Thrills and spills in SW19

Champion stuff at the All England Club

BBC Sport Online's Gabrielle Lewis looks back at all the thrills and spills that captured the headlines during the 2000 Wimbledon Championships.

It seems a lifetime has passed since Alex Corretja announced that he, Albert Costa and Juan Carlos Ferrero would not be competing at Wimbledon.

The Spaniards' withdrawal over their lack of ranking for the event became the first of a stream of incidents which kept Wimbledon in the headlines for matters other than tennis.

Israeli Anna Smashnova's fine for belting the ball into the crowd early in the first week paled into insignificance compared to the actions of Damir Dokic.

Escorted

The father of Australian teenager Jelena Dokic smashed a British journalist's mobile phone on the floor and allegedly declared the Women's Tennis Association to be "criminals and fascists" before being escorted away by police.

Dokic senior courted controversy

It did not trouble his daughter too much. She went on to eclipse last year's achievements by reaching the semi-finals.

There were other outbursts, although this time on the court.

Wayne Ferreira and the inimitable Jeff Tarango insulted their respective officials within hours of each other.

Then Natasha Zvereva found herself in hot water following her middle-finger salute at the end of her women's doubles semi-final defeat by Venus and Serena Williams.

Gesture

The gesture earned the normally mild-mannered Belarussian a $1,000 fine.

Zvereva's doubles partner, the Russian pin-up girl Anna Kournikova, was rarely out of the news, even after her second-round singles exit.

"Only the balls should bounce," will be forever inscribed on our minds and possibly even on Mark Roberts' torso after his 90-second streak during Kournikova and Zvereva's quarter-final win.

Navratilova graced SW19 with her presence

Less savoury were the allegations of racism and prejudice by American Alexandra Stevenson - but the on-court moments of glory duly took precedence.

Think back to Andre Agassi's fightback from the brink of a defeat against Todd Martin and his subsequent progress to the semi-finals.

Recall Mark Philippoussis' body-shattering third-round triumph over Sjeng Schalken, which culminated in a 20-18 fifth set and was immediately followed by another five-set marathon victory against Tim Henman.

Criticism

The Australian's defeat of Henman put paid to the British number one's chances of a third consecutive semi-final appearance and reignited criticism of the host nation's tennis programme and future.

It had not helped that British number two Greg Rusedski was ousted in the opening round by a player who had not won a match in 21 attempts.

Renewing old rivalries

The romance of the Championships blossomed with the return of Martina Navratilova to the ladies doubles, although she failed to equal the record 20 Wimbledon wins.

Then there was the astounding progress of Belarussian qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov, who reached the semi-finals in his borrowed shorts.

There was also the nostalgic Parade of Champions on the middle Saturday, which welcomed Bjorn Borg back to SW19 for the first time since 1981.

The following day, Borg relived that 1981 experience when he was beaten in a charity exhibition match at Buckingham Palace by John McEnroe.

Champions

Talking of champions and records, Venus Williams achieved both when she won the ladies' singles title.

Having knocked out her sister, Serena, in a disappointing semi-final, she became only the second black women to lift the aptly-named Venus Rosewater Dish after defeating holder Lindsay Davenport.

The newly-crowned champion then added another trophy to her cabinet when she teamed up with Serena to the women's doubles 24 hours after the championships should have finished.

The Woodies win again

By then, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde had triumphed again at the All England Club, winning the Wimbledon men's doubles title for a sixth time.

It was a fitting finale for the Woodies, whose record-breaking partnership is due to dissolve at the end of the year.

Pete Sampras went one better, claiming the men's singles crown for a seventh time.

Enthralling

Pat Rafter played his part in an enthralling final, which was interrupted twice by rain, but the Australian could not prevent the all-conquering American from pocketing a record-breaking 13th Grand Slam.

It was an emotional moment for Sampras, who was watched by his mother and father, and firmly established him as the greatest men's player of all time.