Over the last few weeks, we've blogged here and there about the 2010 FIFA World Cup - and we may do so again as we enter the last week of play leading to the final match on Sunday.  So we thought it was only appropriate to share a few nuggets about the 2010 Wimbledon Championships as well. After all, we're happy to help promote the importance of physical activity - and what better inspiration than some of the world-class athletes we've recently seen on the grass courts of this Grand Slam tournament!

So here are a couple of moments sure to be remembered for quite some time:

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut’s multi-day, physically and emotionally exhausting 10+ hour match (the longest in tennis history); And what’s a Grand Slam without mention of at least one (or both) of the Williams sisters? To make it into the fourth round, younger sister Serena defeated her Slovakian opponent winning 37 of 43 service points – in fact, she won the opening set in just 18 minutes; and while we also respect Venus’ athletic prowess, one can’t forget the Tina Turner-inspired dress that she debuted on Day One of play; All England Club Top Seed Roger Federer’s first round struggle to surpass Alejandro Falla in five sets after being a mere two points from elimination; And how can we overlook Rafael Nadal?  Coming off his recent win at Roland Garros where he claimed the French Open for the fifth time, and ranked number one in the world, Nadal withstood 28 aces from opponent Robin Haase to advance to round three. And we can’t overlook his defeat of Robin Soderling (who took a medical timeout for a blister) which led to Nadal’s entry into the quarterfinals.

While we can't all play like these athletic superstars, we can recognize that playing tennis regularly is a great way to get aerobic exercise, build and tone muscles, and burn calories to boot!  In fact, according to comments from avid tennis player Dr. Gordon Blackburn, an exercise physiologist at The Cleveland Clinic’s Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute, "A 135-pound woman playing an hour of tennis can burn 330 calories during doubles and 420 calories during singles … An average-sized man playing an hour of tennis can burn about 425 calories during doubles and 600 calories during singles.”

So grab a racket and a partner and start swinging!