ATP
Wimble-dine? Not at this price!
THE cost of attending Wimbledon just keeps on rising.
The price of a Pimms at a tent on Henman Hill was an eye watering £11.20 a glass.
A bottle of Lanson Le Black Label Brut Champagne came in at £87. That’s $110 US – a bottle.
And some food to enjoy with that glass of very expensive champers?
At a seafood bar onsite, caviar is £30 ($38.00) a spoonful, whilst a while a seafood platter consisting of crab and salmon and cream cheese comest at £70 ($89.00)
Plant-based ‘vegan friendly’ option for cream is also available with strawberries. A couple of berries and a dollop of whatever this non-cream is, for £2.50 ($3.18).
A beer will set you back £7.55 (almost ten bucks) and a gin and tonic £10 ($12).
Looking for a souvenir? They’ve got you there as well.
£135 ($171) for a Ralph Lauren polo shirt that will cost little more than a ten pounds in a far east sweat shop to produce and £39 ($50) for a Wimbledon towel.
As for tickets…
A seat on centre court on days one or two will cost you costs £80 ($101), but that increases as the tournament progresses. A minimum of £255 (324) for the men’s and women’s finals.
One positive, fans can bring their own drinks, with a limit of one bottle of wine or champagne (750ml) or two cans of beer (500ml) or two cans of premixed aperitifs per person. No spirits.
DEFENDING champion Elena Rybakina has given her verdict on Wimbledon’s new underwear rule change that allows players to play in darker shorts, as a good idea.
For many years Wimbledon has enforced a strict all-white rule for the event.
And the rule has been strictly enforced as nothing from caps to underwear could be anything but white.
But for women, it often created some unease, especially during times of the month.
And after years of campaigning, the rules have been relaxed to allow players to wear coloured underwear.
WTA Council member Victoria Azarenka has praised the move calling it an important step.
“I think it’s good to have an option. But the same time I was also fine with all white,” Rybakina said.
“We still have the same tradition to be in full white. It’s just maybe little adjustment. Overall I think it’s good, yeah.”
But why was Jannik Sinner allowed to take a coloured Gucci bag onto the Centre Court, as part of new relaxed rulings?
PIC OF THE WEEK 1: When royalty meets royalty. The Princess of Wales with Roger Federer (and wife Mirka) at Wimbledon on week one.
WILL someone tell William John Ward what a ‘dick’ he is.
Who? The Just Stop Oil eco-terrorist who ran on to court 18 at Wimbledon on Wednesday complaining that the end of the world was nigh.
Flinging jigsaw pieces and confetti onto the ground, Ward, a retired engineer, should know better.
But, dressed in clothing created because of oil derivatives, this idiot said he ‘didn’t want to make a racket’ – no pun intended.
Yet he did, saying that right now, millions of people are being forced outside of the conditions necessary to support human life.
Fact: Life expectancy around the world has grown massively over the last 100 years.
Normally retirement brings travel, gardening, visiting stately homes.
Not for Ward, or retired teacher Deborah Wilde and retired musician Simon Miltner-Edwards, who invaded the same court on Tuesday.
All have been charged with what the police said was ‘aggravated trespass and criminal damage’.
Perhaps a spell of retirement behind bars might wake these idiots up.
And Wimbledon’s air-tight security measures?
THIS has to be the weirdest Wimbledon story of the week. An advertisement on the London Underground has caused a stir with Andy Murray as it unintentionally featured his groin and genitalia.
Having a metal hip, Murray has gone from potentially ending his career to continuing towards the highest level.
Castore, his main kit sponsor, released the x-ray of his metal hip which some have noted features his private bits!
It shows the 36-year-old’s metal hip crucially on one side with the caption: “Better Never Stops” as a note to his return.
It features his pelvic bone, bottom vertebrae and upper leg. But some eagle-eyed watchers also spotted the x-rated bits.
Did Castore know? Or perhaps they saw it as talking point that would generate more brand publicity.
AND this has to be the oddest story from a player…
Aussie Daria Saville, who was playing Katie Boulter in that match interrupted by the eco-terrorist and his confetti, said she was subjected to some English fans trying to put her off.
“These guys at the back were like making farting noises, that was very distracting. That really annoyed me, drove me nuts and I’ve got freaking ADHD,” Saville said.
“I did make a complaint but what they were doing was so subtle. Or maybe they weren’t being subtle, maybe they weren’t all there. I tried not to look at them, I wasn’t sure, maybe they have a disability.
“I put my towel down and they were talking to me saying, ‘oh good luck’, they were being sarcastic. Katie won the point and they say ‘good try’. I assume they were British, I don’t think the Aussies would be doing that to distract me.”
WIMBLEDON WTF moment…
Why was Britain’s ‘hypocrite general’, former soccer star Gary Lineker, chairing an environmental panel discussion at Wimbledon last week?
Lineker, a multi-millionaire TV presenter, who flies around the world first class, and drives expensive gas-guzzling cars, supported the Just Stop Oil protesters, who disrupted play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Does he have any scientific qualifications to warrant such a role? No.
CONGRATS to former World No.1 Ash Barty, who gave birth to a son, Hayden, during the week.
Barty’s husband, golfer Garry Kissick, announced Hayden’s birth in an Instagram post today, saying: “Our beautiful boy … Welcome to the world, Hayden!”
Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suárez Navarro and Johanna Konta were among the first to congratulate her.
“Congratulations mama!” Azarenka wrote. “All the best to you guys.”
ELINA Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who welcomed daughter Skai to the world last October, posted images of their new ‘family’ on social media last week.
Svitolina returned to the sport during the clay season and the images on the post included two mirror selfies taken eight months apart, with Svitolina posing with daughter Skai as a month old infant and an eight-and-a-half month old toddler.
ONE to watch? Some think so. Brit Jan Choinski, born in Germany to a Polish father and English mother, is currently world no. 164 and appeared at Wimbledon for the first time.
Fitness freak Choinski realised last week he consumes 5500 calories a day.
“I eat a lot of carbs and keep it healthy,” he said.
GST is reliably informed his daily intake is the same as the World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper.
And his mum, from the southern city of Southampton, was a ballet dancer.
PIC OF THE WEEK 2: Is it finally the end for much-loved Venus Williams?
Alexander Zverev cooled the jets of a teenaged tearaway on Tuesday, schooling Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to power to his fifth career semi-final at the French Open.
The world No. 3 German finished runner-up in Paris two years ago and is still seeking his first trophy at one of the majors.
Zverev has been a consistent presence at the business end of the event here, figuring iin five of the past six semis.
But the achievement doesn’t amount to much for the seed, who has his eye on the big prize.
“I want to keep going. I don’t really care so much about a semi-final,” he said. “I want to win all the matches in front of me.
“Today was a tough test against a good player – that’s it for now.”
The 29-year-old who becomes the ninth man to play five Paris semi-finals, got away slowly as the 19-year-old Jodar showed his intentions with an early break..
But the seed began turning the tables on his young opponent while trailing 5-2 in the opening set after dropping serve in the eight-minute opening game.
Jodar’s unravelling began as he served for the first set leading 5-4 but was unable to close it out.
From then on, Zverev was in control.
The German won the opener in a tiebreaker and dominated the second to claim that chapter also.
In the third, he broke the fading youngster in the first and last games of the set
before closing out the win with a running forehand down the line on match point.
“He had perfect rhythm in the first set and I didn’t,” the winner said. “I was playing too short and too defensive.
“The ball was also not bouncing as high as it did in (last week’s) heat, I had to flatten out my shots.
“He outplayed me at the beginning of the first, but I managed to come back.
he seemed a bit nervous when he served for (the set).
“I took my chances, it was a good match for me.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev in control at Roland Garros – by ATPTour.com
Matteo Berrettini took Italian revenge on Monday against the Argentine who knocked out Jannik Sinner with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) fourth-round demolition of Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the French Open.
Former top 10 player Berrettini, now mended after several seasons of intermittent injury absences sent the South American packing in a solid clay display.
The Italian saved three Cerundolo set points in the third-set tiebreaker, with Berrettini claiming a match point on an inside-out forehand, and following up with a serve winner..
“I feel great,” Berrettini said. “I’m happy with the support in a full stadium.
“This is why we train and fight, I’m enjoying the atmosphere with my team and family.”
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime booked the last eight as he put out another South American in Canadian-born Chilean AlejandroTabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
FAA becomes the first Canadian man to complete the set of quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The 30-year-old Berretini from Rome is competing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021 when he also reached the last eight here.
The current No. 105 is the lowest-ranked men’s quarter-finalist in Paris since in 2007.
Cobolli lost his first set of the tournament as he ran up against an American with negligible experience on clay, defeating Zach Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).
The 10th-seeded Italian’s victory put him into his second Grand Slam and his first in Paris.
“I was a little bit nervous to close the match today,” the winner said. “It means a lot, this tournament, for me.
“Sometimes it’s not easy when you have to close, especially when you are up in the score like I was today.
“But also Zachary played a really good match today after the second set… tennis is like this. At the end, I was happy, and that’s the important thing.”
Svajda came to the major with only one career match win on clay. He began correcting that in the third round by beating Francisco.Cerundolo.
Cobolli cruised through the first two sets but his perfect set record took a dent in the third as Svajda forced a tiebreaker and saved a match point after closing the Italian’s 5-1 lead and forcing a tiebreaker.
It took a tiebreak fourth set to settle the outcome after more than three and a quarter hours.
Alexander Zverev stayed on track for a possible fourth Grand Slam final as the highest seed remaining in the men’s draw at the French Open moved efficiently into the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The German who has finished runner-up at the Australian and US Open plus Roland Garros, defeated qualifying lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
With this week’s second-round losses by world No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic, Zverev could have one of his best chances at lifting a major trophy.
The 29-year-old reached his eighth Roland Garros quarter-final as he beat his Dutch opponent on de Jong’s 26th birthday.
He needed a tiebreak to secure the opening set but picked up momentum before crushing it in the third set to get off court in a relatively quick two and a quarter hours.
“I had some early difficulties but he started well,” the winner said. “But once I found my rhythm I felt comfortable on the court.
“That is important for my game. It’s (his game) is there, I just have to show it on the match court.”
With the recent 10-day heatwave now gone, temperatures dropped into the mid-20s Celsius, which should make for more comfortable conditions.
But Zverev is not so sure: “To be honest, I like the heat, I prefer it. My ball flies a lot faster through the air and opponents struggle a bit more.
“I also spend a lot of time in Florida so I’m used to the heat. But we have to make the best of it, things can change within one day.”
Zverev will bid for the semi-finals in a matchup against Rafael Jodar, the prodigy who won an all-Spanish fourth-rounder 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The fightback took nearly three and three-quarter hours and put the 19-year-old into his first last-eight spot in only his second Grand Slam appearance.
He has reached the last eight here for a sixth straight year.
Jodar, ranked No. 707 a year ago, is the fifth man this century to reach the quarters in his main draw debut at the event.
The youngster made a 4-1 start in the opening set but soon found himself in a five-set dogfight against a 34-year-old dealing with a shoulder injury.
The winner of a clay title in March has now taken victory in 19 of his last 22 matches.
“He’s young and incredibly talented,” Zverev said of his next opponent. “He came onto the clay scene in two months.
“He will be a difficult challenge but I’ll be ready for it.”
Main photo:- Favourite Alexander Zverev wins third round match – by ATPTour.com
Roland Garros 2026 Men’s Day 10
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