I said earlier in the week that I spotted either Roger Federer or his body double outside Wimbledon station, doing a mini-exhibition of something vaguely tennis-like. Yesterday he was still there. I got a closer look this time, and it definitely was the elusive Federer-bird, sans long trousers, vest or jacket. Anything to keep his eye in when lacking match-practice! He was, as far as I could tell, hitting with some local young people on that tiny court area. Today's photo has been dredged from the archives, and shows what he looked like the last time he was sighted within the hallowed borders of the All England Club.
I was seated on Centre Court yesterday, courtesy of vastly expensive tickets secured by my friend, which in theory were for the men's quarterfinals. Lately I haven't followed the women's game with much intensity, so in one sense I was there under protest - there are never any guarantees with such tickets, but the disappointment was another consequence of the rain-related organisational problems that plaguing this year's Wimbledon. The crowd was fun, though - plenty of support for all of the women there. Mass laughter at some of the shriekathons that took place during the Venus-Maria match. And the Justine-Serena match had all the drama I could have hoped for in a meeting between these two - their third this year, after their head-to-head went cold for a while. One tiny thing I noticed as the players were leaving the court - after the first match, it was the loser, Sharapova, who stopped to sign autographs on the way out; Justine was the sole signer of autographs after her win.
This is to be used as your daily post for discussing the tennis in SW19. The Order of Play for the day can be found here.The BBC is now forecasting light showers in the Wimbledon area, so we may see a few interruptions to play yet again.
For the Nadal obsessives among you, my photos taken of Rafa during his match with Soderling on Monday can be found on this link. My personal favourite is the one that might have been titled "Why the hail are you pointing that thing at me?". Some pictures of the ladies on Centre Court yesterday can be found here. -- Rosangel