Countdown to Wimbledon tennis championships is nearly over

Just after lunch on Monday the first players will head onto the hallowed turf at Centre Court. But as the tennis-loving world claps its eyes on SW19 and the all-important scoreboards, what are the other numbers that make up the world’s favourite tennis competition?

1 – postage stamp produced by the Post Office featuring Wimbledon, on August 2, 1994. At least 17 other countries are known to have produced stamps featuring Wimbledon, ranging from Australia to Sierra Leone to Uruguay 7 – champions who wore glasses in a final.

13 – champions who have won from match point down.

17 – people required to pull on a one tonne court cover in the event of rain, taking about 30 seconds.

19 – the number of centre court invasions. The last, in 2006, saw two Fathers For Justice protesters carry rackets and hit a ball over the net before being escorted away.

20 – Wimbledon titles won by Martina Navratilova: nine singles, seven women’s doubles and four mixed doubles 23 – minutes in the shortest Wimbledon final ever, the 1922 ladies’ singles.

34 – years since the last British woman – Virginia Wade, whose family lived in Bournemouth – won the singles title.

41 – the oldest seeded player.

75 – years since the last British man, Fred Perry, won the singles title.

129 – speed in mph of the fastest serve by a woman at Wimbledon, by Venus Williams in 2009 146 – speed in mph of the fastest serve at Wimbledon, by American Andy Roddick in 2004 183 – most games in a match when John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut in 2010 in a battle that lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

212 – record number of aces served in a tournament, by Goran Ivanisevic, on his way to becoming the only wildcard ever to win the tournament.

250 – ball boys and girls. The average age of the ball boys and girls is 15 and the ratio of boys to girls is about 50/50.

340 – umpires and line umpires.

658 – matches played during the fortnight 1,800 – catering staff also prepare and serve up 12,000 kilos of poached and smoked salmon, 32,000 portions of fish and chips, 2,000 slices of pizza, 190,000 sandwiches, 135,000 ice creams and 300,000 cups of tea and coffee. About 200,000 glasses of Pimms are drunk.

15,000 – tennis balls used during the championships 28,000 – kilos of strawberries are eaten during the competition along with 7,000 litres of cream.

38,500 – Wimbledon’s maximum ground capacity 50,000 – plants and shrubs planted in displays throughout the grounds, including 10,000 petunias and 2,500 specially grown hydrangeas £1,100,000 – prize money for the winners of the men’s and women’s titles.