The former London home of tennis legend Fred Perry has been commemorated with a plaque.
The English Heritage blue plaque was unveiled at 223 Pitshanger Lane in Ealing, west London.
It was Perry's home during his Wimbledon triumphs.
He remains Britain's most celebrated tennis player, winning Wimbledon three times in succession in 1934, 1935 and 1936 - the last British man to win the title.
The Pitshanger Lane house was his family home from 1918 until he moved to the United States after his first marriage in 1935.
Although born a northerner, Perry's formative years were spent in Ealing.
He once described practising his tennis strokes using his umbrella on the 20-minute walk to Ealing Broadway Station.
The unveiling of the plaque, attended by Perry's friend and tennis commentator John Barrett, comes just over a week before the start of the 126th Wimbledon Championships.
'Sadness and elation'Perry's daughter Penny Perry said: "This is a great honour and it seems so appropriate that the occasion is taking place during the English summer tennis season, in a Royal Jubilee year that is hosting the Olympics.
"All of these things would have thrilled Fred because no matter where he was in the world, he always considered himself to be grassroots English.
"This house was the base of opposing emotions in his life lessons with the sadness of loss and the elation of success.
"It was also from here that many of the friendships were formed that would last Fred his entire lifetime, and he would be extremely proud today."
Born in Stockport, Perry is acclaimed as the most successful male tennis player Britain has ever produced and considered by some as one of the greatest male players ever.
To his Wimbledon titles he added the men's singles championships of the United States (1933, 1934 and 1936), Australia (1934) and France (1935) and was also a key player in the Great Britain team that won the Davis Cup for four years running (1933-6).
He later moved to the US and went on to found Fred Perry Sportswear with businessman Theodore "Tibby" Wegner.
He died in 1995.
A bronze statue of Fred Perry was erected at Wimbledon's All England Lawn Tennis Club in 1984 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first singles championship.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Rafael Nadal's Loss at Gerry Weber Open No Reason to Worry for Wimbledon - Bleacherreport.com
While Rafael Nadal was defeated early Friday morning, his Wimbledon odds ought to remain strong.
Nadal came into the Gerry Weber Open riding a 13-match win streak. Although he was the top seed in the world, he was unable to unhinge German champion Philipp Kohlschreiber, who was considered to the be the No. 8 seed in the tournament. With his win, Kohlschreiber will face either Tomas Berdych or Tommy Haas in his next match. Only four days after winning his seventh French Open title, Rafael Nadal will be heading home.
But that’s no reason for his fans to worry about his odds at the upcoming Wimbledon Open.
Perhaps the transition to grass was difficult for Nadal. Perhaps he was recovering from his French Open tournament. Perhaps he was looking forward and was focused on what he needed to do at Wimbledon. Perhaps Kohlschreiber was correct, and the German was simply having a day where nothing went wrong.
There are no excuses for a star athlete like Nadal being eliminated early, but there are explanations. And none of them will carry over to Wimbledon.
Nadal is a two-time Wimbledon champion, and it is his second-best tournament behind only the French Open. He has made the finals of the tournament every year except for one since 2006, and he boasts an impressive 87.5% winning record in the tournament.
Wimbledon, of course, is a special tournament for Nadal. On June 25, he will put his guts out on the line once more and fight back after his early defeat at the Gerry Weber Open. The 26-year-old indicates that he will be more determined in the Wimbledon set. Of his victory at the French Open, Nadal explains:
"When you lose,” Nadal told ESPN.com, “it's because you don't deserve the title. So in my mind, this was the final I had to win. That's why I was so emotional."
Of course, the French Open is a tournament that is played on clay. Nadal, sometimes dubbed “The King of Clay,” is arguably the best player to ever play on it. Like the Gerry Webber Open, Wimbledon is played on grass.
"It's more a tennis problem than a mental problem," Nadal told CBC Sports. "The transition is difficult. It depends how much time you have. Playing on grass can sometimes be a bit of a lottery."
If the grass is going to be a factor in the upcoming tournament, Nadal will do everything in his power to be prepared. But he can’t make any promises, as not everything is in his control.
"I can't practice on grass there but it's better not to practice for a few days. It's time to rest with my family, friends, to relax,"Nadal told BBC Sports.
The rest will be good for Nadal, who has had an incredibly occupied schedule in the last month. Daily Mail used the word “exhausted” to describe Nadal in their most recent headline on the loss. This is not the first time Nadal has lost a match in the “practice” sandwiched between the French Open and Wimbledon.
Most recently, Nadal took a loss at the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club. That was the fourth time that he had lost in the quarterfinals at Queen’s. However, it was after a demoralizing loss there in 2008 that he went on to win his first Wimbledon title.
His defeat at Halle was shocking, sure, but it has become a bit of a pattern for the superstar. At this point, we’ve come to accept that each sport has an individual that is the best in the world at what he does. Nadal has recently turned into that man for tennis, winning titles at all expenses and costs. It may have been a frustrating defeat to the German, but it was one that can be written off as a one-time incident that won't affect his performance at Wimbledon.
Nadal is a cut above the rest, and his fans need not worry about one little loss. Win streaks are rare because the human athlete is not perfect. It wouldn’t be as fun to watch if they were. Had Nadal gone out early in Wimbledon, there would have been a much bigger hoopla surrounding the loss. Fortunately, this was a small tournament, and he got necessary in-game practice on the grass.
If I were betting on Wimbledon, I wouldn’t worry about his loss at the Gerry Open. I still consider Rafael Nadal to be the favorite to win it all.
Source: bleacherreport.com
Tennis-Teary Dimitrov books Queen's semi-final place - Reuters UK
LONDON, June 15 |
LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Grigor Dimitrov cried when he won his quarter-final in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Queen's Club on Friday.
The 21-year-old Bulgarian, ranked 72 in the world, has never won a tour title and set up a semi-final clash against Argentina's David Nalbandian by beating South Africa's world number 30 Kevin Anderson 4-6 6-4 6-3.
"I got couple of tears," Dimitrov told reporters. "It was a good moment. I always wanted to share this with the people that I love so I was glad because my father was there, and I think it was a big moment for him mainly."
With the top seeds Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga already out and number three Janko Tipsarevic joining them earlier on Friday after losing a third-round encounter to Lu Yen-Hsun, it was left to the lesser lights to entertain on the West London grass.
Marin Cilic moved into the semi-finals when his opponent Lu, playing his second game of the day after rain delays, retired hurt midway through the second set.
Cilic will play Sam Querrey, Queen's champion in 2010, who beat Croatia's Ivan Dodig 7-5 3-6 6-3.
Nalbandian also appeared twice, first winning his third round against Edouard Roger-Vasselin and then edging past Xavier Malisse 4-6 7-6 6-4. (Editing by Clare Fallon)
Source: uk.reuters.com
Sussex Day to be celebrated in Newhaven - Lewes Today
SUSSEX Day will be celebrated in Newhaven with a ceremony at the Memorial Green on Saturday June 16 at 11.50am with a fanfare played by Heidi Watkins.
The Sussex Charter will be read by Avengers producer Leonard White, who lives in Newhaven and has also worked as an author, actor and director.
Onlookers will then see The Sussex Flag raised, Sussex by the Sea will be sung and Newhaven Mayor Graham Amy will give an address.
The proceedings will end with God Save the Queen accompanied by Heidi Watkins on the trumpet.
The county day, launched in 2007, called Sussex Day, is celebrated on June 16 each year, the same day as the feast day of St Richard of Chichester, Sussex’s patron saint.
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Print this pageSource: www.sussexexpress.co.uk
LTA call for patience on finding next Andy Murray - scotsman.com
Britain are well-placed to have a successful Wimbledon but the public must wait four years before the country produces another player capable of being anywhere near as good as Andy Murray, the LTA have stressed.
With Wimbledon just over a week away, the governing body of British tennis is bracing itself for yet more bad headlines about the state of the game in this country despite an improved showing, particularly among home-grown women, at SW19 last year. The LTA have adopted a number of measures in an attempt to boost grassroots participation and they also point to several successes at junior level to show that the future has the potential to be bright for British tennis.
Oliver Golding is the reigning US Open junior champion, last year George Morgan won the junior doubles at Wimbledon and Liam Broady made the boys’ final at SW19 before losing in three sets to Australia’s Luke Saville. Although the LTA understands why the country yearns to have more than one challenger for Wimbledon, they insist Britain’s youngsters must be afforded three or four years’ development before they are able to go beyond the opening stages of grand slams like world number four Murray.
“We all want to go to slams and see a lot more players than Andy in the main draw,” said Leon Smith, the LTA’s head of men’s and women’s tennis. “but we are going to have to wait a bit longer. It can take years to make the transition out of juniors.”
Expectations around Murray dampened this week when he exited the AEGON Championships at Queen’s with a second-round defeat to unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut., but Smith said: “I am confident we will have a good Wimbledon. The players are there, especially with the women’s side. Andy, hopefully, he can go far. Obviously he has had a great record at Wimbledon and he loves playing on grass.”
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal was bundled out of the Gerry Weber Open by defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in Halle today while five-times winner Roger Federer was pushed to the limit. Defeat for Nadal ended a 13-match winning streak which saw victories in Rome and Roland Garros, and gave world No 34 Kohlschreiber his first win over the Spaniard in nine attempts.
Federer was forced to endure his second consecutive final set tie-break against Canadian Milos Raonic before prevailing 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to book his place in the semi-finals.
At Queen’s, Grigor Dimitrov wept with joy as he reached his first ATP Tour semi-final after beating ninth seed Kevin Anderson at the AEGON Championships. He will face David Nalbandian or Xavier Malisse today.
Source: www.scotsman.com
Wimbledon fitness boost for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Daily Telegraph
"I think it's serious," he said directly after the match.
"I will have a scan, but it sounds very bad. I felt like I broke something or I strained it when I fell.
"It's only a finger but it's tough because I have to play with my hand.
"At the moment I don't know what is it, but I will stay positive and I will see."
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Andy Murray to play Boodles exhibition before Wimbledon - BBC News
Andy Murray will play at The Boodles tournament next week as part of his preparations for Wimbledon.
The British number one, who made an early exit at the Aegon Championships at Queen's, will play the exhibition event on 21 and 22 June.
Novak Djokovic has also been confirmed for the tournament in Stoke Park, which takes place from 19-23 June.
The world number one played at The Boodles last year before going on win Wimbledon less than two weeks later.
"I enjoy playing at Stoke Park and look forward to preparing the defence of my Wimbledon title at The Boodles," said Djokovic.
Former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, world number eight Janko Tipsarevic, John Isner, Marin Cilic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Alexandr Dolgoplov and Gilles Simon are the other top players confirmed to play at The Boodles.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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