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Yes folks its that time of the year again when celebrity tennis players find themselves on the beautiful island of Barbados to demonstrate their tennis playing skills to a very appreciative and knowledgeable audience.

This year we have the pleasure of Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Gael Monfils and John Isner who will be playing at the The Wildey Gymnasium on December 11th.

An added attraction this year will be Gael Monfils taking on a Barbados Road Tennis Champion.  Road Tennis is a game peculiar to Barbados which took centre stage recently in London when Andy Murray was beaten by Sylvan Barnett at an exhibition match.

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France seems to have been the original home of tennis, which in the thirteenth century was played in unenclosed spaces; but in the fourteenth it migrated to the towns, and walls enclosed the motions of the ball. In Paris alone there were said to be eighteen hundred tennis-courts.

In the sixteenth century there were several covered tennis-courts in England, and some of the early English monarchs were very devoted to the game. Henry VII. used to play tennis, and there is a record of his having lost twelvepence at tennis, and threepence for the loss of balls. Henry VIII. was also very fond of the game, and lost much money at wagers with certain Frenchmen; but, like a sensible man, “when he perceived their craft he eschewed their company, and let them go.” He built the famous court at Hampton, which still remains. Charles II. also played tennis.

While the current Queen of England is not known to be a tennis player she is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, and her cousin Edward, Duke of Kent, is the President of the Club.

The old game is very different from the modern lawn-tennis: while  it was always the game of the select few, there has been a push to establish the game in  schools and communities around the world and today you can find public tennis courts in most cities.

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The draw for the 125th Wimbledon Championships have taken place providing some very interesting prospects.

First is the meeting of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in the first round.  Just in case you missed it, these two made history during last years Wimbledon Championships when their first round match lasted Eleven (11) hours and five (5) minutes over two days.  Ishner was the eventual winner of that marathon.

Raphael Nadal will begin his quest for his third (3rd)  Wimbledon title with a first round match against Michael Russell.  Andy Murray is also drawn in this tough top half of the draw, while both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic can quietly work their way through the bottm half of the draw.  This will be Federer’s 13th Championship, (he’s won the tournament 6 times) while Djokovich must surely feel that this is his year to show that he is just as dominant on the grass as he has been on the clay so far this year

Caroline Wozniacki heads up the women’s draw.  She will begin the tournament in a match against Arantxa Parra Santonja.  The Number 1 seed has been in fine form this season and will be lookingto put an end to being a Number 1 player who has never won a Grand Slam tournament by getting this one under her belt.

While the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are seeded 7th and 23rd respectively, they are the  main draw on the female side of this tournament.   If they can prove match fitness and make it through the fist week of the Championship there will  be the distinct possibility of an all Williams final again as they are on opposite sides of the draw

The bottom half of the women’s draw are scheduled to play their first-round matches on Monday, with the top half due to commence on Tuesday.

Playing on grass produces a very different game.  It is said to favour the serve and volley type player. Over a fortnight (two weeks) the courts will change as they experience the wear and tear of play.  Grass provides more of a challenge to the players who have  to adjust their game to Suit the conditions.

Prior to the start of the Wimbledon Championships both the men and women get the chance to practice their grass court play in either England, Germany or the Netherlands  in preparation, and in some cases to qualify for,  the main event at Wimbledon.

In recent times the Grass courts at Wimbledon has slowed down making the surface almost as hard, and playing like, any other hard service so that the base line players have dominated the game in the past decade.

With it’s long history and tradition, the development in different technologies that produce different types of grass, and the fact that the players have a deep reverence for the tournament that is Wimbledon,  it seems that while the “lawn” has gone out of tennis, grass court play will continue to be  a part of the game.

Seeding is the system used to separate the top players in a draw so that they will not meet in the early rounds of a tournament.  For the Wimbledon Tennis Championships the seeding in the men’s game is decided by the following formula:

1. Take ESP (ATP Entry System Position) points at 13 June 2011
2. Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months
3. Add 75% points earned for the best grass court tournament in the previous 12 months.

The seeding for the women follow the WTA rankings.  However some adjustments have been made this year given the fact that both Serena Williams and Venus Williams, past Wimbledon Champions, have not played much tennis this season due to various injuries.

The number one and two seeds and alternating down the line are placed on opposite sides of the draw so that in theory if they play to their potential the No.1 and N0.2 seeds should meet in the final.  The number of seeds is based on the size of the draw.

Click here to see the full seeding list for the Wimbledon 2011 Championships.

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The men play a tournament traditionally held at the Queens Club and named for which ever sponsor happens to be sponsoring the game that year.   I have fond memories of the times when the men’s tournament was sponsored by  Stella Artois and that famous ad that showed the top of John McEnroes head, but I digress.  This years tournament is called the Aegon Championships and was won by Andy Murray.  He beat Jean Wilfred Tsonga in the final and must be well buoyed up for the main event (Wimbledon tournament) starting next week.

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The ladies tournament started today at Eastbourne.  It must be heartening for many of their fans to see that both the Williams sisters are participating  in this tournament after being out of the game with injuries for most of the season.

The tournaments that make up the Grand Slam are the Australian Open, The French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Australian Open took place at the Melbourne Park  Stadium from 17th to 30th January and was won by Novak Djokovich of Serbia who beat Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the men’s game and Kim Clijsters of Belgium who beat Na Li of China 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the women’s game.

The French Open took place at the Roland Garros Stadium from May 17th to June 5th.  The men’s tournament was won by Raphael Nadal of Spain who beat Roger Federer of Switzerland 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7,6-1 and the female tournament by Na Li of China, making her the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam Tournament, who beat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6(7-0).

The tour is now in  Great Britain where the third Grand Slam Tournament of the year, Wimbledon, will take place from June 20th to July 3rd.  The Seeding for this tournament will be announced on June 15th and the draw will take place on June 17th.