To help you know your ace from your elbow, Mark Sylvester has the low-down on the new knights of the court

Every June the leafy London suburb of SW19 becomes the focus of world wide sporting attention. Hundreds of young men and women, who are experts in the second best use of cat gut (just ask any cat for his opinion on the best), descend on the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. They all have high hopes of carrying off the most prestigious silverware on the tennis circuit. But who are these racquet-wielding warriors in white airtex?

Lleyton Hewitt
Age: 21. Height: 5ft 11in. Weight: 10st 5lb. Singles titles: 15. Tournament earnings: $7,081,509. Seeded: 1
There are some who believe this Adelaide-born big-hitter was named after an Australian slang for being sick, but we cannot confirm this. Lleyton first started hitting balls across a grass court in his back garden at the age of four. Concerned for his safety, his father Glynn, a former player of Australian Rules football (a vicious form of soccer), called in a coach. Glynn is quoted as saying: 'If he was going to bash his balls, it was best he learned to bash them correctly.'
When newspapers reported that Lleyton was being linked with Kim Clijesters his parents immediately worried that he was being held responsible for the outbreak of a rather nasty anti-social disease. They were relieved to learn Kim is a Flemish tennis star.

Marat SafinAge: 22. Height: 6ft 4in. Weight: 13st 13lb. Singles titles: 10. Tournament earnings: $7,574,054. Seeded 2.
Moscow-born Marat has lived in Spain since the age of 13, when his mother Rausa realised Russia's run-down tennis facilities - not enough nets, courts in de-commissioned nuclear reactors etc - were never going to be good enough for her son. She dreamt of little Marat making it to the number 1 spot and earning enough money to buy a small former-Soviet republic. Marat had begun playing at his local Spartak club aged five alongside Anna Kournikova. While Anna's tennis never really improved, Marat has become a real contender, making it to last year's Wimbledon quarter-final. He recently fell foul of sports manufacturers Head when he played with one of their racquets, painted over with his then sponsor Dunlop's logo. They're all friends again now, and Marat is back playing with Head.

Andre Agassi
Age: 32. Height: 5ft 11in. Weight: 12st 2lb. Singles titles: 52. Tournament earnings: $24,503,219. Seeded: 3.
Andre is now one of the elder statesmen of the tennis circuit, winning Wimbledon way back in 1992 when Tim Henman was still a schoolboy and his mother cut his hair. Er, wait a minute.
Andre has also made it to the Wimbledon quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals three times. He turned pro at 16, and by 18 was ranked 4th in the world, famous for his flowing locks, which earned him lucrative contracts with shampoo companies. Then he went bald.
In 1997 Andre married actress Brooke Shields and, completely coincidentally, suffered a wrist injury. His form went into free fall, his weight went up, and he soon found himself ranked 141st. Something had to give, and in April 1999 he filed for divorce from Brooke on the grounds that he had meant to marry Tatum O'Neill.Now married to Steffi Graff, who has his former hair, Andre is back in the big time.

Tim Henman
Age: 27. Height: 6ft 1in. Weight: 12st 2lb. Singles titles: 9. Tournament earnings: $7,669,693. Seeded: 4.
'Tiger' Tim is more of your Tigger variety than your stealthy jungle predator. Definitely one of Britain's greatest ever players - though the phrase 'one-eyed man in the land of the blind' springs to mind. Having said that the partisan Wimbledon crowd always give Tim a boost, and this favourite of ladies-who-like-making-sponge-cakes has made it to the quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals three times. Tim's a Virgo, whatever that means, and plays with a Slazenger Phantom Braided, whatever that means. Tennis is in his genes, and his grandfather Henry Billington reached the third round at Wimbledon in 1948, 1950, and 1951.Since marrying Lucy in December 1999 Tim has become a more consistent performer, although he still needs to improve his first serve and claims he has been working on his toss.
If he wants to cut it at the highest level he must stop wearing tank tops.