Wimbledon Mania sweeps the nation
As UK tennis fans look forward to this year's Wimbledon Championships, Halifax Home Insurance says many sports fanatics caught in the frenzy will be eager to get out and display their racquet skills (or lack of them).Claims for smashed windows and other glass breakages peak in July, when Wimbledon reaches its exciting climax.
Claims for broken glass increased by a staggering 76% last July compared to January's claims figures.
According to Halifax claims data, customers in Southend had the most smashing time last summer, with those in Romford, Illford and Ipswich also apparently displaying their lack of racquet skills to dramatic effect.
Senior Underwriting Manager for Halifax Home Insurance, Vicky Emmott, said: "Last summer we saw a particularly high rise in claims for smashed windows and other domestic breakages as Wimbledon and the World Cup coincided. We'd advise any budding Murrays and Sharapovas to take care when playing racquet sports close to home, and check they are insured for accidental damage should a mishap occur."
Top ten most 'smashing' places in the UK
1. Southend
2. Romford & Illford
3. Ipswich
4. Solihull
5. Cambridge
6. Harlow
7. Chelmsford
8. Lincoln
9. Glasgow
10. Watford and St Albans
Source: Halifax Home Insurance 2007.
Wimbledon 2007 is set to run from June 25th until July 8th and it is likely to attract around 500,000 spectators. The tournament has a long history which began in 1877. Since then, Wimbledon Mania has gradually spread across the globe, with players from over 60 nations now competing in front of millions through television, radio, press and internet coverage.
Wimbledon Tennis Trivia
The first ever Wimbledon winner was Spencer Gore in 1877.
The current Men's Singles Champion is four times Wimbledon winner and Swiss supremo Roger Federer, while Amelie Mauresmo of France holds the Women's Singles title.
The quotation on the Centre Court is an extract from "If" by Rudyard Kipling, and reads: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same"
There were 22 entries for the first ever men's championship.
Women were not permitted to enter Wimbledon until 1884.
The electronic referees, called 'Cyclops' were first introduced to Wimbledon in 1980 and are now used in many tennis tournaments around the world. They monitor the service line using a beam of infra red light to determine whether a serve is in or out.
This year will see the debut of 'Hawk-Eye technology' on the centre court, which uses 10 cameras around the court to track the trajectory of the ball and produce a 3D image. The technology enables the players, umpire and fans to observe disputed calls on a video screen.