Henman Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henman Hill is an area in the grounds of the All England Club where the Wimbledon tennis championships are annually held. The area is officially known as Aorangi Terrace and is named for Aorangi Park, the London New Zealand Rugby Club's ground which was situated on the site until 1981.
It was originally an unheralded patch of risen grass, however when the BBC erected a giant video screen at the foot of the hill from the late 1990s onwards, it became the spot where fans without tickets to the show courts could gather to watch the exploits of Britain's only serious hope for a Wimbledon singles title for decades, Tim Henman.
Nowadays, while matches are being broadcasted from the showcourts, it is rare for the cameras not to sweep over the hill at least once or twice during the match - a fact that many on the hill use to their advantage in order to appear on national television. To this end, many spectators on the hill carry large, easily distinguishable objects that they wave around to attract attention.
When Greg Rusedski was playing, the hill would be called Rusedski Ridge after the same fashion. However it is suspected that the Henman tag has caught on sufficiently to maintain the name even after he has retired from the sport.
With the recent successes of Andrew Murray it has been tentatively re-christened Murray Mound, Mount Murray and Murrayfield (in reference to the stadium in Edinburgh under the same name). But whether these names will stick in the same fashion is unknown.
