Four Of The Funniest Wimbledon Moments

Wimbledon has started, which also means summer is here! Grab a bowl of strawberries and cream, don your best tennis whites, and sit back and revisit some of the funniest Wimbledon moments so far…

Get your brolly out…

In 1974, Romanian tennis player, Ilie Nastase, was losing to American player, Dick Stockton. The match had already been interrupted several times because of rain (obviously!) and ever the joker - and competitive player - Ilie decided the only thing to do to help him, was to grab an umbrella from a spectator and play whilst holding it! He later said, “I wasn't trying to distract Dick, as some people thought, but to dispel the tension I thought it would be fun to play a couple of points with the umbrella in my hand. It was a completely spontaneous act and it's a classic example of, 'okay, I lost the match, but I gave people pleasure and fun!”

All dressed in white…

During the Ladies' Invitational Doubles Tournament in 2017, Kim Clijsters had a bit of fun with the audience, asking where she should make her next serve. When a man replied “body!” - meaning a serve in which a player attempts the serve right at their opponent in an effort to jam them - she invited said man to stand where the serve would go. He happily came to the court, and, whilst laughing, Kim made a comment about the fact that Wimbledon rules state players must wear all white. So, out of her bag she produced a tennis skirt for him to wear - much to everyone’s amusement! He obliged, put the skirt and a white top on and even managed to catch a serve from Kim!

A proposal for the ages…

In 1996, during the semi-final match against Kimiko Date, Steffi Graf was given an offer she - almost - couldn’t refuse. A spectator at the match shouted out “Steffi, will you marry me?”, which of course made the whole court laugh, and, after a short pause, Steffi turned around and answered, simply, “how much money do you have?” Cue even more laughs!

Double the fun…

In the 2018 Gentlemen’s Invitational Doubles Round Robin, Tommy Haas and Mark Philippoussis faced Fernando González and Sébastien Grosjean. During the match, it seemed that the play was only going one way…so, what did the ‘left out’ players do? Produced another ball and played their own game at the same time!

What are your favourite Wimbledon moments? Serve us your ideas on our Insta over at @NCS!