Wimbledon champion of champions

29 June 2011

He has won more Wimbledon singles titles than Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe combined, and yet you have probably never heard of him.

That is because 89-year-old Professor Bernard Neal from Cheltenham is not a tennis player but a croquet player, and his wins at Wimbledon have been in the croquet club championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Between 1963 and 2002 he lifted the trophy a staggering 37 times, only failing to do so on three occasions - in 1964, 1974 and in 2001, and he has won once more since then.

"It's not a very great achievement," he said modestly. "These were the club championships for members only, and not many members of the All England Club play croquet at all."

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