TheWimbledon Tennis Championshipsare famous around the world, with players from many different countries taking part. China’s most successful women’s international players at the moment, Zheng Jie and Li Na, will be playing in thetournament.

So, what about the British players? The last time a British player won the tournament was in 1977 when Virginia Wade¹ won theWomen’s Singles title. However, in 2006, there are nohigh-profileBritish women tennis players. It’s the men who are the most successful.

There are threemajorBritish male players playing at an international level at the moment. The most successful in the past has been Tim Henman. He has reached thesemi-finalsat Wimbledon four times, but he has failed to make the next step to the finals. In 2002 he wasseededfourth in the world.

Unfortunately for Tim though, he has been unable toregain his formto this high level. He has received a lot ofcriticismin the press for being unable to win any tournaments, in spite² of his highrankinginternationally.

In recent years Tim hasslippedto 62 in the world rankings. He is also 31 years old so he is no longer as young or as fit as he used be. But as long as he continues to play, the British people will alwaysget behindhim and hope that he can succeed at Wimbledon.

Greg Rusedski is another famous British men’s singles player. He was born in Canada but his mother is British, so he has chosen to be aBritish citizenand represent Britain in the tennis. He was also seeded fourth back in 1997 and has only ever reached thequarter-finalsat Wimbledon. He is currently³ the highest ranking British player, but he has never really been acontenderfor the Wimbledon title.

Britain’sbiggest tennis hopeis 19-year-old Andrew Murray from Scotland⁴. He hasn’t been playing for very long, and he has had a fewinjurieswhich might haveheld him back, but he is currently ranked 45th, above Tim Henman. He has played well in tournaments in other countries over the past year and he is probably Britain’s biggest hope to succeed at Wimbledon sometime soon.Come onAndrew!