former Wimbledon winner Sharapova will face fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, the reigning champion Venus will be opposed by Brit Anne Keothavong, and the former Wimbledon winner Davenport will meet Argentine Gisela Dulko.
Some other top seeds seeing action on Day 4 will be Dementieva, ninth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina and 10th-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova. Safina was this month's French Open runner-up to Ivanovic.

About Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
On the 12th April 2006, H.R.H. the Duke of Kent declared the brand new Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum open to the public.
The state of the art museum features exhibits and artefacts never seen before, as well as audio guides in eight different languages.
Please note that the Museum is only accessible to tournament ticket holders during The Championships (23 June – 6th July 2008) and no audio guides are available at that time.
Museum Brochure (PDF - 6mb)
Highlights of the new Museum include:

• Fantastic New Cinema
  Within the walls of the new Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is a remarkable cinema. The Cinema features a 200° screen that immerses the viewer into the world of The Championships by showing a film about the science of tennis.
  
  Filming took place during the 2005 Championships on Centre Court of Russia's Maria Sharapova against Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives. Graham English Productions used a special panoramic rig that used 5 cameras at the same time, the result of which is a film that can be frozen and rotated around the field of action at any time.
  
  Using this technique, the film focuses on 20 different aspects of the match and showed viewers how players' bodies and equipment are affected during the course of a professional tennis match.
  
• McEnroe's Ghost Sighted at the New Museum
  Bringing together an old technique called 'Pepper's Ghost' with new projection and filming technology, the museum is able to create an exciting way to view a scene from Wimbledon's past. In a recreation of the 1980s Gentlemen's Dressing Room, a ghost-like image of John McEnroe appears and takes you through a tour of the normally off-limits area. McEnroe reminisces about his memories about the Dressing Room, including how he first met Jimmy Connors and how he would emotionally prepare himself for matches.
  360° Panoramic of John McEnroe Exhibit
  
• The Whites of Wimbledon
  The fashions of Wimbledon continue to be a point of attention and significance to the story of tennis and the new Museum will house an extensive collection of Wimbledon attire. Everything from outfits worn in the 1880s to Rafeal Nadal's dri-fit 'pirate' trousers are on display. There is also an interactive exhibit where you can feel the weight difference between male and female clothing in 1884.
  
• Extraordinary New Technology
  Interactive touch screen consoles are evenly distributed throughout the Museum hallways. These information access points make up a part of the new and exiting technologies within the Museum. Other features are the 'Get a Grip' rotating wheel of rackets; 'The Reactor' game and an archive of great past Championship matches, all of which can be enjoyed by visitors of any age.
  360° Panoramic of Interactive Consoles
  

Kudryavtseva Turns Sharapova Into Fashion Victim at Wimbledon
By Danielle Rossingh
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia took delight in dumping former champion Maria Sharapova and her outfit out of Wimbledon yesterday.
``It's very pleasant to beat Maria,'' said Kudryavtseva. ``Why? Well, I don't like her outfit.''
Kudryavtseva, the daughter of a Greco-Roman wrestling world champion, won in straight sets to hand the 2004 winner and Russian countrywoman her earliest exit at Wimbledon. The victory over the No. 3 seed meant Kudryavtseva, who's ranked 154th, matched her previous best performance at a Grand Slam by reaching the third round. She'll next play Shuai Peng of China.
Sharapova's outfit, a white tuxedo-styled jacket and shorts by her sponsor Nike Inc., attracted as many questions at her first-round post-match press conference as her on-court performance. Kudryavtseva, who wore a white skirt and tank top, said her Federation Cup teammate's attire ``was one of the motivations to beat her.''
``It's a little too much of everything,'' she said.
The 20-year-old Kudryavtseva, who trains in Boca Raton, Florida, and reads Russian literature, said she realized Sharapova wasn't at her best when she double-faulted three times in one game.
``I did think about winning, not just going and playing,'' she said.
Still Motivated
Sharapova, the former world No. 1, said she still had the motivation to practice after premature exits at the French Open and Wimbledon following her win at the Australian Open.
``I still have many years ahead of me,'' the 21-year-old said. ``I've had to deal with a lot of ups and a lot of downs on and off the court and I have the experience behind me.''
Today at the All England Club in southwest London, five- time defending champion Roger Federer plays Marc Gicquel of France. Federer won their only previous meeting, at the 2006 U.S. Open, in straight sets.
After that, former champions Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams face off for a place in the fourth round.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Williams, who has eight Grand Slam titles in all, leads 9-2 in previous encounters with 2006 Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Mauresmo, who won the last time the two met, at the 2006 U.S. Open.
Also on Centre Court, big-hitting Croat Mario Ancic faces No. 5 seed David Ferrer, while on No. 1 Court French Open champion and top seed Ana Ivanovic plays Jie Zheng of China before Marat Safin, who beat No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic, goes against Andreas Seppi of Italy.
The top match on Court No. 2 features fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Kudryavtseva Turns Sharapova Into Fashion Victim at Wimbledon
By Danielle Rossingh
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia took delight in dumping former champion Maria Sharapova and her outfit out of Wimbledon yesterday.
``It's very pleasant to beat Maria,'' said Kudryavtseva. ``Why? Well, I don't like her outfit.''
Kudryavtseva, the daughter of a Greco-Roman wrestling world champion, won in straight sets to hand the 2004 winner and Russian countrywoman her earliest exit at Wimbledon. The victory over the No. 3 seed meant Kudryavtseva, who's ranked 154th, matched her previous best performance at a Grand Slam by reaching the third round. She'll next play Shuai Peng of China.
Sharapova's outfit, a white tuxedo-styled jacket and shorts by her sponsor Nike Inc., attracted as many questions at her first-round post-match press conference as her on-court performance. Kudryavtseva, who wore a white skirt and tank top, said her Federation Cup teammate's attire ``was one of the motivations to beat her.''
``It's a little too much of everything,'' she said.
The 20-year-old Kudryavtseva, who trains in Boca Raton, Florida, and reads Russian literature, said she realized Sharapova wasn't at her best when she double-faulted three times in one game.
``I did think about winning, not just going and playing,'' she said.
Still Motivated
Sharapova, the former world No. 1, said she still had the motivation to practice after premature exits at the French Open and Wimbledon following her win at the Australian Open.
``I still have many years ahead of me,'' the 21-year-old said. ``I've had to deal with a lot of ups and a lot of downs on and off the court and I have the experience behind me.''
Today at the All England Club in southwest London, five- time defending champion Roger Federer plays Marc Gicquel of France. Federer won their only previous meeting, at the 2006 U.S. Open, in straight sets.
After that, former champions Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams face off for a place in the fourth round.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Williams, who has eight Grand Slam titles in all, leads 9-2 in previous encounters with 2006 Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Mauresmo, who won the last time the two met, at the 2006 U.S. Open.
Also on Centre Court, big-hitting Croat Mario Ancic faces No. 5 seed David Ferrer, while on No. 1 Court French Open champion and top seed Ana Ivanovic plays Jie Zheng of China before Marat Safin, who beat No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic, goes against Andreas Seppi of Italy.
The top match on Court No. 2 features fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
continued:

At 2-3, 30-30 Sharapova gave Kudryavtseva yet another opportunity after serving a double fault and this time she was not so lucky, slipping 4-2 behind after being wrong-footed.
Serving to stay in the set at 2-5 Sharapova offered little resistance as Kudryavtseva, whose father was a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler, closed it out in 32 minutes with a nerveless forehand into an empty court.
Sharapova spluttered briefly back to life to lead 2-0 in the second set but the retaliation fizzled out with the loss of the next four games. Sharapova clawed back to 4-4 but when she served at 4-5 even a lucky net cord failed to help her as Kudryavtseva showed remarkable coolness to finish the job.

NADAL:
LONDON (Reuters) - World number two Rafael Nadal was given a tough workout by Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis before prevailing 5-7 6-2 7-6 6-3 in an absorbing second round tie at Wimbledon on Thursday.
The Spaniard, runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and seeded to meet five-times champion Roger Federer in the final again, came through an attritional battle against the 19-year-old on Court One.
"I'm very happy with my win today, sure. I know I had a very tough opponent," Nadal told reporters.
Gulbis, the world-ranked 48 who reached the quarter-finals at the French Open, threatened to produce another shock after Wednesday's departure of third seed Novak Djokovic by claiming the first set thanks to a dominating serve.
Nadal hit back to claim a one-sided second but needed to call on his entire repertoire of strokes to assert control in the third and fourth.
Nadal said a change of tactics by dropping deeper to receive Gulbis's serve helped him get back into the match.
"In the beginning I tried to play aggressive with the second serve, going inside, but it was impossible. With the first it was the same, he was serving too good," he added.
"But after going a little bit behind (the baseline) I felt like I had little bit more control of the situation there."





The opening set showed why the Latvian has pushed into the world's top 50. Possessing a high-velocity and accurate serve, he had Nadal swiping at thin air more than once and allowed his opponent to claim just four points against it.
Also proving more than a match for Nadal's counter-punching game, Gulbis was not afraid to force his opponent to scurry in from the baseline with a succession of drop shots.
SUBLIME DROP
One sublime drop, which Nadal retrieved at full stretch but was then marooned when the ball came back over his head, set up another chance for Gulbis and the set was secured when the Spaniard went long.
At 30-0 up Gulbis had the chance for another break early in the second but Nadal recovered to hold and broke his opponent for the first time in the next game as the Latvian, under pressure for the first time, thumped a forehand wide.
A double break was secured when Gulbis tamely netted and Nadal, capitalising on the Latvian's increasing error count, easily levelled the match.
The third set went with serve as Gulbis dug in. Nadal needed to be at his best to hold when serving at deuce and 4-5 down, and the Spaniard pulled away in the tiebreak after passing Gulbis at the net with a crosscourt winner.
The four-times French Open champion, who claimed his first grasscourt title at Queen's Club, broke to lead 5-3 in the fourth and comfortably served out.
He next plays experienced German Nicolas Kiefer, the 27th seed, who reached the quarter-finals on his Wimbledon debut in 1997 but has not gone beyond the fourth round in nine further attempts.
(Reporting by Justin Palmer, editing by Clare Lovell)