Wimbledon Championships Trophies

From 23 June to 6 July 2008 the greats of the game of tennis will descend upon the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London to wage war against each other.

Apart from the huge purse, the champion of each event will hold up a trophy to celebrate his or her victory. These trophies not only epitomise a dream, but they embody the tenacity, skill and sheer courage of all the athletes who have lifted them over the years.

Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy

Arguably one of the best loved images of the Wimbledon Championships is that of the victor raising the famous sliver gilt cup to the roaring fans of centre court.

For 130 years this stylised, ornate cup with the legend “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World” inscribed on it has been handed to amateur and professional winners alike.

The trophy is 18 ½ inches tall, is of classical style with two large handles and a raised platform. The lid has the form of a pineapple, and sports a head covered with a winged helmet underneath each handle. It is highly decorative inside and out.

The winner of the 2007 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles event, Roger Federer, also pocketed a tidy cheque of £700 000!

Ladies Singles Trophy

The Ladies Singles champion is rewarded with a sterling silver salver, known as the Venus Rosewater Dish. Made in 1864, it is a copy of a pewter original which lies in the Louvre in France, and has a mythological theme.

The figures of Temperance, Minerva and classical gods are featured, as well as the elements and the seven liberal arts of Astrology, Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, Rhetoric, Dialectic and Grammar.

It was a bit of poetic justice for the 2007 winner, Venus Williams. She picked up the same cash prize as her male counterpart, a first for the tournament. The very same Williams had lobbied organisers for years to award equitable cash prizes for both singles events, and they did.

Gentlemen’s Doubles Trophy

The winners of the Gentlemen’s Doubles are presented with a silver challenge cup which was donated by the first sponsors of the event in 1879, the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club. The remarkable Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde have claimed this Wimbledon Championship trophy on no fewer than six occasions, five of which were back-to-back wins from 1993 to 1997. The 2007 winners, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, pocketed £222 900.

Ladies Doubles Trophy

The Duchess of Kent Challenge Cup, an elegant silver cup and cover was first presented in 1949 by the then president of the All England Club, the Princess Marina. The current Duchess of Kent is presently Duchess Katherine, wife of the Duke of Kent, and she now does the honours. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver were the recipients of this award a remarkable six times in the 1980s. Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 2007 champions, walked away with winnings of £222 900.

Mixed Doubles Trophy

The final trophy in this impressive collection of silverware is a second silver challenge cup and cover which was presented to the All England Club by the family of Sydney Smith. Smith, together with partner Frank Riseley, captured the doubles in 1902 and 1906 and he was a member of the British Davis Cup team. Prize money for the 2007 winners of this event, Jamie Murray and Jelena Jankovic amounted to £90 000.

Who will lift the Wimbledon Championships trophies in 2008?