VilaWeb - Diari escola: The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament

VilaWeb.cat

VilaWeb.tv

Nosaltres.cat

MÉSVilaWeb

Correu

Clau

dimarts, 30 d'abril de 2024

> The Oldest Tournament

> Wimbledon and Tradition

> The Players with the Most Titles

dimarts, 21 de juny de 2005

From 20th June to 3rd July, in Wimbledon, a town near London (England), the most legendary tennis tournament of all will be held, with more than a hundred years of history, dating back almost to the origin of modern tennis itself.

The Wimbledon tournament forms part of the so-called Grand Slam, made up of the four biggest and most prestigious tournaments of the tennis season, all held over two weeks. The other three Grand Slam tournaments are Roland Garros, in Paris, the capital of France, the US Open and the Australian Open. Of the four, Wimbledon is the only one played on grass, a peculiarity which, as we'll see later, is not the only one it has.

This year, the Swiss player Roger Federer will be looking to achieve his third consecutive triumph; and in the women's competition, the Russian player Maria Sharapova will be doing her best to repeat her triumph of last year. Participation by tennis players from the Catalan-speaking lands, has been diminished by the injuries of the player from Lleida Albert Costa and the Mallorcan Carles Moyà; those who will be taking part at Wimbledon are Joan Carles Ferrero, Núria Llagostera, Rafael Nadal (brand new champion at Roland Garros), Fèlix Mantilla, Tommy Robredo...

! Actualització el 23/06/2005 a les 19:50

Europa Press: El luxemburguès Gilles Muller dilapida les il·lusions de Nadal.
Avui: Robredo, Martín i Montañés cauen en la primera jornada a Wimbledon.

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Com: Tennis.

The Oldest Tournament

+ Wimbledon was held for the first time in 1877.

Wimbledon was held for the first time in 1877, on the courts of the All England Croquet Club, later renamed 'The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club'. The tournament was born out of a pretty peculiar motive: to raise money to repair a steamroller. A total of twenty-two players took part, all men, the tournament didn't open its doors to the participation of women until 1884, and two hundred spectators watched the final. Since then, Wimbledon has been held every year, except during the two World Wars, and has become the most important grass tournament in the world.

Wimbledon and Tradition

+ The rain makes its presence felt one year, and again the next.

Wimbledon is the tennis tournament which has most faithfully guarded its traditions. For example, the tennis players, both men and women, have to compete dressed in white, something which does not happen in any other tournament. At the same time, it is considered of utmost importance that the public and the tennis players behave correctly, that they accept the way the matches go sportingly. And we can't forget one tradition to do with the weather: the rain, which makes its presence felt one year, and again the next.

The Players with the Most Titles

+ Pete Sampras and Martina Navratilova.

At Wimbledon, real tennis legends have been proclaimed champion, players who have won the title more than once: Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Steffi Graff, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras... Pete Sampras, who dominated the decade of the 1990s, leads the men's ranking together with William Renshaw with seven triumphs, while at the head of the women's ranking is Martina Navratilova, who won the individual title nine times.

MATERIALS

Wimbledon
Format:Web
Web del torneig d'herba més prestigiós del món.
Tennis Wimbledon 2005
Format:Web
Especial de la BBC sobre Wimbledon.
Wimbledon 2005
Format:Web
Un altre especial dedicat a Wimbledon, aquest de la pàgina de notícies de la BBC Newsround, adreçada al jovent.
International Tennis Federation
Format:Web
Web de la Federació Internacional de Tennis, l'entitat rectora del tennis mundial.
Federació Catalana de Tennis
Format:Web
Web d'aquesta federació del Principat, impulsora del tennis: actualitat, competicions, clubs...
Notícies-Tennis
Format:Web
Pàgina sobre tennis del portal d'informació esportiva Esport Català, centrat en el Principat.

QUE HO SABIES?

The United States and Great Britain are the countries whose players have won Wimbledon most often. However, no British male has won the tournament since 1936, and no woman since 1977.
From the start, Wimbledon was held according to the rules established around 1875 by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, considered as the father of modern tennis.
In the Catalan-speaking lands, tennis was introduced by the English community in the final decade of the 19th century; in 1899 the first tennis organisation was officially founded: the Club de Tennis de Barcelona, originally called Barcelona Lawn Tennis Club.