WIMBLEDON may not be the same without Andy Murray but there is still hope on the horizon. Not only will Braveheart be back again next year but we may just get a new Davis Cup player out of today's final.
If Andy Roddick can do the same to Roger Federer as he did to Murray, Federer's heavily pregnant wife, Mirka, may well go into labour there and then on Centre Court. The soon-to-be father will not reveal the exact day the baby is due, but Mirka's bum
p indicates that the moment is imminent. And if Fed Junior is born here, he – and Federer has said that the baby is a boy – will be eligible for a British passport and so be eligible to play Davis Cup for Britain. That would explain the knowing smiles on the face of the Lawn Tennis Association reps at Wimbledon and the slightly nervy look about the Swiss contingent.
A slave to Centre Court's rhythmGRACE JONES is back at Wimbledon. The 61-year-old diva is a regular on Centre Court – and in the champagne bar – and comes here every year both to see and be seen at the tennis.
Her love of sport is, apparently, inherited from her late father Robert W. Jones. So great was his passion for tennis that when the Reverend Jones died last year, he was buried with two tennis balls – one signed by Venus Williams and the other signed by Serena Williams – enclosed in the casket.
Tabloids tire of making a tennis racketTHE GLOOM descending on Wimbledon after Muzza went out on Friday permeated every corner of the complex.
On the media balcony – otherwise known as smokers' corner – was a member of the fourth estate bemoaning his lot to a colleague. "Now that Murray's out, we've gone from front page and back page splash and three spreads inside to eight pars on the women's final," our red-top tabloid friend sighed. And who says women's tennis doesn't sell.
Want a refund? Sorry, you're tout of luckAS THE hysteria built around Andy Murray last week and fans camped out to buy tickets for his matches, left, some were been changing hands at eye-watering prices. By the time he had won his quarter-final against Juan Carlos Ferrero, tickets to the final were being offered at £20,000 a pop. And they were going like hot cakes. Hours before Muzza's semi-final had even started, the touts were circling like sharks, looking to relieve the desperate Murray fans of large wads of cash. However, if anyone remortgaged their home in order to secure a pair of finals tickets from the dodgy looking gentleman in Wimbledon Village and, post the Scot's loss, wants their money back, tough luck. The local plod felt the tout's collar on Friday morning and you are now stuck with the most expensive ticket to an Andy Roddick match in history.
Sisters are chewing it for themselvesEVERY ATHLETE'S body is a temple but judging by the eating habits of the fit and the famous in SW19, you do wonder who is worshipping there. Roger Federer has been spotted several times at the Indian take-away in Wimbledon village, reeling away with curries and extra naan bread (Mirka clearly is still having cravings) and the ever expanding – in many ways – Williams sisters' entourage were overheard at the food outlets by Court One enthusing about that great British culinary delight – fish and chips. "Delicious," they all gushed. "Someone should open a franchise in the States." As for our very own national treasure, what did Andy Murray eat to refuel after his marathon five-setter with Stan Wawrinka on Monday night? Pasta? Sushi? Power shakes and fruit? No – his mum brought him home a pizza. Even though the chef was on his way home and the ovens had been turned off for the night, the boys at
Pizza Express in the village stoked up the charcoal embers again and produced a feast. Such is the power of Andymonium.
