Between them, the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have won the Wimbledon ladies’ singles title 12 times. Indeed, they dominated SW19 for the better part of two decades, winning every ladies’ singles title bar five between 2000 and 2016. Venus, who is just over a year older than her sister, was the first of the siblings to lift the Rosewater Dish when she did so in 2000, beating Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 in the final, to win her first major singles title. She defended her title in 2001, beating Justine Henin 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 in the final, but, in 2002 and 2003, had to give best to younger sister Serena, who beat her 7-6, 6-3 and 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in successive finals.
Nevertheless, Venus Williams was ‘Queen of the Grass’ again in 2005, beating Lindsay Davenport 9-7 in the deciding set of a rematch of the 2000 final, which became the longest championship match in the history of the ladies’ singles at Wimbledon. She confirmed her status by winning two more titles, beating Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1 in the 2007 final and paying back her sister, at least in part, by beating her 7-5, 6-4 in the 2008 final, for a total of five ladies’ singles titles altogether.
Thereafter, though, it was Serena Williams who held sway at the All England Club, winning a rematch of the 2008 final 7-6, 6-2 in 2009, and defending her title 6-3, 6-2 against Vera Zvonareva in 2010. She equalled Venus’ record when beating Agnieszka Radwańska – the first Polish player, male or female, to reach a major singles final during the Open Era – 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in 2012 and subsequently added two more titles, in 2015 and 2016, in straight sets in the final on both occasions.
Back in 1984, the record for the most consecutive wins in a professional tennis season took place. The person who achieved this amazing accolade? Martina Navratilova. This magical season put her firmly on the map as one of the greats of the game and nothing has changed since that year.
She completely dominated the court and put together 74 consecutive victories. Using her skill and her ability to move around the court, she outperformed every other player she came up against.
Her record-breaking achievement goes beyond mere numbers. It represents the epitome of athletic excellence, showcasing her unwavering commitment to perfection and her ability to consistently deliver remarkable performances.
Navratilova’s remarkable legacy serves as an inspiration to aspiring athletes, illustrating the heights that can be reached through unwavering dedication and relentless pursuit of greatness. Her record remains a testament to the indomitable spirit of a true champion.
As far as tennis history goes, Martina Navratilova’s remarkable record for the most consecutive wins in a single season really highlights what she stood for as a player. Driven and committed, she was not going to settle for anything less than taking home the record.
Tennis has seen many greats through the years but with a record such as this, some might say that she is still ahead of the pack when it comes to the best there ever was.
Her incredible feat is a reminder that with passion, hard work, and pure grit, it is possible to set the standard. Martina Navratilova’s legacy shines bright, leaving an indelible mark on the world of tennis and serving as a beacon of inspiration for future champions.
Gertrude Moran, popularly known as ‘Gussie’ – although she preferred ‘Gussy’ – was an American tennis player who, alongside partner Patricia Canning Todd, reached the final of the ladies’ doubles at Wimbledon in 1949, which they lost in straight sets to compatriots Louise Brough and Margaret Osborne duPont. However, it was during that tournament that Moran was christened ‘Gorgeous Gussie’ by the press, as the result of wearing an outfit that, although unremarkable by modern standards, was considered scandalous at the time.
Seemingly unaware of the all-white dress code at Wimbledon, Moran asked renowned fashion designer Cuthbert ‘Ted’ Tinling to design a tri-coloured outfit, with sleeves of different colours and a skirt of a third colour. Tinling, instead, designed an outfit that complied with the dress code but, nevertheless, led to questions in the Houses of Parliament and led to Tinling being ostricised by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) for decades afterwards.
In those restrained postwar years, when A-line skirts reaching to, or just below, the knees were he order of the day, Tinling opted instead for a short dress, which he paired with ruffled, lace-trimmed knickers, which were clearly visible during play. Moran later recalled, ‘…Life magazine ran a picture calling me Gorgeous Gussie, and the British picked it up and did a real job with it.’
In fact, such was her embarrassment on the one and only occasion she wore the outfit, that she hid her face behind her racket. Nevertheless, Moran, who described herself as ‘ really never anything to write home about’, was accused of bringing ‘vulgarity and sin’ into the game by the AELTC and subsequently reverted to wearing shorts.
The sport of badminton takes its name from Badminton House, the family seat of the Duke of Beaufort, in Gloucestershire, South West England. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, badminton was first played in that locale circa 1873, but its origin can be traced back to antiquity.
Traditional folk games involving hitting a shuttlecock back and forth have been popular in Asia, Europe and the Americas for centuries, if not millenia. In England, for example, the game of battledore and shuttlecock, a.k.a. jeu de volant, is depicted in a Medieval engraving held by the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Initially a children’s pastime, the game involved taking turns to hit a rudimentary feather-trimmed shuttlecock with small rackets, known as battledores, without allowing it to fall to the ground.
The evolution of modern badminton took another step forward in the second half of the nineteenth century, when army officers stationed in the city of Poona, now Pune, in Western India during the days of the British Raj improved battledore and shuttlecock by introducing a net and a court and drew up the rules for a new game known, unsurprising, as ‘poona’. Returning officers subsequently re-imported the revised, competitive game to England, where it gained trained traction in various locations including, of course, Badminton House.
The original rules and regulations of badminton, as the game became known, were revised in 1887 and again in 1890 before being published by the newly-formed Badminton Association of England, now Badminton England, in 1893. Nowadays, badminton is the second most popular participation sport globally, behind only association football, or soccer, with an estimated 220 million players worldwide.
One of the most successful British tennis players of the Open Era, Tim Henman had the distinction of being the first British man since Roger Taylor, in 1973, to reach the singles semi-finals at Wimbledon. Indeed, he did so in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002, but never reached the final.
In 1998, Henman, seeded 12, beat subsequently disgraced Czech Petr Korda, seeded 3, in straight sets in his quarter-final to set up a semi-final clash with reigning champion Pete Sampras. In what he later described as the ‘most intense match of my life at that stage’, Henman lost in four sets and did so again, to the same opponent, at the same stage, in 1999, emphasising his ‘nearly-man’ status.
In 2001, Henman faced unseeded Croatian Goran Ivanisevic in a semi-final that was played over the course of three days due to rain delays. He lost the first set 7-5, but battled back to win the second 7-6 and the third 6-0, having lost just four points. He led 2-1 in the fourth set when rain arrived, but when play resumed the following day, Ivanisevic fought his way back from the brink of defeat to level the match in a tie-breaker. After just five games of the deciding set, with Ivanisevic leading 3-2, play was suspended again and did not resume until the following afternoon. When it did, the Croatian converted his third break point to lead 5-3 and served out the match to win 7-5, 6-7, 0-6, 7-6, 6-3.
After his third semi-final defeat, Henman said, ‘Unfortunately, my best was not good enough this year but I certainly know I’ll be back for many more tries.’ However, he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals just once more, in 2002, when a straight sets defeat by Lleyton Hewitt extinguished his chances of reaching the final in SW19 for a fourth and final time.