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Radio 5 Live,1 min

Tracy Austin: ‘I’m a Wimbledon towel offender’

5 Live In Short

Available for over a year

Former women’s tennis world number one Tracy Austin has admitted she is “an offender” when it comes to ‘collecting’ towels from Wimbledon. Top players are becoming known for taking home the official towels from the tournament as mementos. Tracy said: “Novak Djokovic has talked about leaving half a suitcase for the towels that he takes, and he has won over $100 million! It’s such a commodity in the sport, you need an authentic Wimbledon towel.” The tournament only gets back a quarter of the 6,000 towels that they produce each year, with players such as Venus Williams admitting owning towels dating back as far as 1997. In an effort to halt a new generation of towel connoisseurs, juniors are now only given plain white towels when they ask for another one. “You’ve got a little bit of Wimbledon back in your home – and that’s what’s so special,” added the former grand slam winner. This clip is originally from 5 live Breakfast on Monday 4 July 2016.

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