Tennis memorabilia’s net worth
Tennis memorabilia is yet to reach the heady heights of football, golf, or even baseball, which means right now it is serving up some bargains. Ivan Macquisten reports
With all eyes turned to SW19 this weekend, tennis is back in the headlines, and with it a boost to its memorabilia among collectors. When Andy Murray finally lifted the Wimbledon trophy in a straights set victory over Novak Djokovic on July 7, 2013, it was the first time a British player had won the Men’s Singles final in 78 years.
Three-time winner Fred Perry had last succeeded in 1936. The public reaction clearly demonstrated that, like England in the World Cup, this was not just a matter of sporting prowess or even national pride, it was a celebration of character and a cultural landmark.
Tennis fans are as passionate about their sport as those who follow football, cricket, or golf. When players throw sweatbands, clothing, tennis balls and the rest into the stands after Grand Slam success, the lucky people who catch them are grabbing hold of what effectively amounts to a religious relic.
Certainly, these talismans are viewed in the same way as medieval pilgrims would have considered the bones of saints: in some way they bring them closer to the individual themselves. While tennis memorabilia in general may not have reached the heady heights of prices achieved by other sports, they can do very well indeed.
Tennis top scorers
As with other sports and entertainment memorabilia, the more personal an item and the more closely associated it is with one of the greats, the higher the value will be.
These days, in tennis, that means anything linked to the three great male players of the past quarter of a century: Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, as well as their female equivalents over the past 50 to 60 years: Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Billie Jean King.
Smash hits
What can fans expect to pay for the top items? The iconic black shirt worn by Rafa Nadal during his historic 2010 US Open victory sold for just over $33,000 in April this year. The Surrey auction house Ewbank’s, which held a tennis memorabilia auction on June 24, as this year’s Wimbledon tournament got under way, sold Andre Agassi’s Lawn Tennis Championship semi-finalist Bronze Medal from the 2000 championships in 2024 for £7,150. The sale also featured a Roger Federer signed headband (£780). Just as guitars played by the most successful rock musicians are the must-have for collectors, so tennis racquets used in Grand Slam finals are the zenith of collectables for tennis fans.
A racquet Roger Federer used during his second successful Wimbledon run in 2004 sold in February 2025 for $100,000 – the same price as earlier paid for the racquet Nadal had used to beat Federer in the 2007 final of the French Open in Paris.
It was also the price paid for Rafa Nadal’s 2005 Roland Garros-winning shirt – an auction record for a piece of tennis clothing.
Game changer
It is generally acknowledged that the 2008 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal is the greatest tennis match ever played – and the last Wimbledon Men’s Singles final significantly affected by rain. The five-set thriller saw Nadal beat Federer 9-7 in the deciding set after Federer had been just two points from victory. (If you want to understand why Federer is the most sublime player ever, watch the video of him taking Nadal to deuce in the final game.)
The racquet Nadal clutched as he fell onto his back at the end sold for an undisclosed sum at auction for the Cure Our Kids charity run by fellow tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt later that year. Tennis highlights at Ewbank’s June sale included a pair of Novak Djokovic’s signed match-worn tennis shoes, expected to fetch £1,000-2,000. Pitched at £500-800 was a unique racquet associated with Boris Becker. The former Wimbledon champion had used the Snauwaert racquet at the age of 15 and was offered here in an ornate wood box lined with blue velvet fabric accompanied by a printed provenance signed by Becker and a photograph of the player holding a trophy aloft.
Becker confirmed the provenance after meeting with the owner of the racquet, collector Alan Chalmers, on the Players lawn of the All England Club in July 2007. He immediately recognised it as his when he saw the strange grip fabric.
Academic interest
Of more academic interest is a 1703 second edition copy of Memoires du Monsieur Le Marquis de Montbrun, by the French author Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1644–1712). The writer was known for his semi-fictional memoirs, particularly those attributed to famous figures like D’Artagnan, the real-life inspiration for Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. The novel describes how a French aristocrat swindles English players by disguising the best real tennis player in Paris as his valet. It has an estimate of £1,500-2,000.
Another historic piece appearing on the rostrum is a mezzotint engraving of the French real tennis player J.E. Barre (1802-1873), who was a world champion from 1829-1862 and paumier to Napoleon III.
The word comes from the French name for the precursor to tennis – jeu de paume – meaning “game of the palm”. A paumier was a craftsman or specialist who made equipment for the game. The engraving had a guide price of £700-1,000 at the sale.
Get with the Programme
Programmes, especially signed, can make money too and are worth holding onto.
Anything that helps fans relive the excitement and glory of their sport’s most memorable moments fits the bill.
Collectors often seek programmes from specific years, finals, or matches featuring renowned players. Programmes from the 1930s Wimbledon Championships, such as those from 1932 to 1939, have been auctioned and are considered valuable due to their age and the era they represent.
A 100-year-old programme for the Wimbledon championships finals on July 4, 1925, originally priced at one shilling, was offered at Ewbank’s for £150-250, selling for a total £312. It includes annotated results and press cuttings naming the 1925 Men’s champion as Henri Lacoste and the Women’s champion as Suzanne Lenglen, both among the legends of tennis.
Court in the Act
A remarkable archive of photographs of some of the best court-side shots ever taken from the golden era of the modern game is also likely to get fans’ pulses racing
The emergence of John McEnroe as the heir apparent to Bjorn Borg in SW19 began with the 1980 Wimbledon Final, which Borg won in five sets, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches in tennis history. The following year it was McEnroe lifting the trophy after four sets. Then came the bitter rivalry between McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, who objected to the latter’s on-court tantrums.
Next was the powerhouse that was Boris Becker. One of the best serves in tennis and the youngest Men’s Wimbledon Champion ever, winning the title unseeded in 1985 aged just 17. He went on to defend his Wimbledon title successfully the following year and won again in 1989.
Sampras held sway with seven triumphs in the 1990s – a clean sweep from 1993 to 2000 except for 1996 – while Andre Agassi was champion once, in 1992. Agassi later married Steffi Graf, one of the top five women players of all time and herself a seven-time Wimbledon champion from 1988 to 1996.
Witnessing these star-studded decades first-hand at Wimbledon was the amateur photographer and talented player Peter Robertson who worked behind the scenes at the famous court overseeing staff from court coverers to litter-pickers.
Access All Areas
Peter Robertson said: “My job gave me access to almost all areas, and I was fortunate to see all the big matches and players. As a keen (but untrained) amateur photographer, I used my privileged position at The Championships to take photographs of the players, playing and preparing for matches, including John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Chrissie Evert, Ivan Lendl, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Boris Becker, Gabriela Sabatini, and Pete Sampras.”
Robertson’s court-side snaps proved so good that the Wimbledon authorities bought many of them from him and used them for promotional material, including postcards at the tennis championships and in the Wimbledon Museum, as well as to form part of its archive.
As a talented player of the sport, Robertson’s natural knowledge gave him an understanding of when and how to take the best shots. Robertson’s collection of Wimbledon photographs, numbering several thousand in total, has never been formally valued but is probably worth a healthy five-figure sum. Contact pjrobbo@btinternet.com for more details.