If you would like to see the 'terracotta' warrior figures of the tennis players please note that they are NOT to be found in the Museum but are located on the route of the tour of the grounds.
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The complete set of Chinese ‘Terracotta’ Tennis Warriors featuring the world’s top eight male tennis players, who competed in the Tennis Masters Cup, Shanghai, November 2007, will go on parade from Thursday 10 January at the All England Club, Wimbledon, home of the multi-award winning Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. 

The Museum’s Wimbledon Tour which already offers a fascinating insight into life behind the scenes at the world’s premier tennis event, will now also give visitors a last opportunity to see all eight of the impressive seven-foot statues in one place. 

The statues of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez and Richard Gasquet are scheduled to be on display at the Club until March 2008.   Thereafter they will be given to each respective player.

The Museum, itself, houses the iconic Championships’ trophies, the story-telling ‘ghost’ of John McEnroe, interactive archive footage of Wimbledon’s greatest players and matches and a 200˚ 3-D cinema featuring an amazing film on The Science of Tennis taken during a Championships match on Centre Court.  The outfits worn by Jamie Murray and Jelena Jankovic during their entertaining triumph in the Mixed Doubles Championship 2007 have also recently gone on display.  

The Terracotta Tennis Warriors were created for the Tennis Masters Cup, Shanghai, in November 2007 by French sculptor Laury Dizengremel and her team consisting of Shen Xiaonan and Zhang Yaxi. They worked closely with the tennis stars, measuring their faces and taking photographs in order to recreate accurately their busts in clay, which were than added to the huge bodies. 

The arrival of the Tennis Terracotta Warriors at Wimbledon gives visitors a foretaste of the Tennis Masters Cup, which will be coming to London's O2 Arena in 2009.

Five-times Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion Roger Federer, said:  "These sculptures bring together culture and sport and to have the opportunity to be sculpted as a Terracotta Warrior was a lot of fun.  I am really pleased that they are all now on display at Wimbledon."

Honor Godfrey, Curator of Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, said:  “The Terracotta Tennis Warriors are a brilliant concept and we are really pleased that following Shanghai, the Wimbledon Tour will be the only opportunity to see them at their most impressive - namely all together in one place.” 

Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive of the All England Club, added:  “The sculptures of the Terracotta Tennis Warriors are a unique part of living tennis history and will be a wonderful additional attraction on the Wimbledon Tour.” 

Hosting the Terracotta Tennis Warriors is another high-point for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and Tour, and follows double success at the recent Visit London Awards.  The Museum won a gold award in the category of ‘Best Tourism Experience 2007’ and a bronze ‘Accessible Tourism Award’. 

The Blue Badge Wimbledon Tour explores the renowned Championships’ grass courts, the Players’ Complex, the Press Interview Room and the Broadcasting Centre and is available year round (except 24-26 December and 1 January).  Booking is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment (www.aeltc.com/museum).  

For up-to-date information visit www.wimbledon.org/museum or call 00 44 (0)208 946 6131.

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The original Terracotta Warriors are symbolic of China's history and a number are currently on display at London’s British Museum in an exhibition comprising the largest collection of the Terracotta Army shown outside China.

The Terracotta Army was originally buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC and it is believed to have taken some 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete.  The Army was only rediscovered in 1974 and 8,099 figures have since been unearthed around the Emperor's  tomb. 

The Eight Terracotta Tennis Warriors depict the eight players who played in the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

Visitors will be able to see the statues as part of the Museum's Wimbledon Tour until March 2008.

Players featured include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic.



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