Wimbledon - Should They Abandon Tradition?

As we all know come the end of any tennis season there tends to be not a lot to talk about or debate about. I thought I would write this based on something I was thinking about earlier.

Should Wimbledon abandon tradition and re-name Centre Court and Court 1?

Melbourne Park has Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena

Roland Garros has Suzanne Lenglen Court and Phillippe Chatrier Court

Flushing Meadows has Louis Armstrong Stadium and Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Tennis Centre is even named after Billie Jean King

My question is should Wimbledon start to think on those lines? I know we have Henman Hill, but I think maybe Court 1 should be named after someone like Fred Perry and even have Court 2 named after Virginia Wade for her success at Wimbledon.

What do you guys think and what would be your suggestions?

I like the idea and Fred Perry is a good one for Centre but Wade feels too contemporary to me (Ashe is different given his death and focal point for equality issues). Better to pick another British sporting or cultural icon? e.g. Queen Victoria or Elizabeth - a royal tag would give the stadium alot of prestige but could make it sound a little stuffy.

The Arvind Parmar Centre Court.

The Greg Rusedski Court One.

Bunny Austin could be used Center Court. Renshaw would give it historical context.

Fair suggestion, and it seems SW19 is the only Major facility that hasn't as yet honoured a significant player or person, in terms of their courts/faciltities.

Of course, deciding to do so would be a big change for them, and then, just after whom, would they/one decide to do it?

The pantheon of Wimbledon Champions is no small thing. There are those players, singles and doubles, with the "most" titles; those that perhaps made a larger contribution to the evolution of the game, or site (similar to BJK at US Open).

Navratilova - most singles titles, and most doubles titles (tied), 9 and 20 (BJK), respectively.

Sampras - most Men's Singles titles (Open Era, there is Renshaw I think from past Eras)

Becker's amazing "youngest, 1st German, 1st unseeded" title

Borg/Federer for the 5 title runs; Martina with 6...

But I would imagine that were it to happen, then "local" talent should at least feature, if not dominate, in the naming "game."

Perry is THE stand out British men's player of course, in most people's mind, and he has the lifesize bronze, just inside on of the main entrances already. Wade's was a huge emotional victory, after trying so long, Wimbledon's Centenary, Silver Anniversary of the Queen's reign and HM in attendance, etc.,

I don't know though, for me, if I'd like to see that happen, the naming of the actual courts. Wimbledon as stood on tradition more devotedly, that the other Majors, and I quite like that. Whilst all the Majors have their characteristics and individual "flavours," for me, it has always been the Valhalla of the sport of tennis, so I have no objections to keeping the status quo. I do think some things can stay the same without becoming a "dated" feature of the game or a tournament. Tradition does have it's place and Wimbledon has been a flag carrier for that.

If something along those lines were to happen, I would definitely want to see both BJK and Navratilova, get a nod in there somewhere.

Early reply, so will check in to see what others' feelings are on his, no doubt some good perspectives, and comments will flow.

That would be a cheap move and unfair for the players to come.
Why is Langlaine bigger than Seles or Ashe than Federer etc....

No, no , no....Wimbledon's centre court is greater than any player who won that title. Wimbledon centre court is a great name itself...and one I like very much.

Tenez wrote:No, no , no....Wimbledon's centre court is greater than any player who won that title. Wimbledon centre court is a great name itself...and one I like very much.

Absolutely. In this case the tournament is the star and that's how it should be.

I suppose if we were to take our cues from elsewhere in Britain we would have something like the following:
Wimbledon Centre Court to become "The Gazprom Arena".
Wimbledon No 1 court to become "The Tata Steel Arena".
Wimbledon No 2 court to become "The Saudi Aramco Arena".
Wimbledon No 3 court to become "The BetFair Arena".
Wimbledon No 4 court to become "SellMySoul 2 TheHighestBidder Arena".
....

Some strong views on the topic.

Do some feel maybe Fred Perry deserved more than a bronze statue? Maybe a court in his name?

Centre Court will ALWAYS be Centre Court !!!

Fred Perry was a grrrreat player, but I'd like to see him take on

some of todays Top 4 - I don't think he'd stand a chance ! The

genteel days of *any one for tennis* died a looooong time ago

The Cliff Richard Stadium, surely?

I have seen arenas named as '<Last Retired Player to Win at the location>'

+<Center Court> or
+<Main Court>

etc,...

Which does both, remain the Center Court, and, also honour recent greats.

The names can change every five years or Nore Staat's "SellMySoul 2 TheHighestBidder Arena" is good, too.

Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

The "Roger Draper Arena" anyone?

It has to be the 'Alex Bogdanovic' Court!!

No.2 Court - The Barry Cowan Bowl

Marcus wrote:Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

Wrong. It should be named after myself: "Noleisthebest" never to forget the suffering one poor fan went though on the 3rd of July 2011

noleisthebest wrote:

Marcus wrote:Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

Wrong. It should be named after myself: "Noleisthebest" never to forget the suffering one poor fan went though on the 3rd of July 2011

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

legendkillar wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Marcus wrote:Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

Wrong. It should be named after myself: "Noleisthebest" never to forget the suffering one poor fan went though on the 3rd of July 2011

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

It was certainly unforgettable .....

I wonder whether the Australians have considered renaming the "Margaret Court Arena" to the "Margaret Court Court".

That was some story you had NITB at Wimbledon. However, perhaps Djokovic's performance this year has acted as a sweetener

Nore Staat wrote:That was some story you had NITB at Wimbledon. However, perhaps Djokovic's performance this year has acted as a sweetener

Absolutely.
The funniest bit was I got home for the 3rd set and he started losing, oh brother, I did not know what to do with myself so I vacuumed the whole house and then summoned all the courage left in me to watch the rest come what may....after the win I was still kind of feeling funny but had 3 huge glasses of champagne and they did not affect me AT ALL! (BTW I 'm not much a drinker and I've never been drunk).
I've bought the official Wimbledon 2011 video as soon as it was released, and it sat on my desk for 3 months before I watched it. I think at that point I realised all that had happened and was really sad. But because of what it meant to Nole I was super happy at the same time, definitely a unique feeling and I wouldn't have it any other way now .

P.S.
there was an element of stg completely different in the whole mix, but I'll keep that to myself

I think you deserved the champagne

With respect to Djokovic's year, the funny thing is, if he hadn't have played those back to back Masters tournaments on Clay (the Rome Masters took too much out of him - remember his semi-final with Andy Murray?), he would have won (IMO) the French Open, and we could be here talking about the first Grand Slam in modern history in the Men's game. However, he has had an absolutely brilliant year.

Nore Staat wrote:I think you deserved the champagne

With respect to Djokovic's year, the funny thing is, if he hadn't have played those back to back Masters tournaments on Clay (the Rome Masters took too much out of him - remember his semi-final with Andy Murray?), he would have won (IMO) the French Open, and we could be here talking about the first Grand Slam in modern history in the Men's game. However, he has had an absolutely brilliant year.

I know..but even that loss to Federer at FO was such an instant classic, it really was a fantastic year for NOle and for me as a fan, I'm still digesting it, the more time passes by, the more unbelievable it all looks. this as quite some year, indeed, and I can't wait to see what the next one brings, esp with double Wimbledon on offer (normal one plus the Olympics)

noleisthebest wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Marcus wrote:Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

Wrong. It should be named after myself: "Noleisthebest" never to forget the suffering one poor fan went though on the 3rd of July 2011

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

It was certainly unforgettable .....

It was such a sad turn of events. Touters should be shot!

legendkillar wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Marcus wrote:Surely centre court should be renamed the "Novak Djokovic arena", as it seems to be generally accepted that one decent year has automatically made him the greatest player the world has ever seen.

Wrong. It should be named after myself: "Noleisthebest" never to forget the suffering one poor fan went though on the 3rd of July 2011

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

It was certainly unforgettable .....

It was such a sad turn of events. Touters should be shot!

I asked the security woman how come the tout had all those tickets (i.e., how come they get the tickets and "us" real fans can't, I mean don't tell me all the tickets for the final were won in the ballot....) anyway, apparently at the USO (and I assume everywhere else in the world) yo can get the tickets from touts provided you are 15oft from the ground. I don't have a problem at all with them. Tragedy is Wimbledon final is just a big business "frill" for deals to be made, somewhere to butter your business partner at...the hour I sat in there, most of "fans" around me looked "dead", I kid you not, plus there were tons of empty seats when I "left" !

And if any tradition needs to be changed it's the unfair way tickets are sold. Just a big joke, if you ask me, and not a funny one

Well, they've renamed both the Centre court and the No1 court since the rebuild, so why not add an addendum to each court, with one of Britain's former great tennis players for each arena. And I mean British, not Serbian or American heroes....British by god !!....
I don't know...mumble..... whats the country coming to...... mumble....grumble.....

I think Marcus was taking the "Urine" re Novak Jubba, surprised he didn't want it named after Del Boy

sportslover wrote:I think Marcus was taking the "Urine" re Novak Jubba, surprised he didn't want it named after Del Boy

Perhaps Arthur Ashe should have been renamed Del Potro arena after the USO 2009 final.

Fantastic idea, Laverfan.

I think it's only fair that every court the great JMDP has ever graced is renamed in his honour.

Marcus wrote:Fantastic idea, Laverfan.

I think it's only fair that every court the great JMDP has ever graced is renamed in his honour.

Won't that get confusing??

I like the sound of Caja Magica Del Potro or Mar del Potro (rather than Mar Del Plata).

In Argentina there is a film called Harry Del Potro and he has to do battle with various cruel adversaries.

Tenez wrote:No, no , no....Wimbledon's centre court is greater than any player who won that title. Wimbledon centre court is a great name itself...and one I like very much.

Yep, naming after a player would diminish it.

And apeing the other Slams isn't what got Wimbledon where it is today - in fact the others envy it's distrinctiveness (hence the effort to rebrand the French open as Roland Garros).

Wimbledon court names? - Fred Perry for me, but then I would say that, wouldn't I ? At least at present we all know where matches are being played at Wimbledon. How many times have we had to put up with Sam Smith (she of the totally monotonous, boring, droning, will-she-ever-shut-up voice) talking about so-and-so playing on Chartrier or Lenglen and not having any idea which court it is. At least with ITV getting the French we, hopefully, won't have to put up with her any more. And is there any chance ITV will put on a few more men's matches and fewer women's ones ?

Sam Smith and Ann Jones - Centre and No.1 could have the alias 'Smith and Jones' Courts!

JuliusHMarx wrote:Sam Smith and Ann Jones - Centre and No.1 could have the alias 'Smith and Jones' Courts!

Centre Court is absolutely sacrosanct! I agree that in this case, it is the tournament which is the star and players come and go. However it might be fun to have walkways between the courts named - we already have Henman Hill, what about Fred Perry Walk and Virginia Wade boulevard?

Glad someone came up with the Alias Smith and Jones line. Incidentally, Ann Jones, as a commentator, made Sam Smith sound majestically wonderful and brilliant. (Yes, Jones was THAT bad).

Answer to OP - no they should not. They'd please some people and upset others to no good end. Everyone knows which court is which, and no one player has ever given more to Wimbledon than it gave to that player.

I hate the idea of 'honouring' sports players or, even worse, sports administrators or journalists. It's far more about trying to associate the person or organisation doing the honouring with a bit of reflected glory. The other thing to remember is that Wimbledon belongs to the AELTC, not the LTA, so they have no particular reason to associate themselves with any player, administrator, or national of any country.

Should Henman Hill be renamed the Hill?

That is cheesey naming a Hill after him.

It should always be Henman Hill legend - always, until the end of time - so much emotion expended there!

Cheesy eh, (or should that be cheesey?). Jimmy had a hill named after him as did hamburger, not to mention such famous tennis players as One Tree and Jack-and-Jill-went-up-the. Actually, Henman appears chuffed about having a hill with his name on it. (anyone noticed how small it looks when you're actually there and how big it looks on TV)

"Henman's Hillock" anyone?

or perhaps the "Rusedski's Pothole"?

or maybe "Bogdanovic's Septic Tank" ...

Nore...

"Boggo's Bog" (never extricated)

"Henman's Mountain" (never surmounted)

"Rusedski's Hurdle" (never accepted)