London: An army of groundsmen carried out the time-honoured ritual of preparing the All England Club lawns in readiness for the Wimbledon championships on a sunny spring day on Tuesday as plans to take the home of tennis into the future were revealed.
Almost unrecognisable from the rambling grounds so familiar with visiting fans in the 1980s and 90s after more than a decade of modernisation, club chiefs unveiled a seven-year masterplan aimed at maintaining Wimbledon's place as one of the greatest festivals in the world of sport.
While new gardens, practice courts and plazas are planned, the most significant development at the exclusive south-west London club will be the addition of a retractable roof on Court One to go with the canopy that already allows action on Centre Court when the inevitably fickle British summers do their worst.
The circular 11,500-capacity Court One arena was itself part of the last masterplan sketched out in 1993, which also led to Centre Court gaining the translucent sliding roof that has become a feature of the two-week tournament since 2009....
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08:43 PM, Apr 23, 2013
London: Wimbledon is increasing prize money by 40 percent this year and plans to build a retractable roof over Court No. 1. Total prize money for the Grand Slam event will be 22.6 million pounds ($34.4 million), an increase of 6.5 million pounds ($9.9 million) from last year, the All England Club said on Tuesday. The club called it the largest single increase and biggest total prize fund in the...
06:07 PM, Apr 23, 2013
The Czech confirmed on Tuesday that he would take part in the London event in a bid to sharpen his grasscourt skills after the European clay season. ...
06:25 PM, Mar 05, 2013
Rafael Nadal has entered the Brazil Open next month, which could mark his first tennis action since Wimbledon. ...
11:31 PM, Jan 15, 2013
Rafael Nadal says doctors have ordered him to pull out of what was to have been his first comeback tournament. ...
08:22 PM, Dec 25, 2012
Brisbane International organizers say Serena Williams still plans to compete in the December 30-January 5 event. ...
09:59 AM, Dec 21, 2012
Murray strode into New York and when a fifth shot at a grand-slam final duly arrived he rose to the occasion. ...
08:59 AM, Dec 18, 2012
London: Andy Murray's tearful defeat in his first Wimbledon final proved the catalyst for the Scot's golden summer, according to Roger Federer, the man who crushed Murray's hopes that day in July. Federer's ruthless display on Centre Court to win a seventh Wimbledon title was a massive blow for Murray for whom it was his fourth defeat in a grand slam final. Inevitable questions were raised about Murray's ability to...
10:40 AM, Nov 11, 2012
London: Wimbledon organizers are pushing back the start date for the Grand Slam tournament by one week from 2015 in order to prolong the grass-court season and give players more time to recover from the French Open. The All England Club announced the change on Thursday, saying in a statement that it will "benefit the sport as a whole by creating a three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon."...
09:44 PM, Jul 19, 2012
Mumbai: India's tennis star Leander Paes says his Wimbledon performance is the perfect platform to serve up success at Olympics. After a successful Wimbledon, India tennis ace Leander Paes cant wait to be back at the same venue for the London Olympics tennis events that kick off on July 27. Ive had a great time at Wimbledon. Radek (Stepanek) and myself lost narrowly in the third round of the mens...
10:48 AM, Jul 14, 2012
Stanford: Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer laboured past Kai-Chen Chang 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday but all eyes will be on Wimbledon champion Serena Williams who begins her title defence on Wednesday. Fifth seed Wickmayer, ranked 37 in the world, had to work really hard to remain on course for her first WTA title of the year. Her struggle was almost identical to her...
01:04 PM, Jul 10, 2012
London: The morning after Roger Federer won a record-tying seventh Wimbledon championship, he returned to the site of his latest triumph to conduct interviews in various languages and, while there, ran into All England Club Chairman Philip Brook. They exchanged pleasantries on Monday and before parting ways, Brook said: "I'll see you in a few weeks." "I'll check in with you when I get back," Federer replied with a grin....
10:15 PM, Jul 09, 2012
Though the seven-time Wimbledon champion is sorry for Andy Murray, he is also sure that the Briton's chance will come soon. ...
09:10 PM, Jul 09, 2012
London: With his 31st birthday looming Roger Federer began a record-equalling 286th week at the top of the world rankings on Monday after claiming a seventh Wimbledon title. The accepted theory is that male tennis players begin the slow decline into retirement once they hit the 30 barrier but, as he has done throughout his career, Federer is showing scant regard for conventional wisdom. Against Britain's Andy Murray on Sunday,...
05:32 PM, Jul 09, 2012
India Davis Cup coach Nandan Bal said, Vesnina didn't serve well and missed too many easy volleys on Paes' serve. ...
01:48 PM, Jul 09, 2012
London: Roger Federer never doubted his ability to win grand slam titles during a two and a half year drought in which he was written off in some quarters and passed the 30 year age barrier that often signals the beginning of the end for top tennis players. After winning his seventh Wimbledon title with an emphatic four-set victory over Andy Murray on Sunday, Federer said he been delighted with...
12:48 PM, Jul 09, 2012
London: For the low, low price of a million dollars, Serena Williams' record-setting serve can be yours. OK, not really, of course. A day after winning her fifth Wimbledon singles title while raising her ace total to 102 for the tournament, Williams joked at the All England Club champions' dinner Sunday night that she's bottling that powerful stroke and putting it up for sale. "I have a package at the...
09:13 AM, Jul 09, 2012
London: Roger Federer left the door tantalisingly ajar for local hero Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men's singles final on Sunday, then slammed it shut to win a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and in so doing return to the top of the world rankings. The Swiss great, contesting his eighth final at the All England Club, flirted with danger in the second set after losing the first but just when...
08:47 AM, Jul 09, 2012
Wimbledon: Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina will have to wait for their first Grand Slam title together as they lost the closely fought Wimbledon mixed doubles summit clash to Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond, here on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Indo-Russian pair suffered a 3-6 7-5 4-6 defeat at the hands of second seed Americans after battling for two hours and four minutes. It is for the second time in this...
01:44 AM, Jul 09, 2012
Wimbledon: Roger Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title Sunday, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 under a closed roof on Centre Court. The 17-time Grand Slam champion excelled once the roof was closed early in the third set, giving Murray little chance to end Britain's 76-year wait for a homegrown champion. Federer is now 17-7 in Grand Slam finals, including 7-1 at Wimbledon. Murray dropped to 0-4 in...
10:53 PM, Jul 08, 2012
