John Newcombe defied doctor's orders by playing at Wimbledon, three months after suffering a mild stroke.

Newcombe, 58, says he has almost completely recovered, regaining full motor skills in his right hand and foot and full use of his mouth.

He had no worries about taking to the court for the oldies' doubles with Owen Davidson to play Anand and Vijay Amritaj from India, apart from suffering a 6-2 6-2 loss.

But his kinesiologist - a medical specialist using muscle testing to evaluate his neurological functions - was horrified by his plans.

"Fortunately (my brain) didn't bleed too bad so I was only left with a few things," Newcombe told BBC television.

"I was only mildly affected, a little bit in the bottom lip and the tongue, some motor skills in my right hand and my right foot, but they've come back okay.

"But I was going to my kinesiologist for treatment about three weeks ago and I said, 'oh yeah, I've got to get ready to play at Wimbledon'

"She said, 'You're not playing there!' I said, 'yeah, I'm going to play'.

"I'm just going to go out there and have some fun. The body's probably not 100 per cent repaired at this stage but you don't take things too seriously.

"I tend to take life as it comes and all I had to do was cut back on a few bad habits."

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