Tennis players: Pat Cash

The Aussie’s love affair with London property began in the mid-1980s. He first bought a two-bedroom flat in Fulham in 1984, for £75,000, then traded up to a semi-detached corner house in Queensmill Road the year he won Wimbledon as a still raw 21-year-old, in 1987.

Ever since, the Australian has been a presence in the nation’s capital both professionally and personally. His pithy and perceptive commentary is a feature of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage and he also fronts CNN’s Open Court programme.

An old-fashioned serve-volleyer, he earned just $1,950,345 as a player, a figure that would have been far higher had injury not intervened.

But few Grand Slam winners have so successfully transferred their talents to the small screen, newspapers and latterly the business of international tennis centres.

In his early 20s, Cash had two children with his then girlfriend, Norwegian model Anne-Britt Kristiansen, and another two with his Brazilian wife Emily, before they eventually divorced in 2002.

Soon after, he sold the five-bed family home in Fulham for about £875,000. The exact location of his current home is shrouded in secrecy but rumour has it he still resides on one of the so-called Alphabet streets, possibly Stevenage Road, just off Fulham Palace Road, to be near his ex-wife and kids.

Five-bedroom houses in this popular stretch start at £1m, but can easily go up to £3m. The story goes that Cash, a grandfather since May this year, has knocked two properties into one, so his home could be worth substantially more than he ever won on the tennis circuit.