1973: When Virginia and Roger flew flag for Britain

THE last time Britain had both a man and woman in Wimbledon’s quarter finals was in 19 3, when Roger Taylor and Virginia Wade made the last eight.

Taylor beat Sweden’s Bjorn Borg in the quarter final before losing to Czech Jan Kodes, who later beat Soviet Alex Metreveli in the final.

When Taylor beat Borg schoolgirls ran on to the court and asked the Swedish player for his autograph.

Police cleared the court while ground staff straightened the turf and checked for heel marks. Wade lost her last eight tie to Australian Evonne Goolagong.

Meanwhile the women’s final saw Billie-Jean King defeat fellow American Chris Evert in straight sets.

The winner of the men’s title that year was handed £5,000 in prize money, while the women’s champion got just £3,000. This year the men’s and women’s champions will each get £2.2 million.

Andy Murray and Johanna Konta’s achievement yesterday is all the more impressive because in 19 3 more than 80 players boycotted the tournament. The newly formed Association of Tennis Professionals instructed the male players not to compete following the suspension of Yugoslav Nikki Pilic for refusing to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country.

Rain on the second Friday also meant both the men’s and women’s finals had to be played on the Saturday.

The first Post Office Telephone Information Service was started that year, and received 450,000 calls from tennis fans desperate to know the latest scores. Away from tennis, it was the year that the UK entered the European Economic Community, which would eventually become the European Union.

Rising inflation, industrial disquiet and an international oil crisis saw the government impose electricity rationing on businesses, leading to the three-day week.

And the first episode in what was to be the start of the longest running TV sitcom in history was aired. A pilot episode – Of Funerals and Fish – launched Last of the Summer Wine.