Wimbledon facts 8-14

• Wimbledon - weird and wonderful facts
• Wimbledon facts 1-7
• Wimbledon facts 8-14

8) New balls please
Ever wondered why tennis balls are yellow? They weren't always - white balls were replaced in 1986 because they are more visible to TV cameras. Incidentally, one ball is only in play for about twenty minutes of an average two-and-a-half-hour tennis match.

9) Not just a pretty face
Maria Sharapova, one of the top earners in female sports, broke the record for the loudest grunts on court - recorded at a deafening 101.2 decibels!

10) Time for a break
Venus Williams won her 2005 final against Lindsay Davenport in the longest ladies' singles final ever played at Wimbledon lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes. Time for a sit down? Chairs were only provided for players to rest when changing ends in 1975.

11) Young starters
British player, Laura Robson, is not only the junior champion but, at 15 years and 152 days old on Monday 22nd June, was the youngest woman to play in the senior competition since Martina Hingis in 1995.

12) Strawberries and cream
Last year, 23 tonnes of strawberries were served to visitors. When laid end-to-end, these berries would stretch almost 60km (37 miles), i.e. from Wimbledon to Reading. A slippery slope when you include the 7,000 litres of fresh cream racked up each fortnight.

13) String theory
At least 40 miles worth of string are fitted to 2,000 rackets over a fortnight at Wimbledon. That's just under six laps' worth of centre court - what? We were curious!

14) Hark the halk!
Hamish the hawk flies for one hour every morning of the championships before the gates open to ward off the local pigeons. He starts his duties at 9am on the dot.

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