Wimbledon is a name known around the world for one thing, tennis. Forthe next two weeks, fans will follow the soap opera of this year'stournament; the tough battles, the upsets, the plot that grows evermore intriguing with each passing day. The oldest and most prestigiousmajor, and the only one still played on grass, the tournament issteeped in history and tradition. The revered place in the sport oftennis is located in a leafy suburb tucked away in southwest London.
This is what it's all about. Giving your all and coming out on top at the tournament that matter the most.
That'sone thing that will never change in the competition that stretches backto 1877. This year's hopefuls are well aware of that and for them,staying focused and honing that edge - both mentally and physically -is all a part of the fine-tuning process.
From the days of thegreat Fred Perry - the last British Men's Champ in 1936 - through the1950s when Althea Gibson, the first African-American player gracedcenter court and won, to the present day, the Wimbledon tournament hasalways been special.
And much of that has to do with the traditions surrounding the historic place.
At the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, the past is preserved.
Curator Honor Godfrey is in charge of chronicling the game's evolution through the years.
"Ithink there are lots of reasons that contribute to the name Wimbledonand probably one of the most significant is the fact that we play ongrass ... and so many of the players say how wonderful it is to comehere, how green it is, how wonderful the grass looks. And obviouslyother traditions spring from that as well like playing almost entirelyin white. That is another of the great Wimbledon traditions.Professional tennis players, even in the later 19th century werewearing white clothes and it has gone on from that stage and weobviously have that ruling today still," explains Godfrey.
And of course the mere mention of the word Wimbledon congers up images of dark, rain-bearing clouds.
"Wimbledonweather is traditionally very fickle so it could be sunny in themorning and then it could be a couple of squally showers, enough tointerrupt play, but this again is something which spectators andvisitors, they have come to enjoy that. It is all part of being here,"said Godfrey.
But embedded in the long train of traditions atWimbledon is the ability to change and adapt to the times. And a bigchange this year is a retractable roof on center court.
IanRitchie, who is the chief executive of the All England Lawn TennisClub, says the roof will be a big plus for the championships once thoseinevitable rain drops start to appear.
"There has been a lot ofplanning and a lot of great experts involved so I think it is one ofthose things that is only an addition and it helps the people who get aticket, a lifetime ambition to come to the center court and they nowknow they get guaranteed play," said Ritchie.
The roof is justthe latest example of adapting to a changing tennis world whilepreserving the traditional foundations upon which the tournament isbased.
"I think you have always got to be very careful aboutthose traditional elements which in fact have made the tournamentfamous over the years - playing on grass, white clothing, noadvertising around the grounds - those are the sort of basics andfundamentals, which I do not think we would change. But in the sameway if you want to be which I think we are a global iconic sportingevent, you have to move with the times," said Ritchie.
One thingthat will never change is that incredible feeling of winning atWimbledon. From 1877, to 2009, some things will forever remain thesame.