The Australian Open holds the record for the highest attendance of any tennis tournament ever staged with 812,174 people attending the 2020 edition. And here are some more quick fun facts:

1. Novak Djokovic holds the record for the most Men’s Singles titles with 10 wins
2. Margaret Court holds the record for the most Women’s Singles Titles with 11 wins
3. The Australian Open was the last of the four majors opened to professionals in 1969
4. Out of the four Grand Slams, Melbourne Park (Australian Open Venue) is the only venue to have three stadium courts covered by a retractable roof
5. After winning both his Australian Open Singles titles Jim Courier jumped into the Yarra River for a swim
6. The Australian Open was a Grass Court Event until 1988
7. Every year the ball kids who work at the AO are made up of a small contingent of overseas ball kids – 20 from Korea, 6 from China, 10 from India and 2 from France
8. The Australian Open is shown live in more than 220 Countries and Territories around the world
9. The Australian Open stringers restring over 5000 racquets throughout the tournament using more than 60km’s of string
10. The highest single-day attendance at the Australian Open is 93,709 at the 2020 edition
11. Close to 50,000 Tennis Balls are used during the tournament
12. Since 1905 the Australian Open has been staged in January, March, August and December with the Ja middle of January start time being in place since 1977
13. Kia is the longest-running sponsor of the Australian Open beginning it’s deal in 2002 with the current deal set to expire in 2023
14. The revenue generated from the Australian Open is over $330million
15. The last Australian female to win the Women’s Singles Title at the Australian Open was Christine O’Neil in 1978
16. The last Australian male to win the Men’s Singles Title at the Australian Open was Mark Edmonson in 1976

The post 16 Fun Facts About The Australian Open first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Citing an injury, Nadal shockingly withdrew from defending his title. While he might not be competing this year, the 22 times Grand Slam winner is the ruler of Roland Garros. Here’s a look at his five unbreakable records at the French Open over the years:

1) Four Grand Slam Wins Without Dropping A Set

Not only does Nadal win, but he gives his competitor a tough time and is ruthless on the court. Given the neck-to-neck competition in tennis, it’s hardly a one-sided match. But Nadal made it happen four times at Roland Garros. From Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic to Dominic Thiem, all fell prey to his excellence. In, 2008, 2010, 2017, and 2020, he won French Open without dropping a set.

2) Winning Streak of 112 games

Rafael Nadal has won 112 games at the French Open during his career. What makes it even more interesting is that he has only lost three times in his decades-long tennis career. The only two players he has lost against are Robin Soderling (2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015 and 2021).

3) Best on Red Dirt

Nadal surpassed the best in the history of clay. He has won 63 of the 70 finals he has stepped into. Notably, it is 14 times more than Guillermo Vilas, known as the second-most successful clay player.

4) 81 straight wins on clay

Nadal owns the longest single-surface winning streak in the Open era. At 18, he defeated Gael Monfils at Monte-Carlo Masters (2005), and from there to 2007 he never lost a match. But in 2007 it came to an end when Federer defeated him at the Hamburg Open.

During 2005-2007, he won straight 81 matches on clay. He surpassed Martina Navratilova’s mark of 74 wins.

5) The King of the French Open

While Nadal has the same number of grand slams as Novak Djokovic, when it comes to the French Open, he is an unbeatable force. Nadal holds the record for the most number of titles at a single grand slam. He has won the Roland Garros title 14 times. From 2005 to 2022, Nadal continued his supremacy on the clay court. It will take a long time for anyone to even reach close to him.

The post Top Five Rafael Nadal Records That Are Impossible To Break first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

The post Battle Of The Sexes (My Thoughts & Review) first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Two weeks before the action shifts to tennis’ third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon, some of the biggest stars in the game will travel to the Cinch Championships at Queen’s Club. Queen’s Club in West Kensington, London, is named after Queen Victoria and it was established in 1886. It was the first multi-purpose sports complex ever to be built anywhere in the world. Besides tennis, it also holds the World Rackets Championships and has in the past held ice-skating, baseball, athletics and rugby.  Since its inception in 1890, the tournament has gained recognition as one of the most revered warm-up events for the Wimbledon Championships, which is held shortly after.

The total prize money pool for the 2023 Queen’s Club Championships sits at around £1,880,000 (€2,195,175 / $2,384,064). That’s an overall increase of 2.8% compared to the 2022 prize fund in an attempt to entice even more players to the tournament. Of that amount, the winner of the event this season will net £409,712 (€477,795 / $518,908) -— a near 20% increase on last season’s figure for winning the title.

Interesting Facts about the Queen’s Club Tennis Tournament

• The Queen’s Club Tennis Tournament was the first official lawn tennis tournament in the world, preceding Wimbledon by one year.
• The tournament has a longstanding tradition of inviting the reigning Wimbledon champion to play, providing an opportunity for fans to witness the clash of champions.
• The record for the most titles won at the Queen’s Club Tennis Tournament is held by the legendary British player, Fred Perry, who claimed the trophy eight times between 1931 and 1938.
• In recent years, the tournament has introduced a doubles competition alongside the singles event, adding further excitement and opportunities for players to showcase their skills.

Seven different players have completed The Queen’s Club-Wimbledon title double in the same year, including John McEnroe (1981, ’84), Jimmy Connors (’82), Boris Becker (’85), Pete Sampras (’95, ’99), Lleyton Hewitt (2002), Rafael Nadal (2008) and Andy Murray (2013, ’16). In 2016, Murray became the first player to win five Queen’s Club titles, separating himself from the elite group of players who have won four Queen’s Club crowns, including McEnroe, Becker, Hewitt and Andy Roddick. The cinch Championships was the ATP 500 Tournament of the Year in 2015-16, 2018 and 2022.

The post Cinch Championships : Facts & Figures Of The Queen’s Club Event first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Can Wimbledon players go to the toilet during a match?

Wimbledon rules permit players to “request permission to leave the court for a reasonable time for a toilet break”, but this must be taken during a set break and cannot be used for any other purpose. Male and female players are allowed two toilet breaks per match, while doubles teams must share their allocated number of breaks. The rulebook also states “the nearest assigned bathroom should be used” and that a line judge must accompany the player to ensure they “do not use the break for any other purpose”.

Why are Wimbledon tennis balls kept in the fridge?

Don’t you hate it when you’re searching for that jar of mayo at the back of the fridge and you can’t see past the Wimbledon tennis balls spilling out? Throughout history, fridges have been deployed at the side of courts to maintain the consistency of bounce in every ball while they’re waiting to be used. The 53,000 balls used at the tournament will be kept at 20 degrees until it’s their time to shine.

How much will strawberries and cream cost at Wimbledon?

A portion of 10 strawberries (minimum) and a lashing of cream will set you back £2.50 at the Championships, a price that has been frozen for the last 13 years. Take that, inflation! The strawberries are always Grade 1 from farms in Kent, and they are picked at 4:00am on the day they are sold and scoffed at Wimbledon. More than 166,000 portions were sold during the two-week 2018 tournament – but wait, why are we eating them at Wimbledon?

Why do people eat strawberries and cream at Wimbledon?

The delicious snack was served to 200 punters at the 1877 Championships and the tradition is still going strong more than 140 years later. But the origin story of strawberries and cream allegedly dates back to 1509, when Thomas Wolsey – a powerful figure around the time of King Henry XIII – served up the treat to guests at a banquet. Wolsey’s own palace also boasted tennis courts, where staff would be deployed to bring strawberries and cream to guests. A simple luxury fit for a king.

What length is the grass on Centre Court?

The first cut in preparation for the Championships shaves the lawn down to 25mm, before the winter sees another reduction down to around 13mm. However, this figure can only be reached without trimming off more than a third of the original length at a time, to avoid weakening the individual grass blades. The surfaces are then cut by 1mm per week from approximately nine weeks before the tournament, down to the optimum playing height of 8mm. In the four weeks leading up to the tournament, the grass is mowed every day to ensure the 8mm length is adhered to. Think about that next time you mow the lawn!

Do ball boys and girls get paid?

In 2015, the going rate for two weeks work at the tournament was £200 per ball boy or girl, and they were also allowed to keep the snazzy Ralph Lauren tennis uniforms worn during the Championships.Local school headmasters are asked to select their best and brightest, and 700 applicants are narrowed down to around 250 hard-working, unsung heroes.

The post Six Fun Facts About The Wimbledon Championships first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Why do players wear white at Wimbledon?

The original reason for cracking out the tennis whites was to prevent sweat patches prominently showing through – a disaster for the social elite types back in the day. The tradition stuck and a fresh set of rules in 2014 stated that only “a single trim of colour” no wider than 10mm is allowed on the neckline, sleeves or even underwear. This is a rule the All England Club takes seriously – Roger Federer’s trainers were banned from the tournament in 2013 because the soles were orange.

Are tennis balls yellow or green?

When it comes to the colour of tennis balls, we’re inclined to fall in line with whatever Roger Federer thinks. “They’re yellow, right?” said Federer in 2018. Who are we to argue?

How long does it take to close the Centre Court roof?

The roof itself is a speedy mover, switching from open to closed (and vice versa) in just 10 minutes. However, a 45-minute stoppage may be required while the air-conditioning system acclimatises the arena to become an indoor venue.

What is inside a tennis ball?

A kinder egg toy? Strawberries and cream? Pimm’s? A total vacuum? A wormhole? Nah, it’s just air inside a tennis ball. Or nitrogen, for those who want to inflate tennis balls for longer.

What TFL zone is Wimbledon in?

Wimbledon sits in Zone 3. More than 12 million people pile through the barriers each year, with many heading to The Championships.

Why is there a pineapple on top of the Wimbledon trophy?

You’ve never noticed before, have you? Legitimately, nobody really knows. In 2017, a spokesperson for the Wimbledon Museum told Express.co.uk that the origin story of the immortalised golden fruit contains “very few facts”, though one reasonable explanation is that pineapples were once a rarity, a sign of honour and wealth in society.

The post Six More Fun Facts About The Wimbledon Championships first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Carlos Alcaraz beat four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in five-set thriller 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Alcaraz fought from a set down in an instant classic to end Djokovic’s winning run in SW19, with the match played across almost five hours of breathtaking drama. Before the final, Djokovic had won 34 consecutive matches at Wimbledon and had not lost on Centre Court since 2013, but Alcaraz overturned history to win his second grand slam title. Djokovic had also won his previous 104 grand slam matches after winning the opening set.

In doing so, the 20-year-old Spaniard brings one of the most dominant eras of tennis history to an end. Alcaraz is the first player outside of the sport’s ‘big four’ of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title since 2002. Djokovic had been bidding to join Federer by equalling his men’s record of eight singles titles, but was denied by an inspired Alcaraz. The Wimbledon victory is his second grand slam singles title after the 2022 US Open win.

Alcaraz is just the third Spanish man after Manuel Santana (1966) and Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010) to win Wimbledon. He is also the third-youngest men’s champion at Wimbledon after Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker, and the fourth Spanish player to win multiple Grand Slam titles, after Nadal, Santana and Sergi Bruguera. Alcaraz is the fifth man in the Open Era to win multiple Grand Slam titles prior to turning 21 – after Mats Wilander (4 Grand Slam titles prior to turning 21), Borg (3), and Becker and Nadal (both 2).

The post Congratulations Carlos Alcazar On Winning The Wimbledon Men’s Singles Title first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.

Torben Ulrich, Danish writer, musician, filmmaker and professional tennis player, has died at the age of 95. Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, was born on 4 October 1928 in Copenhagen, the son of Ulla (née Meyer) and tennis player Einer Ulrich. Torben played on the tennis tour from the late 1940s into the 1970s, and on the Tennis Grand Masters tour in the 1970s and 1980s.

Between the 1940s and 1980s, Torben Ulrich spent most of his time as a professional tennis athlete, while still dabbling in various artforms including music, film, and journalism. During his time as a tennis pro, Ulrich had played for and won several tournaments, including the Stuttgart Open tournament in 1953. He reportedly also played over 100 Davis Cup matches, though he did not win the tournament. In 1977, at a month shy of 49, he became the oldest Davis Cup player in history.

Besides tennis, Torben Ulrich was also fond of jazz music, apprenticing for Reuters and contributing to several Danish jazz magazines. In the ’50s, he formed a New Orleans-inspired jazz band, in which he played the clarinet. In 2005, he founded an collaborative improvised music group named Instead Of, with Lori Goldston – who had worked with Nirvana – and other musicians like Angelina Baldoz and Jaison Scott. In 2021 – at the age of 92 – he released the album ‘Oakland moments: cello, voice, reuniting (rejoicing)’ with Lori Goldston. Torben has co-directed two films; 1988’s The Ball And The Wall with Gil de Kermadec, and 2002’s Body & Being: Before The Wall with Rick New and Molly Martin. He had also appeared in to of Jørgen Leth’s films, Motion Picture (1969) and Moments Of Play (1986).

In 1986, he received the Gerlev Prize from Gerlev Idrætshøjskole in Denmark for athletico-cultural contributions. In 2006, he received an award from Klara Karolines Fond, “for his inspiration to artists of many kinds and for his views on athletics, art and existence”.^[12] In 2013, the Ulrich family received the Davis Cup Award.

The post RIP Torben Ulrich first appeared on Awake & Dreaming.