1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Great Britain Davis Cup team
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The Great Britain Davis Cup team is the mens national tennis team and has represented the United Kingdom internationally since 1900. Organised by the Lawn Tennis Association, it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federations European association, the United Kingdom teams performance has been inconsistent, it enjoyed its most successful periods in the 1910s and the 1930s, and has seen a resurgence in recent years. The team has won the world cup 10 times and been runner-ups on 8 occasions and it has longstanding rivalries with Australia and the United States. The national team took part in the inaugural Davis Cup in 1900 and they are the third most successful team in terms of championships won. Under the current management of Leon Smith, the team qualified to the World Group in 2013, won the title in 2015. Great Britains first match, and first ever national match in history, was a 0–3 loss to the United States in 1900. The tournament was not organised in 1901, and lost the following year, the national team would go on to dominate the competition, winning the next three tournaments. The postwar period saw moderate results, but British fortunes declined until the appointment of 31-year old Paul Hutchins as captain in 1976 and he would captain the team for 10 years, and lead the team in 31 ties. He would lead Great Britain to the final in 1978, defeating Australia 3–2 in the semifinal, despite losing in the final, the team won the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award. Likewise, it was the first time the LTA promoted the event, according to The Guardian Britain has seen a decline in its Davis Cup fortunes ever since. The next two years saw mixed results, but in in 1981 the team reached the semifinals, losing to Australia and it would be their last semifinal until 2015. Warren Jacques, an Australian, was appointed captain in 1988 as Hutchins replacement and he was appointed due to his former role in coaching Kevin Curren, the 1985 Wimbledon finalist. However, the idea to appoint a person who was not of the nationality was so foreign that the LTA sought special dispensation from the International Tennis Federation. The teams results continued to slide under Jacques leadership, following the teams 0–5 defeat to France, Jacques was removed as captain and replaced by Tony Pickard. When asked about the defeat, Jacques claimed Were ten years from being competitive in the Davis Cup, in the ensuing years, under Pickards leadership, Great Britain would manage to keep its place in the World Group. In 1994, Pickard delivered an attack on the Lawn Tennis Associations training department. In response the LTA did not renew Pickards contract, the team lost the last four matches under Pickards stewardship, marking the worst performance in twenty years. David Lloyd took over as captain later that year and his captaincy started well, with Great Britain winning the Europe/Africa Zone II, and being promoted to the Europe/Africa Zone I
3.
Belgrade
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Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and its name translates to White city. The urban area of the City of Belgrade has a population of 1.34 million, one of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city and it was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid-2nd century. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo and it frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841, northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars, Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006. Belgrade has an administrative status within Serbia and it is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council, City of Belgrade covers 3. 6% of Serbias territory, and 22. 5% of the countrys population lives within its administrative limits. It is classified as a Beta- global city, chipped stone tools found at Zemun show that the area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these belong to the Mousterian industry, which are associated with Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also discovered there, indicating occupation between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with the Neolithic Starčevo culture, there are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo. The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture, a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements which is named for a site in the Belgrade region. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrades geographical location comes from ancient myths, the rock overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers has been identified as one of the place in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians ruled this area prior to the Roman conquest, Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi, after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it Singidūn. In 34–33 BC the Roman army led by Silanus reached Belgrade, jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
4.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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Covering an area of 255,804 km², the SFRY was bordered with Italy to the west, Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east and Albania and Greece to the south. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, the SFRY traces back to 29 June 1943 when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed during World War II. On 29 November 1945, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed after the deposal of King Peter II thus ending the monarchy. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics. This led to the federation collapsing along the borders, followed by the final downfall and breakup of the federation on 27 April 1992. The term former Yugoslavia is now commonly used retrospectively, the name Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made-up of jug and slavija. The Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian word jug means south, while slavija denotes a land of the Slavs, thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be South-Slavia or Land of the South Slavs. The term is intended to denote the lands occupied by the six South Slavic nations, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Slovenes, the full official name of the federation varied significantly between 1945 and 1992. Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, the name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced, the state is most commonly referred to by the latter name, which it held for the longest period of all. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media. On 6 April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany, by 17 April 1941, Yugoslav resistance was soon established in two forms, the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisan supreme commander was Josip Broz Tito, and under his command the movement soon began establishing liberated territories which attracted the attentions of the occupying forces. The coalition of parties, factions, and prominent individuals behind the movement was the Peoples Liberation Front. The Front formed a political body, the Anti-Fascist Council for the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia. The AVNOJ, which met for the first time in Partisan-liberated Bihać on 26 November 1942, during 1943, the Yugoslav Partisans began attracting serious attention from the Germans. In two major operations of Fall Weiss and Fall Schwartz, the Axis attempted to stamp-out the Yugoslav resistance once, on both occasions, despite heavy casualties, the Group succeeded in evading the trap and retreating to safety. The Partisans emerged stronger than before and now occupied a significant portion of Yugoslavia
5.
Grand Slam (tennis)
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The Grand Slam tournaments, also called majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of field, and greater number of best of sets for men. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open in May and June, Wimbledon in June and July, each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and United States tournaments are played on courts, the French on clay. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, however, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924/25, the time when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments. In doubles, one team may accomplish a Grand Slam playing together or one player may achieve it with different partners, the term Grand Slam without qualification refers to winning the four majors in a single calendar year. Winning the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in addition to the four majors in a one year is known as a Golden Grand Slam or more commonly the Golden Slam. Also, winning the Year-End Championship in the period is known as a Super Slam. Together, all four Majors in all three disciplines are called a set of Grand Slam titles. No male or female player has won all events in one calendar year. The term slam for winning all of the tricks in the whist family card games is attested early in the 17th century. Grand slam for all of the tricks, in contrast to small slam or little slam for all but one and this use was inherited by contract bridge, a modern development of whist defined in 1925 that became very popular in Britain and America by 1930. Grand slam has been used in golf since 1930, when Bobby Jones won the four major championships, before that time only three events, Wimbledon, the World Hard Court Championships and the World Covered Court Championships were considered the premier international tennis events by the ILTF. Tony Wilding of New Zealand won all three of those majors in one year –1913. It has been possible to complete a Grand Slam in most years, phil Dent has pointed out that skipping Grand Slam tournaments—especially the Australian Open—was not unusual then, before counting Grand Slam titles became the norm. Nevertheless, except for the 1969 and 1971 tournaments, many of the best players missed this championship until 1982, because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates, the tournament was won by Arthur Ashe. The first definitive Grand Slam, of the current four majors, was accomplished when Don Budge won all four mens singles Majors in 1938, to date,17 players have completed a Grand Slam, though only six in the most prestigious singles titles. The four Junior disciplines, boys and girls singles and doubles, Players are only eligible from age 13 to 18, with 18-year-olds likely to hold a physical advantage
6.
Davis Cup
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The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in mens tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format and it is described by the organisers as the World Cup of Tennis, and the winners are referred to as the World Champion team. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States, by 2016,135 nations entered teams into the competition. The most successful countries over the history of the tournament are the United States, the present champions are Argentina who beat Croatia to win the title for the first time in 2016. The womens equivalent of the Davis Cup is the Fed Cup, Australia, the Czech Republic, and the United States are the only countries to have held both Davis Cup and Fed Cup titles in the same year. The Hopman Cup, a competition for mixed teams, carries less prestige. The tournament was conceived in 1899 by four members of the Harvard University tennis team who wished to challenge the British to a tennis competition and they in turn commissioned a classically styled design from William B. Durgins of Concord, New Hampshire, crafted by the Englishman Rowland Rhodes, Davis went on to become a prominent politician in the United States in the 1920s, serving as US Secretary of War from 1925 to 1929 and as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1929 to 1932. The first match, between the United States and Britain, was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, the American team, of which Dwight Davis was a part, surprised the British by winning the first three matches. The following year the two countries did not compete, but the US won the match in 1902 and Britain won the four matches. By 1905 the tournament expanded to include Belgium, Austria, France, and Australasia, the tournament was initially titled the International Lawn Tennis Challenge although it soon became known as the Davis Cup, after Dwight Davis trophy. The Davis Cup competition was played as a challenge cup. All teams competed against one another for the right to face the previous champion in the final round. Beginning in 1923, the teams were split into two zones, the America Zone and the Europe Zone. The winners of the two met in the Inter-Zonal Zone to decide which national team would challenge the defending champion for the cup. In 1955 a third zone, the Eastern Zone, was added, because there were three zones, the winner of one of the three zones received a bye in the first round of the INZ challenger rounds. In 1966, the Europe Zone was split into two zones, Europe Zone A and Europe Zone B, so the winners of the four competed in the INZ challenger rounds. From 1950 to 1967, Australia dominated the competition, winning the Cup 15 times in 18 years
7.
Australian Open
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The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features mens and womens singles, mens, womens and mixed doubles and juniors championships, as well as wheelchair, legends, the Australian Open typically has high attendances, rivalling and occasionally exceeding the US Open. The tournament holds the record for the highest attendance at a Grand Slam event, the Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, and was first played at the Warehousemans Cricket Ground in Melbourne in November 1905. This facility is now known as the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre, the tournament was first known as the Australasian Championships and then became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Since 1905, the Australian Open has been staged in five Australian and two New Zealand cities, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Christchurch and Hastings. Though started in 1905, the tournament was not designated as being a championship until 1924. The tournament committee changed the structure of the tournament to include seeding at that time, in 1972, it was decided to stage the tournament in Melbourne each year because it attracted the biggest patronage of any Australian city. The tournament was played at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club from 1972 until the move to the new Melbourne Park complex in 1988, the new facilities at Melbourne Park were envisaged to meet the demands of a tournament that had outgrown Kooyongs capacity. The move to Melbourne Park was an success, with a 90 percent increase in attendance in 1988 on the previous year at Kooyong. Because of Australias geographic remoteness, very few foreign players entered this tournament in the early 20th century, in the 1920s, the trip by ship from Europe to Australia took about 45 days. The first tennis players who came by boats were the US Davis Cup players in November 1946, even inside the country, many players could not travel easily. When the tournament was held in Perth, no one from Victoria or New South Wales crossed by train, in Christchurch in 1906, of a small field of 10 players, only two Australians attended and the tournament was won by a New Zealander. The first tournaments of the Australasian Championships suffered from the competition of the other Australasian tournaments, before 1905, all Australian states and New Zealand had their own championships, the first organised in 1880 in Melbourne and called the Championship of the Colony of Victoria. In those years, the best two players – Australian Norman Brookes and New Zealander Anthony Wilding – almost did not play this tournament, Brookes came once and won in 1911, and Wilding entered and won the competition twice. Their meetings in the Victorian Championships helped to determine the best Australasian players, even when the Australasian Championships were held in Hastings, New Zealand, in 1912, Wilding, though three times Wimbledon champion, did not come back to his home country. It was a problem for all players of the era. Brookes went to Europe only three times, where he reached the Wimbledon Challenge Round once and then won Wimbledon twice
8.
French Open
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The French Open, often referred to as Roland Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam event held on clay, French spelling rules dictate that in the name of a place or event named after a person, the elements of the name are joined together with a hyphen. Therefore, the names of the stadium and the tournament are hyphenated as Roland-Garros, in 1891 the Championnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Championships, was begun. It was only open to players who were members of French clubs. The first winner was a Briton—H, the first womens singles tournament, with four entries, was held in 1897. The mixed doubles event was added in 1902 and the doubles in 1907. This French club members only tournament was played until 1924, using four different venues during that period, Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux, the Racing Club de France, played on clay. For one year,1909, it was played at the Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil, Paris, played on clay. Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships, is considered the precursor to the French Open as it was open to international competitors. Winners of this tournament included world no, 1s such as Tony Wilding from New Zealand and Bill Tilden from the US. In 1924 there was no World Hard Court Championships due to tennis being played at the Paris Olympic Games, in 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs internationally and was designated a major championship by the ILTF. It was held at the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud in 1925 and 1927, in 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event in Paris, site of the previous French club members only Championship, also on clay. In 1928, the Roland Garros stadium was opened and the event has held there ever since. After the Mousquetaires or Philadelphia Four won the Davis Cup on American soil in 1927, the Stade de France had offered the tennis authorities three hectares of land with the condition that the new stadium must be named after the World War I pilot, Roland Garros. The new Stade de Roland Garros, and its Center Court hosted that Davis Cup challenge, during World War II the tournament was held from 1941 through 1945 on the same grounds but these editions are not recognized by the French governing body, Fédération Française de Tennis. From 1946 through 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon, in 1968, the French Championships became the first Grand Slam tournament to go open, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete. Since 1981, new prizes have been presented, the Prix Orange, the Prix Citron, in another novelty, since 2006 the tournament has begun on a Sunday, featuring 12 singles matches played on the three main courts. Additionally, on the eve of the opening, the traditional Benny Berthet exhibition day takes place
9.
The Championships, Wimbledon
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The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Since the Australian Open shifted to hardcourt in 1988, Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass. The tournament takes place two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies and Gentlemens Singles Final. Five major, junior, and invitational events are each year. Wimbledon traditions include a dress code for competitors and Royal patronage. The tournament is notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts. In 2009, Wimbledons Centre Court was fitted with a roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a club founded on 23 July 1868. Its first ground was off Worple Road, Wimbledon, in 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally given the name Sphairistikè, was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, a new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Todays rules are similar except for such as the height of the net and posts. The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemens Singles was the event held. It was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, about 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final. The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the court was in the middle with the others arranged around it. The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, however, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No.1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description, by 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word croquet was dropped from the title. However, for reasons it was restored in 1899
10.
US Open (tennis)
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The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament. The tournament is the version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world. The US Open is held annually, starting on the last Monday in August, the main tournament consists of five event championships, mens and womens singles, mens and womens doubles, and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens. The US Open is owned and organized by the United States Tennis Association, net proceeds from ticket sales, sponsorships, and television deals are used to promote the development of tennis in the United States. The US Open is the only Grand Slam that employs tiebreakers in every set of a match, the first edition was won by Richard Sears, who went on to win seven consecutive singles titles. In the first years of the U. S. National Championship only men competed and this was followed by the introduction of the U. S. Womens National Doubles Championship in 1899 and the U. S. The womens tournament used a system from 1888 through 1918. This view was opposed by another group of players which included eight former national singles champions, the contentious issue was brought to a vote at the annual USNLTA meeting on February 5,1915 and with 128 votes in favor and 119 against it was decided to relocate. From 1921 through 1923, the tournament was played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia and it returned to Forest Hills in 1924 following the completion of the newly constructed 14,000 seat concrete Forest Hills Stadium. Though regarded unofficially by many as a major championship beforehand, the tournament was officially designated as one of the tournaments by the ILTF commencing in 1924. At the 1922 U. S. National Championships the draw for the first time included seeded players in order to avoid leading players drawing against each other in the early rounds. Open era The open era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the US Open, the 1968 combined tournament was open to professionals for the first time. That year,96 men and 63 women entered the event, from 1970 to 1974 the US Open used a best-of-nine point, sudden death tiebreaker before moving to the ITF best-of-twelve point system. In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women with that years singles champions John Newcombe, another US Open innovation came in 1975 when floodlights enabled night play for the first time. In 1978 the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, Queens to the larger USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, three miles to the north. In the process, the tournament switched the court surface from clay, jimmy Connors is the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces, while Chris Evert is the only woman to win on two surfaces. The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has played every year since its inception
11.
2008 Davis Cup
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The 2008 Davis Cup was the 97th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in mens tennis. Sixteen teams participated in the World Group and more than one hundred others took part in different regional groups, the first matches were played on February 8–10. The final took place on November 21–23 at Estadio Polideportivo Islas Malvinas, Mar del Plata, Argentina, with Spain beating Argentina 3-1 to clinch their 3rd Davis Cup title. Date, 19–21 September The eight losing teams in the World Group first round ties, eight seeded teams, based on the Davis Cup rankings as of 14 April, were drawn against eight unseeded teams. Austria, Israel, Romania, and Serbia will remain in the World Group in 2009, chile, Croatia, Netherlands and Switzerland are promoted to the World Group in 2009. Australia, Brazil, India and Slovakia will remain in Zonal Group I in 2009, belgium, Great Britain, Peru and South Korea are relegated to Zonal Group I in 2009. S
12.
Serbian language
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Serbian is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the language of Serbia and one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, it is a minority language in Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia. Standard Serbian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, which is also the basis of Standard Croatian, Bosnian, the other dialect spoken by Serbs is Torlakian in southeastern Serbia, which is transitional to Macedonian and Bulgarian. Serbian is practically the only European standard language with complete synchronic digraphia, the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić, who created the alphabet on phonemic principles. The Latin alphabet was designed by Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in 1830, Serbian is a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian, a Slavic language, of the South Slavic subgroup. Other standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian are Bosnian, Croatian, and Montenegrin and it has lower intelligibility with the Eastern South Slavic languages Bulgarian and Macedonian, than with Slovene. The 2011 census show that 42. 88% still declare Serbian to be their native language, Standard Serbian language uses both Cyrillic and Latin script. Even in official government documents this constitutional requirement is rarely enforced, Serbian is a rare example of synchronic digraphia, a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing systems available to them. Media and publishers typically select one alphabet or another, for example, the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia, predominantly uses the Cyrillic script whereas the privately run broadcasters, like RTV Pink, predominantly use the Latin script. A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of the Serbian population favors the Latin alphabet whereas 36% favors the Cyrillic one and these are the tenses of the indicative mood. Apart from the mood, there is also the imperative mood. The conditional mood has two more tenses, the first conditional and the second conditional, Serbian has active and passive voice. As for the verb forms, Serbian has one infinitive. Most Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to the Proto-Slavic language, there are many loanwords from different languages, reflecting cultural interaction throughout history. Notable loanwords were borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, Russian, Serbian literature emerged in the Middle Ages, and included such works as Miroslavljevo jevanđelje in 1192 and Dušanov zakonik in 1349. In the mid-15th century, Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, however, some of the greatest literary works in Serbian come from this time, in the form of oral literature, the most notable form being Serbian epic poetry. The epic poems were written down in the 19th century, and preserved in oral tradition up to the 1950s
13.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
14.
Tennis
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Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return, the player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society, the sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis and it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s, two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. Tennis is played by millions of players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Historians believe that the ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France. Louis X of France was a player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, in due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. Because of the accounts of his death, Louis X is historys first tennis player known by name. Another of the enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France. It wasnt until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis, from the French term tenez, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, during the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. This in turn led to the codification of rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls. In 1872, along with two doctors, they founded the worlds first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis, according to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield popularized this game enormously
15.
ATP Challenger Tour
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The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international mens professional tennis tournaments. The ATP Challenger Tour is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals, players who succeed on the ATP Challenger Tour earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP World Tour tournaments. Players on the Challenge Tour are either young players, those who fail to qualify for ATP events, the first challenger events were held in 1978, with eighteen events taking place. Two were held on the week beginning January 8, one in Auckland, events continued after a one-month hiatus with two begun September 24 and 25, one in Tinton Falls, New Jersey and in Lincoln, Nebraska respectively. The following week saw one event played, in Salt Lake City, a final event was played a month later in Kyoto. In comparison, the 2008 schedule saw 178 events played in more than 40 countries. Hospitality bumps the points distribution up one level and the points to the overall range from 80 points for a $40,000 tournament to 125 points for a $220,000 tournament with hospitality. In contrast, the ATP-level tournaments offer total prize money from $400,000 to over $6 million,250 points would get him a ranking just below 200th, while with 100 points he would get to around 425th, and 50 points would put him just below 600th. So rankings points earned in Challengers can help a player to move up in the rankings quickly, players have usually had success at the Futures tournaments of the ATP Tour before competing in Challengers. In February 2007, Tretorn became the ball of the Challenger Series
16.
ITF Men's Circuit
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The ITF Mens Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Mens Circuit represents the lowest rung of the professional tennis ladder. ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP rankings, enabling young professionals to progress on to the ATP Challenger Tour, nearly every professional player has spent some time on the ITF Mens Circuit. Originally, the ITF Mens Circuit consisted of satellite tournaments, each of which took place four weeks. Over time, the ratio of Futures tournaments to satellites increased until 2007, Futures tournaments allow for players to win career titles and improve their rankings. Futures are held in both singles and doubles, and last only one week, as of 2017, the prize fund for each tournament is either US$15,000 or US$25,000. Some tournaments also provide housing for participants, Futures usually have sizable qualifying draws, which allow unranked players to enter tournaments and earn ATP ranking points
17.
Montevideo
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Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 in an area of 201 square kilometres. The southernmost capital city in the Americas, Montevideo is situated in the southern coast of the country, the city was established in 1724 by a Spanish soldier, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst the Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region. It was also under brief British rule in 1807, Montevideo hosted all the matches during the first FIFA World Cup. Montevideo is the seat of the headquarters of Mercosur and ALADI, Latin America’s leading trade blocs. Montevideo has consistently rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America. As of 2010, Montevideo was the 19th largest city economy in the continent, in 2015, it has a GDP of $40.5 billion, and a per capita of $24,400. It is classified as a Beta World City, ranking seventh in Latin America, by 2014, is also regarded as the tenth most gay-friendly city in the world, first in Latin America. It is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay as well as its chief port, the city is also the financial and cultural hub of a larger metropolitan area, with a population of around 2 million. There are several explanations about the word Montevideo, all agree that Monte refers to the Cerro de Montevideo, the hill situated across the Bay of Montevideo, but there is disagreement about the etymological origin of the video part. Monte vide eu is the most widespread belief but is rejected by the majority of experts, who consider it unlikely because it involves a mix of dialects. This is the oldest Spanish document that mentions the promontory with a similar to the one that designates the city. With the passing of time, these words were unified to Montevideo, no conclusive evidence has been found to confirm this academic hypothesis nor can it be asserted with certainty which were the other five mounts observable before the Cerro. Ovidio was the bishop of the Portuguese city of Braga, where he was always revered. Between 1680 and 1683, Portugal founded the city of Colonia do Sacramento in the region across the bay from Buenos Aires and this city met with no resistance from the Spanish until 1723, when they began to place fortifications on the elevations around Montevideo Bay. On 22 November 1723, Field Marshal Manuel de Freitas da Fonseca of Portugal built the Montevieu fort, a Spanish expedition was sent from Buenos Aires, organized by the Spanish governor of that city, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala. There was also one significant early Italian resident by the name of Jorge Burgues, a census of the citys inhabitants was performed in 1724 and then a plan was drawn delineating the city and designating it as San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo, later shortened to Montevideo. The census counted fifty families of Galician and Canary Islands origin, more than 1000 indigenous, mostly Guaraní, in 1776, Spain made Montevideo its main naval base for the South Atlantic, with authority over the Argentine coast, Fernando Po, and the Falklands
18.
Richard Bloomfield
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Richard Bloomfield is an English professional male tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and reached a world ranking of 176 in March 2007. Bloomers, as he is known to the world, is from the small Norfolk village of Alpington. Bloomfield won the 2001 British Junior Tennis Championships, defeating Alex Bogdanovic in the final and he also won the equivalent doubles title with Ken Skupski. He played his first senior tennis that year, losing to future French Open finalist Robin Söderling in the draw for the Bolton Challenger. He continued to play doubles and singles on the futures and challenger tours and his first full ATP tournament was the 2003 Wimbledon mens singles as a wild card, in which he lost in the first round to Anthony Dupuis. Arguably his most successful season to date came in 2006, when he reached the round at Wimbledon. Bloomfields unexpected victory was investigated by ATP officials concerned about betting patterns, Bloomfield also won two futures tournaments in 2006, reached the semi-final of Rennes Challenger, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and a further three doubles semi-finals of the Challenger tour. Early 2007 saw him reach his first ever Challenger singles final and it was shortly after this that Bloomfield achieved his highest ranking to date of 176. Bloomfield also reached two further doubles Challenger finals and, partnering Jonathan Marray, made the round of the mens doubles at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. In 2008 he recorded his highest doubles ranking, of 172, bloomfields ranking fell over 2008 and 2009, despite qualifying for the 2008 Artois Championships and the 2009 Open 13, his first successful qualifications for ATP tournaments. Here, Bloomfield achieved his first wins on the ATP Tour since Wimbledon in 2006 and this included a win over world number 56, Santiago Giraldo, before losing to Mardy Fish by a score of 7–6, 6–4. His season finished early, however, when he aggravated his injury during a tournament in France in September 2010. In 2011 Bloomfield continued to play in Futures tournaments, as well as qualifying for two tournaments on the Challenger tour, at the 2011 Championships, however, Bloomfield lost in the first round to Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Subsequently, Bloomfield returned to competing predominantly in the Futures tour, in 2014 he moved to competing on the AEGON British Tour, dropping out of the ATP rankings in 2015 before securing a place in the Wimbledon qualifying draw via the Wild-Card Play-Off competition. Richard Bloomfield at the Association of Tennis Professionals Richard Bloomfield at the International Tennis Federation Official website LTA Profile
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Great Britain
Wesley Moodie
Gaël Monfils
Michal Mertiňák
Danai Udomchoke
Simone Bolelli
Janko Tipsarević
Mischa Zverev
Zack Fleishman
Frédéric Niemeyer
Ivan Dodig
Arnau Brugués Davi
Matheson Klein
