Delighting female fans by throwing his used headbands into the crowd, master of the serve-and-volley game Pat Cash combined tennis with sex appeal - game, set and match.

Charming fans when he climbed into the stands to embrace his family after his 1987 Wimbledon win, he will be serving up his wisdom on TV and radio at this year’s championships, which start on June 30.

Laughing, as he recalls his victory clamber, dubbed the ‘Pat Cash Climb,’ so many winners have since replicated his move through the stands that a gate has been added to ease their path.

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“I would like that gate to be named after me,” he jokes. “That would make sense. Maybe it should have a plaque commemorating my original climb back in '87!”

While his agility may be depleted with age - he now qualifies for his free bus pass after turning 60 two weeks ago - Pat is still winning, although these days it’s in love.

Happily dating singer Charlotte Hodson, 53, he tells The : “I don’t know if we’ll go down the marriage route, but she’s the love of my life that’s for sure. It’s taken me all these years to find the woman of my dreams. Not that the other women weren’t fantastic, but she’s very special.”

Touring a part tennis and part music show with her band, Chocolate Charlie, called The Pat Cash Experience, he is also coaching and finishing a coaching book, saying: “I don’t feel like I’m 60, except when I go for a run and my hip plays up, or on a tennis court I think, ‘Oh no, this is not much fun’.

“But these things are bound to happen when you’ve played 40 years of professional sport.”

And his own aches and pains mean he’s always got something to talk about with his chum .

“Whenever I see Andy Murray, we talk about wounded parts,” says Pat, referring to their injuries. “I call Andy ‘the Warrior’, and I think he likes that. I say ‘How are you going, Warrior?’ I’m a bit that way too - an old, beaten-up warrior, still going.

“Despite loads of injuries, seven surgeries on my right knee and five on my left, I’ve always come back to full fitness, but that probably won’t happen now. I’m not young any more.”

Born Patrick Hart Cash in Melbourne, , where there’s now a bronze bust of him on a plinth, he’s lived in London since 1985. His two older children, Daniel and Mia, live in their mother Anne-Britt’s native Norway and are parents to Pat’s four grandchildren.

And his twin boys, Jett and Shannon, from his marriage to Emily, who’s Brazilian, live in the USA.

Amiable and easygoing, while Pat’s public image is of a happy, relaxed bloke, injuries - which forced him into retirement from professional tennis at 32 - have made him susceptible to depression in the past.

This is one of the reasons why, despite being a hit as tartan-clad bagpipes in The Masked Singer in 2022, he has repeatedly turned down approaches to join I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

“I’m not sure I’m capable of doing the jungle,” he says. “The reality is I’m not a particularly social person. I like my friends, but I find a lot of people quite annoying….and the whole point of that programme is to put annoying people together with you.

“I’ve done really well this last year or so, but I have had bad bouts of anxiety and depression in my lifetime and I didn’t want to be locked in somewhere for a few weeks.

“They want you in that stressful situation - hungry, tired, angry and anxious. I just didn’t think that was safe for me. It would have to be literally life-changing money before I could consider it. “

As for Strictly, he says: “Strictly gave up on me. I’m actually really shy and I don’t like doing that sort of stuff, but singing behind a mask interested me. That was a great experience.”

Tennis has given Pat access to a very special social circle - which has even included .

He says: “I met her quite a few times. She was at the Wimbledon final in '87.

“She was a decent player and I had a hit with her at The Harbour Club (in London’s Chelsea) about six to nine months before she passed away.

“We sat and had a chat about things. She was a lovely person, very friendly, but she seemed a bit trapped in her lifestyle and I walked away feeling a bit sad for her.”

Pat also speaks supportively of .

He says: “I know Harry and Meghan are getting a hard time now, but it’s not worth your mental wellbeing - people cannot away from you. I give the thumbs-up to Harry. He must do what he feels is right for him and his family.”

The sporting legend boasts pop music royalty among his circle, too.

A pal of Kylie Minogue’s, he says: “I haven’t seen Kylie much in recent years but she’s always been lovely. There’s a bit of a group of us (friends), also including Elle MacPherson and Jason Donovan. But I’ve never watched Neighbours!”

While Pat has had moments when he’s fancied the idea of being a rock star, he says his Wimbledon win is better than any hit record.

He says: “If you win Wimbledon you’ve proved yourself the best there is at that time and nobody can deny you that.”

Taking tennis very seriously, he feels disappointed by the current bad boy of tennis, who’s also Australian, saying: “It’s so frustrating when you see players like Nick Kyrgios, who you know are so talented, but they’re just wasting their talent.“

And he prefers the tennis of his era to the game as it is now.

He says: “A lot of the men’s tennis is exceptional. It’s really really good. None of them volley as well as the players in my era, but that’s about the only part of the game they’re not as good at.

“They’re bigger, they’re taller, they hit the ball harder, they've got different racquets and strings and they can keep the rallies going forever.

“Obviously Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are just phenomenal athletes, physically and mentally, to be able to keep that level up.

“But I do prefer the variety of the 1980s - every player had a different style and technique. Now unfortunately it’s got a little bland.”

Pat, who wants to drum up interest in a TV series based around the top players from his era, has not ruled out a return to Oz.

“London is a great base and the Brits are lovely people, but I don’t like the direction the UK is heading and don’t be surprised if I leave in a few years,” he says. “My Mum is very elderly now - she’s 93 and very fragile.”

But, while he may not have any imminent marriage plans, it’s clear he won’t be doing anything without considering Charlotte.

While he jokes: “Never let marriage get in the way of a good relationship,” he says of his partner: “She’s a mother of two, she has her own band, and is also a therapist.

“She cooks, she does everything. She never stops. She’s Wonder Woman to me.”

*The Pat Cash Experience is at Gerrards Cross Lawn Tennis Club on June 14.