• 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 went on to win a total of six grand slam events before retiring in 1999.

• 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.

• As an amateur in 1962, Australia's Rod Laver won all four men's Grand Slam titles. He became the only player to accomplish the feat twice when he did it again in 1969 as a professional.

• Maureen Connolly (in 1953), Margaret Smith Court (in 1970), and Steffi Graf (in 1988) are the only three women's tennis players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.

• Jimmy Connors is the only player to win the US Open on three surfaces grass at Forest Hills in 1974, clay at Forest Hills in 1976, and hardcourt in 1978 at Flushing Meadows.

• At the age of 16, in 1997, Martina Hingis became the youngest women's tennis player to be ranked Number 1 in the world since the rankings originated in 1975.

• At the 1999 Australian Open, Martina Hingis became the only player in history to win the same Grand Slam tournament in singles and doubles three consecutive years with three different doubles partners.

• The first Wimbledon Championship took place in 1877 when it was watched by only 200 spectators. Men's singles was the only event that took place. There were 22 competitors and the championship was won by Spencer Gore. In 1999, it was broadcast to a total of 174 countries, with an estimated audience of over one billion people.

• British Player Greg Rusedski has the world's fastest serve, clocked at a staggering 149 mph. In 1999, he served 685 aces, accounting for 79 per cent of his points.

• Slazenger has provided all the tennis balls for Wimbledon tournament since 1902.

• Tennis equipment has changed over the years. Early wooden tennis rackets were replaced with graphite rackets. French tennis player Rene Lacoste built the first steel frame racquet. This revolutionised the tennis racket as it allowed racket manufacturers to increase both the size of the head and the string tension.

• While tennis dates back to several thousand years, it was between 1859 and 1865 that Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game 'pelota', which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

• Major Walter C. Wingfield is credited with the invention of lawn tennis in 1873, and first played it at a garden party in Wales.

— Compiled by Aftab Ahmed