GO STRAWBERRY PICKING WITH PROSKINS!
To celebrate Wimbledon, arguably the greatest Tennis Tournament in the World, the tennis fans here at Proskins HQ have hidden strawberries throughout our website. Search for a strawberry, click on it and a secret 20% DISCOUNT VOUCHER CODE will be revealed! *Only one strawberry code voucher per person. Discount can be used on all products excluding sale items. Hurry! as all the strawberries will have been eaten by Midnight Monday 14th July (Vouchers valid until August 31st 2014).
Happy Picking!
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THE COMING OF THE SMART TENNIS RACKET Tennis racket technology has come a long way over the last 30 years. We have evolved from wooden frames right through to ultra-light carbon fibre. Now tennis giant Babolat are trying to take it to the next level with the introduction of the smart racket. Designed for both the prosfessional and amateur player, the rackets have sensors and microchips built into the handle, so a huge variety of data can be collected: shot power, angle strike, type of spin, consistency, number of rallies. The technology has the capacity to change the way we watch and think about tennis. |
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At the elite level the benefits seem obvious. From analysing data over a series of matches you could see if the player was making the correct shot selection, being too attacking or too defensive. Even at the amateur level the racket could be used as an excellent training tool. The racket costs £325, however, should the technology prove popular, second and third generation products, one suspects, would see the price drop significantly. It’s certainly a technology that has limtless potential.
FACTS & STATS
FASTEST SERVE EVER - MEN
2010: Taylor Dent (USA) - 148mph. Novak Djokovic (SRB) was on the receiving end of this might serve!
Fastest Serve 2013 - Jerzy Janowicz (POL) - 143mph
FASTEST SERVE EVER - WOMEN
2008: Venus Williams (USA) - 129mph. Against her sister, Serena in the Final, Venus won the match and the title.
Fastest Serve 2013 - Serena Williams (USA) - 123mph
MOST ACES EVER - MEN
2001: Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) - 212 Aces
Most Aces 2013 - Jerzy Janowicz(POL) - 103
MOST ACES EVER - WOMEN
2008: Alexandra Stevenson (USA) - 57 Aces
Most Aces 2013 - Sabine Lisicki (GER) - 45
STRAWBERRIES & CREAM
On average 28,000kg of strawberries are consumed over the tournament fortnight. That breaks down to an average of 8615 punnets (2100 kg) per day served with 7,000 litres of fresh cream! (stats courtesy of www.wimbledon.com).
LONGEST MATCH OF ALL TIME (who can forget that one!)
2010: John Isner (USA) bt Nicholas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68
This marathon feat of endurance took place on Court 18, taking place over 3 days, with a total duration of 11 hours 05 minutes. The final set lasted 8hrs 11 mins. Isner broke another record during this encounter, the most aces in a match - 113.
LONGEST FINAL OF ALL TIME
2008: Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Roger Federer (SUI) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7,9-7
4 hrs 48 mins, finishing at 9.16pm in the twilight thanks to rain delays. Nadal was the triumphant victor of this epic battle, in the process ending Federer’s run of 5 sucessive Wimbledon Titles.
3 CLASSIC MENS MATCHUPS
1992 Andre Agassi (USA) v Boris Becker (GER) Quarter Final (4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3)
Coming into the tournament Agassi was an outsider. Named 12th seed, he’d had little grass court preparation, and much of the pre Wimbledon chatter focused around what he might wear as opposed to what he might do.
Operating primarily from the baseline, and surviving a couple of scares in the early rounds, he faced Boris Becker, the three time Wimbledon champion, in the quarter finals. It was a classic matchup of contrasting styles – Becker, the acrobatic serve and volleyer, versus Agassi, the quick draw gunslinger.
Classic Moment: Agassi, during the fifth set, standing inside the baseline to return Becker’s 130mph serves.
Legacy:By winning the mens singles title that year Agassi showed that a basliner could win Wimbledon and in doing so inspired a generation of players to follow him.
1994 Pete Sampras (USA) v Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) Final (7-6, 7-6, 6-0)
This final, as predicted, was dominated by the serve. Both players had incredible deliveries. Up 5-4 in the first set, Sampras had three set points before Ivanisevic served four aces in the next five points to level things up a 5-5. In all he hit 25 aces, the equivalent of 6 whole games. Sampras finished with 17, but what set him apart was his second serve, quite possibly the finest in the entire history of tennis. No one expected long rallies but the accuracy and speed of the Sampras serve made them almost impossible.
Following the final the press were highly critical. This was not the type of tennis the public want to see, they claimed. From a commercial and sporting perspective this was a dangerous time for Wimbledon. Looking back it was a watershed moment. In the subsequent years the authorities made a concerted effort to slow the courts down and in doing so had a significant impact on the direction of modern tennis.
Classic Moment: Ivanisevic booming down ace after ace.
Legacy:Slowing the courts meant a different style of play was seen at Wimbledon and a different type of champion emerged.
1981 John McEnroe (USA) v Tom Gullikson (USA) First Round(7-6, 7-5, 6-3)
“You cannot be serious!” A four word outburst that turned John into McEnroe. During a first round match against Tom Gullikson, McEnroe disagreed with umpire Edward James arguing he had hit the ball inside the court. “You cannot be serious!” he screamed, “That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up! How can you possibly call that out?” By todays standards the language was relatively tame, but at the time many argued that the All England Club should throw the “Superbratt” out of the tournament. The New York Times called McEnroe “The worst advertisement for our system of values since Al Capone.”
In the end he wasn’t thrown out, and ironically went on to win the tournament, defeating his great rival Bjorn Borg in the final. Playing the pantomime villain worked for McEnroe but it also clearly hurt his reputation. Many people remember the outbursts, fewer remember the player – perhaps the greatest touch player of any generation.
Did you know? McEnroe is only player in history not to be granted an honorary membership to the All England Club when he won Wimbledon for the first time in 1981.
Legacy: McEnroe, the rebel with a cause, became a worldwide cultural icon while Tennis attracted a new younger audience.
3 CLASSIC WOMENS MATCHUPS
2005 Venus Williams (USA) v Lindsay Davenport (USA) Final (4-6, 7-6, 9-7)
This was Davenport’s third final, having won the title in 1999. She lost in 2000 and this was seen as her final chance to win due to her age, she was 29 at the time. She had her chances to secure the title, serving for the championship in the 2nd set at 6-5, then a matchpoint in the final set, but the battling Venus never gave up and prevailed.
1999 Jelena Dokic (AUS) v Martina Hingis (SUI) First Round (6-2, 6-0)
Dokic pulled off one of the most famous shock victories in Grand Slam history by destroying the World number One, Hingis, in just 54 minutes!
1978 Martina Navratilova (CZE) v Chris Evert (USA) Final (2-6, 6-4, 7-5)
One of the greatest sporting rivalries ever. This was the first of 5 classic Wimbledon Finals between the two protagonists. Although Evert beat Navratilova twice in semi-finals,1976 (the only year she won the championship) and 1980 at SW19, she never managed to beat her in their finals. Evert was the more sucessful on clay, but Navratilova had the dominance on grass.
