Ten Memorable Moments on Wimbledon Center Court

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 2, 2019 General view of the Wimbledon logo on the base of the handle of a tennis racquet. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 2, 2019 General view of the Wimbledon logo on the base of the handle of a tennis racquet. (Reuters)
TT

Ten Memorable Moments on Wimbledon Center Court

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 2, 2019 General view of the Wimbledon logo on the base of the handle of a tennis racquet. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 2, 2019 General view of the Wimbledon logo on the base of the handle of a tennis racquet. (Reuters)

Wimbledon marks the 100th anniversary of its famed Centre Court at this year's tournament which gets underway at the All England Club on Monday.

Australia's Gerald Patterson and France's Suzanne Lenglen were the first champions to lift the trophies on the world's most famous lawn in 1922.

Here AFP Sport looks at 10 memorable Centre Court moments:

2019: Longest final-- After four hours and 55 minutes, Novak Djokovic captured his fifth Wimbledon title with a 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3) victory over eight-time champion Roger Federer. The great Swiss had two championship points at 8-7 in the fifth set that lasted two hours and two minutes.

"It's quite unreal," said Djokovic while Federer admitted: "Man, that was crazy."

2013: Murray ends Britain's agony-- Andy Murray became Britain's first Wimbledon men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936 with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic in the final.

Murray won on a fourth match point, sinking to his knees in triumph with victory coming one year after a tearful loss to Roger Federer.

2009: Roof cover-up-- Centre Court showed off its new £80 million retractable roof in 2009 with Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo having the honour of being the first competitors to experience playing under it as the rain fell outside. Court One also boasted a roof by 2019.

2008: Nadal v Federer, the greatest final?-- In the last year before the roof was installed, Centre Court witnessed what many have described as its greatest ever final.

Rafael Nadal downed Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 in a match which stretched over almost seven hours due to rain delays and ended in near darkness.

"To me, it was the greatest match I'd ever watched, the greatest match ever played anywhere," said US legend John McEnroe.

1996: Naked truth-- Melissa Johnson never won Wimbledon but she hogged the headlines at the start of the men's final between Richard Krajicek and Malivai Washington when she streaked across Centre Court, wearing just a pinny.

"My employers were very po-faced," waitress Johnson said. "They wanted my pinny back."

1993: Novotna's royal tears-- Jana Novotna was tantalizingly close to the title in 1993 when she led Steffi Graf 4-1 in the final set and was a point from 5-1 when she was broken on a double fault.

The Czech went on to lose five games in a row and such was her distress that she cried into the shoulder of Britain's Duchess of Kent.

Novotna was to lose the 1997 final to Martina Hingis before finally winning the title in 1998 with victory over Nathalie Tauziat.

Novotna died in November 2017 at the age of 49

1990: Navratilova's ninth title-- Martina Navratilova won a record ninth Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Zina Garrison, also the last of the 18 Slam titles she achieved in her career.

It took her past the previous record of eight held by Helen Wills Moody who won her titles in the 1920s and 1930s.

"The event overtakes any single person. I didn't care if I scraped and scratched to get this. They don't put an asterisk next to your name saying you won but didn't play that well," said Navratilova.

1980: Borg, McEnroe and an epic tiebreak-- Borg and McEnroe's 1980 final would make any list of great Wimbledon championship matches.

Borg came out on top 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16/18), 8-6 in a final which lasted seven minutes short of four hours and gave the Swede a fifth straight title at the All England Club.

The fourth set defined its greatness.

McEnroe saved seven match points, five of them in the tiebreaker which extended to 34 points and 20 minutes.

McEnroe avenged the loss in 1981, winning the first of his three Wimbledon titles.

1957: Gibson makes history-- Having won the French Open in 1956, Althea Gibson triumphed at Wimbledon in 1957, becoming the first black woman to win the title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over compatriot Darlene Hard.

"Shaking hands with the queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the coloured section of the bus," said Gibson on receiving the trophy from Queen Elizabeth II.

Gibson would win five Grand Slam singles titles, including a second at the All England Club in 1958.

Serena and Venus Williams continued the Gibson legacy with 12 titles between them and featuring in four all-Williams finals on Centre Court.

1940: Bombed out-- On October 11, Centre Court was partially destroyed when five 500-pound bombs fell on the club.

Around 1,200 seats were destroyed.



Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
TT

Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

Lindsey Vonn had surgery on a fracture of her left leg following the American's heavy fall in the Winter Olympics downhill, the hospital said in a statement given to Italian media on Sunday.

"In the afternoon, (Vonn) underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilize a fracture of the left leg," the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso said.

Vonn, 41, was flown to Treviso after she was strapped into a medical stretcher and winched off the sunlit Olimpia delle Tofane piste in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Vonn, whose battle to reach the start line despite the serious injury to her left knee dominated the opening days of the Milano Cortina Olympics, saw her unlikely quest halted in screaming agony on the snow.

Wearing bib number 13 and with a brace on the left knee she ⁠injured in a crash at Crans Montana on January 30, Vonn looked pumped up at the start gate.

She tapped her ski poles before setting off in typically aggressive fashion down one of her favorite pistes on a mountain that has rewarded her in the past.

The 2010 gold medalist, the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, appeared to clip the fourth gate with her shoulder, losing control and being launched into the air.

She then barreled off the course at high speed before coming to rest in a crumpled heap.

Vonn could be heard screaming on television coverage as fans and teammates gasped in horror before a shocked hush fell on the packed finish area.

She was quickly surrounded by several medics and officials before a yellow Falco 2 ⁠Alpine rescue helicopter arrived and winched her away on an orange stretcher.


Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
TT

Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned anti-Olympics protesters as "enemies of Italy" after violence on the fringes of a demonstration in Milan on Saturday night and sabotage attacks on the national rail network.

The incidents happened on the first full day of competition in the Winter Games that Milan, Italy's financial capital, is hosting with the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Meloni praised the thousands of Italians who she said were working to make the Games run smoothly and present a positive face of Italy.

"Then ⁠there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians, demonstrating 'against the Olympics' and ensuring that these images are broadcast on television screens around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from departing," she wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

A group of around 100 protesters ⁠threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of a demonstration in Milan.

An estimated 10,000 people had taken to the city's streets in a protest over housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the Games.

Police used water cannon to restore order and detained six people.

Also on Saturday, authorities said saboteurs had damaged rail infrastructure near the northern Italian city of Bologna, disrupting train journeys.

Police reported three separate ⁠incidents at different locations, which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed, Intercity and regional services.

No one has claimed responsibility for the damage.

"Once again, solidarity with the police, the city of Milan, and all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals," added Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition.

The Italian police have been given new arrest powers after violence last weekend at a protest by the hard-left in the city of Turin, in which more than 100 police officers were injured.


Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
TT

Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Liverpool's new signing Jeremy Jacquet suffered a "serious" shoulder injury while playing for Rennes in their 3-1 Ligue 1 defeat at RC Lens on Saturday, casting doubt over the defender’s availability ahead of his summer move to Anfield.

Jacquet fell awkwardly in the second half of the ⁠French league match and appeared in agony as he left the pitch.

"For Jeremy, it's his shoulder, and for Abdelhamid (Ait Boudlal, another Rennes player injured in the ⁠same match) it's muscular," Rennes head coach Habib Beye told reporters after the match.

"We'll have time to see, but it's definitely quite serious for both of them."
Liverpool agreed a 60-million-pound ($80-million) deal for Jacquet on Monday, but the 20-year-old defender will stay with ⁠the French club until the end of the season.

Liverpool, provisionally sixth in the Premier League table, will face Manchester City on Sunday with four defenders - Giovanni Leoni, Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley - sidelined due to injuries.