More agony of defeat

* Elizabeth Ryan won 18 Wimbledon titles in women's and mixed doubles in the 1920s and 1930s, a record for both men and women. The record remained untouched until 1975, when Billie Jean King equaled it.

In 1978, King reached the mixed doubles final and Elizabeth Ryan was asked how she would feel if her record was broken.

"I'll be very sad. I've never wanted to see my record broken," Ryan replied. King lost the next day, but the following year she reached the women's doubles final with Martina Navratilova.

On Friday, the day before the women's doubles final, Ryan visited Wimbledon to watch an afternoon of tennis. She was walking through the grounds when she suffered a heart attack and died.

The next day, King won the title and broke Ryan's record. Elizabeth Ryan had not seen her record broken, just as she had wished.

* When it rains, it pours. Billie Jean King was leading title- holder Martina Navratilova 5-1 in the first-set tiebreak in their 1980 quarterfinal when it began to rain.

The bespectacled King couldn't see clearly, protested to the umpire, but lost six points in a row and the set before play was stopped.

The next day, King raced through the second set 6-1 and led 6- 5 in the final set. Suddenly, as she prepared to serve for the match, her glasses broke.

She had a spare pair, but could not focus properly and made four errors in a row. She lost the match and screamed: "That was the biggest choke in the world."

Compiled by Russell Barlow, ATP Tour World Doubles Championship Consultant.