Interesting Tennis Trivia
for Tennis Lovers

One of the all-time great tennis players, Pete Sampras spent 286 consecutive weeks in the 1990s as the no. 1 ranked player in the world. Nicknamed "Pistol Pete" because of his fast and true serve, Sampras became a professional tennis player in 1988. In 1990, when he was 19 years old, he beat Andre Agassi to become the youngest man ever to win the U.S. Open, and from 1993-1998 he ended each year -- six consecutive -- as the top-ranked player in the world. During his career he won a total of 64 singles titles, with 14 Grand Slam titles. Sampras won Wimbledon 7 times, the U.S. Open 5 times and the Australian Open 2 times; he never won the French Open. Sampras dominated men's tennis in the last half of the 1990s, and had a long rivalry with Agassi (whom he beat in 2002 for his final U.S. Open title), but his low-key demeanor and sportsmanlike behavior kept him from becoming a major celebrity beyond the court. He retired in 2003, his accomplishments a fodder of tennis trivia.

Tennis Trivia #2: Who did John McEnroe defeat in the final to win his first Wimbledon singles title?

In 1981, John McEnroe won his first Wimbledon singles title by defeating Bjorn Borg in the final 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. There could not have been two more contrasting characters, McEnroe - mercurial and Borg the ice-cool and reserved Swede. The stage was set for another classic encounter between these two legendary players. The crowd inside centre court and the television audiences around the world were not to be disappointed. During 202 minutes of gripping action and unforgettable tennis, Borg and McEnroe battled it out for the most coveted title in world tennis, pushing their levels of physical and mental endurance to the uttermost limits.

Tennis Trivia #3: Who beat John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon finals?

1980 saw Sweden's Bjorn Borg face the promising 21-year-old American, John McEnroe. Borg had four Wimbledon titles under his belt, so was the tournament favourite. McEnroe however had shown his potential two years earlier, reaching the semi-final from the qualifying stages. Vastly contrasting in character, Borg was calm and composed, whilst McEnroe was openly emotional and determined. Eventually it was the Swede who triumphed after 3 hours and 53 minutes, taking the final set 8-6. Borg had won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title in one of the most memorable final in tennis history.

Tennis Trivia #4: Who broke Martina Navratilova's record of 331 weeks at number one?

Steffi Graf b. 1969–, German tennis player. A powerful baseliner, she drew international attention by winning the 1984 Olympic demonstration event. Graf won her first major title, the French Open, in 1987. In 1988 she captured the Grand Slam (Australian, French, U.S. Open and Wimbledon), becoming the third woman to do so (behind Maureen Connolly (USA) - 1953 and Margaret Smith Court (AUS) - 1970), and won the Olympic singles gold medal. Before retiring in 1999, Graf held the top world ranking a record 186 consecutive weeks in 1987–91 (and a record 377 weeks in all). She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles: four Australian Open, six French Opens (the last in 1999), seven Wimbledon titles, and five U.S. Opens. She is married to Andre Agassi.

Tennis Trivia #5: Who was the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon?

In 1985, Boris Becker became the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon. Only seventeen-years-old at the time, he also became the youngest player to win the title, as well as the first German. In the finals, he overpowered eighth-seeded Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Becker would go on to win a total of six grand slam events before retiring in 1999.

Tennis Trivia #6: What is the longest Wimbledon tennis match on record?

See Trivia #13, the longest tennis match as well as the longest Wimbledon tennis match on record

The second longest ever Wimbledon match... Pancho Gonzales’s first-round encounter with Charlie Pasarell in 1969 was so long it prompted the introduction of the tie-break. After 5hrs 12mins and 112 games, Gonzales won 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9.

Tennis Trivia #7: What is the longest Wimbledon Women's Final?

In the 2005 Wimbledon Women's Finals, Venus Williams slugged it out with Lindsay Davenport to produce a classic, a 2-hour, 45-minute drama that is the longest Wimbledon final. The final score: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7. The match also featured a 25-shot exchange in the third set, the longest point in the longest Wimbledon women’s final on record.

Tennis Trivia #8: What is the longest game in the finals at Wimbledon?

In the 2009 Wimbledon Men's Finals, the 30-game fifth set was the longest played in a title-match at the majors. Federer’s 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 victory meant that, going on the number of games that had been played on Centre Court, this was the longest Wimbledon final of all time, plus the longest final played at any of the four majors.

Most games

77 Roger Federer v Andy Roddick, 2009
62 Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer, 2008

Tennis Trivia #9: What is the longest Wimbledon men's final match measured with a clock?

The 2008 Nadal-Federer finals was the longest Wimbledon men’s final if you measure a match with the clock, as Rafael Nadal required 4hr 48min to beat Federer. The 5th set score was 9-7, when the stadium was so dark that the umpire should have been provided night-vision goggles.

Billie Jean King, (born Nov. 22, 1943, Long Beach, Calif., U.S.) beat Cawley with a final score of 6-0 6-1. She was the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 in one year (1971). She won her first Wimbledon doubles championship in 1961 as part of the youngest team to do so. She went on to capture a record 20 Wimbledon titles (singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles) from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s; in 2003 her record was tied by Martina Navratilova. She also won several U.S. singles titles (1967, 1971 – 72, 1974) and the Australian (1968) and French (1972) titles. She was ranked first in the U.S. seven times and first in the world five times.

Tennis Trivia #11: What is the name for the left side of the tennis court for each player?

In tennis, the ad court is the left side of the court for each player, and the deuce court is the right side of the court for each player.

Tennis Trivia #12: For a professional tennis player, winning the "Grand Slams" involves winning what four tournaments in the same calendar year?

For a tennis player, winning the "Grand Slam" involves winning four tournaments in the same calendar year: the Australian Open, French Open, U.S. Open, and Wimbledon. Only a handful of tennis players have accomplished this extraordinary feat, including Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Smith Court (1970), Steffi Graf (1988), Don Budge (1938), and Rod Laver (1962 & 1969) who managed to win the Grand Slam TWICE!

Tennis Trivia #13: How long was the longest singles match in recorded tennis history?

On June 24, 2010 at Wimbledon, John Isner of the United States prevailed over Nicolas Mahut of France, in a match called the "Match That Would Not End". The match finally did, at 70-68 in the fifth set, after a record 11 hours, 5 minutes spread over three days, where the victor rued, "You know," telling the crowd later, "it stinks someone had to lose." There were 980 points overall, and Mahut won more, 502-478. There were 711 points in the fifth set, and Mahut won more, 365-346.

But Isner won the most important point of all: the last one, which happened to be a rather insignificant backhand winner down the line. It allowed Isner to break Mahut's serve for only the second time all match. That was also the only service break of the seemingly endless fifth set, ending a run of 168 consecutive holds that began in the second set, all the way back on Tuesday.

In the 2004 French Open Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement (both French) played the second longest match since the Open era of professional tennis began in 1968. The match began on Monday, May 24 but play was suspended in the 5th set when darkness fell. The game resumed the next day and Santoro finally beat Clement 16-14 to win the fifth set. The 71 game marathon lasted a total of 6 hours, 33 minutes on court (eclipsing the former record of 6:22 played by John McEnroe and Mats Wilander at the 1982 Davis Cup).

The match score was: 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14

Tennis Trivia #14: Who defeated tennis player Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes"?

On September 20, 1973, in front of a crowd of more than 30,000 spectators at the Houston Astrodome, female tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a much publicized "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match. Riggs had boasted that no woman could defeat a professional male player because women were simply the weaker sex. This chauvinistic attitude was a sore spot with female players who made much less money than the top male athletes. King, a vocal supporter of women's rights, accepted Riggs' challenge and defeated him soundly, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 winning $100,000.

Tennis Trivia #15: What is the term for a zero score in tennis?

In tennis, zero score is love. You pronounce a score of 6-0 as six-love. "Love" is generally taken as being derived from the French "l"oeuf", the egg, symbolizing nothing. The term "love" can also be said to come from the English phrase "neither for love nor for money", indicating nothing.

Tennis Trivia #16: What year was tennis originally introduced as an Olympic sport?

Tennis was originally introduced as an Olympic sport in 1896, but was removed from competition after the 1924 games. It reappeared as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984 before being re-introduced as an actual event in 1988. Miloslav Mecir; won the men's singles Gold Medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics for the former Czechoslovakia. He then met Tim Mayotte of the USA in the men's singles final and won in four sets 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to claim the Gold Medal.

Steffi Graf of West Germany won the gold medal and finished off her "Golden Slam", by winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic gold medal. Steffi Graf beat Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the women's finals.

Tennis Trivia #17: What Nevada-born tennis star had a ball and racquet to stare at above his crib?

Andre Agassi, born April 29, 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada was youngest of 4 children and was deemed a tennis prodigy at age three. By age 13, Agassi was enrolled at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It was there that he honed his skills. Under the tutelage of Nick Bollettieri, Agassi turned pro at the age of 16 in 1986. He took the tour circuit.

In two decades of tennis, U.S. player Andre Agassi went from being the young rebel to one of the greatest players in the game's history. He began playing professionally in 1986, and by 1988 had won more than $2 million in prize money. Throughout the 1990s, men's tennis was dominated by the back-and-forth rivalry of Agassi and Pete Sampras. In his career Agassi won more than 850 singles matches, including 60 titles, 8 Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold Medal (Atlanta, 1996). In later years Agassi shaved his head and became a more sober and beloved figure in tennis, still ranking highly after 20 years in the game. In 2005 he made it to the finals of the U.S. Open at age 35 (he lost to Roger Federer but got the crowd excited by winning a set, finals score 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1).

Plagued by back problems, he retired after losing in the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open. Agassi was married to actress Brooke Shields from 1997-99. He married tennis great Steffi Graf in 2001, and they have two children. Agassi's sister was married to tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. Agassi's father, Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi, was an Olympic boxer for Iran in 1948 and 1952 before emigrating to Chicago.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov was the first ever Russian to win a Grand Slam. During his career, he won two Grand Slam singles titles (one French Open and one Australian Open), four Grand Slam doubles titles, and the men's singles Gold Medal at the Olympic Games.

He turned professional in 1992 and won his first top-level singles title in Adelaide in 1994. A year later, in 1996, Kafelnikov captured both the men's singles and the men's doubles titles at the French Open In 1999, Kafelnikov won his second Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, he won the men's singles Gold Medal for Russia. In the final, he defeated Tommy Haas of Germany in an exciting five-set match 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Kafelnikov retired from the professional tour in 2004, having won 26 singles and 27 doubles titles.

Tennis Trivia #19: What Dutchman became, in 1996, the first unseeded player since Boris Becker to win Wimbledon?

Richard Krajicek, in 1996, became only the second unseeded player in the history of Wimbledon to became a champion in this prestigious tennis tournament. Going to the finals, he also beat Pete Sampras, becoming the only player to beat Sampras in a Wimbledon singles match in the eight-year period from 1993-2000. Together with Sergi Bruguera, Paul Haarhuis, Leander Paes and Michael Stich, he was among the handful of tennis players to have a career winning record against Sampras. His half-sister Michaëlla Krajicek is also a professional tennis player.

Tennis Trivia #20: What tennis star won 129 of 130 matches during one stretch in the 1980s?

Unbeaten in 74 matches in a row (a record) and losing just once in 130 matches (no small feat), Martina Navratilova is considered by some to be the greatest women's tennis player in the history of the sport and by others to be the greatest player just behind Steffi Graf. No matter who's right, Martina has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She was a Wimbledon singles champion a record 9 times. She holds the open era record for most singles and doubles tournament wins (167 and 177 titles respectively).

Originally from the former Czechoslovakia, she defected to the United States in 1975 at the age of 18 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981.

In 2000, Navratilova returned to the tour to play doubles events, while rarely also playing singles. In her first singles performance in eight years, at Eastbourne in 2002, she beat world number 22 Tatiana Panova and lost in the next round to Daniela Hantuchova in three sets. In 2003, she won the mixed doubles titles at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, partnering with Leander Paes. This made her the oldest ever Grand Slam champion (aged 46 years, 8 months).

Tennis Trivia #21: What Grand Slam tournament championship was watched by a couple hundred spectators?

The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply "Wimbledon", is the oldest major championship in the sport of tennis and is widely considered to be the most prestigious. The very first Wimbledon Championship was in 1877 when it was watched by some 200 spectators. It only took more than 120 years for the viewership to increase (in 1999) an additional 999,999,800 as they watched it live and in TV satellites all over the world for an approximate total audience of 1 billion people.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. Held every June and July at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, UK, the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French Open, and followed by the U.S. Open. Prize money in 2005 was US $1,287,469) for Men's Singles champion and US $1,228,501 for Ladies' Singles Champion $1,228,501. However it has already been announced that for the first time ever, the prize money will be equal between men and women in the 2007 Championship.

Tennis Trivia #22: When was the very last wooden tennis racquet used at Wimbledon?

Wooden tennis racquets were not so bad. Bjorn Borg used them until he retired. The Swedish legend compiled 11 Grand Slam titles in the 1970s and 80s using a wooden racquet. But there are limitations to a wooden racquet. For one thing, an irate tennis player can easily break it. In the 1960s Wilson developed a revolutionary racquet called the T2000. Made of steel and with a round head, the T2000 was lighter and moved quicker through the air than its wooden contemporaries. American legend Jimmy Connors used it for most of his playing career, and it helped him win Wimbledon in 1982. In 1968 Spalding launched an aluminum racquet, called The Smasher. Aluminum is lighter and more flexible than steel, but stiffer - and therefore less accurate - than wood. Because of this, most of the top players still preferred to use wooden frames - and a decade later they were still in use.

In 1982 Dunlop launched the Maxply McEnroe - a racquet that combined the accuracy of wood with the increased power and durability of fiberglass. The racquet was a big success, but the emergence of a new material meant the days of the wooden frame were numbered. The last wooden racquet appeared at Wimbledon in 1987.

The new material was graphite. Still used by the stars of today, graphite is a form of carbon fiber that can be used to make racquets on its own, or combined with other materials such as fiberglass. Graphite racquets have all the advantages of wood with none of the drawbacks (like warping or easy breakage). They are strong, light, powerful and durable - and they can always be relied upon to hit the required shot.

Wimbledon, 1924 Art Print