INVASION OF THE ANTS
Players at the Australian and US Opens contend with their fair share of big bugs and menacing moths descending on court during the floodlit night sessions but Wimbledon took it a step further on Wednesday with swarms of flying ants wreaking havoc on all courts. The worst-affected court seemed to be Court No.18 and after his second-round victory Sam Querrey revealed his battle with the winged crusaders. What will it be tomorrow - a plague of toads feasting on the infestation?
“Never seen that before,” Querrey said. “If it got much worse, I almost wanted to stop because they were hitting you in the face when you were trying to hit balls. All over the place. I also lost a set when the ants came. If I had won that set, probably wouldn't have bugged me as much.
“I brought it up to the umpire; he kind of laughed, The flowers, the bugs, they're happy. Something like that … If it was bees or something, I'm sure they would have stopped.”
FOUR TOWELS AND TWO SW19 TRIPS FOR SOCK FAN
A tip of the cap to Jack Sock - and our fellow Grand Slam tournaments - for turning an unhappy episode on Tuesday into Wednesday’s feel-good story. After beating Christian Garin in the first round, No.17 seed Sock threw his towel in the direction of a young fan, only for a rather insistent gentleman in the front row to rip the sweaty souvenir from his hands.
“If anyone knows the kid that unfortunately had the towel ripped out of his hands, tweet his name at me and I'll be sure to get him one,” the former Wimbledon doubles champion posted on Twitter after being made aware of the incident.
Then, something brilliant happened. The US Open replied, offering one of its towels, before the Australian Open followed suit. The French Open then rounded it off with: “Happy to complete the towels Grand Slam.” To cap it off, the fan was found. The youngster had returned home to Ireland but could find himself back at The Championships later this week, as Sock invited him to one of his matches. Nice work, Jack.
RAZOR ON STANDBY FOR WATSON’S COACH
It had been a pretty dismal season for Heather Watson until she hit the grass. The Guernsey girl had slid outside the top 100 and failed to qualify for the French Open leading in. But her straight-sets upset of 18th seed Anastassija Sevastova in sweltering conditions – by London standards, at least – sent her through to the third round for just the third time. Should she overcome former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka next it would be her first appearance in the second week of a Grand Slam. There’s an added incentive to do so with her coach Morgan Phillips agreeing to shave his legs if she gets past Azarenka.
“It’s been one of my goals forever,” she said. “I made those big goals years ago. Making the second week of a slam would be huge for me. I haven’t done it before in singles. And if I do, my coach said he’d shave his head. But I said ‘No, your girlfriend will kill you. You can shave your legs’.”
MURRAY LINKS UP WITH DOUBLES QUEEN
A decade after becoming the first of the Murrays to win a slam, Jamie Murray is giving himself a red-hot chance to claim a second Wimbledon mixed doubles crown, this time with one of the most accomplished Grand Slam champions out there. In 2007 he teamed with Jelena Jankovic to get his hands on the silverware. Now he’s joining forces with 36-year-old Martina Hingis, a winner of 12 Grand Slam doubles and five mixed doubles trophies.
The pair tops the seedings and receives a first-round bye. Defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen face a tricky opener against Nenad Zimonjic and Victoria Azarenka. The Murray-Hingis pairing brings an end to Hingis’s partnership with India’s Leander Paes, with the duo having claimed four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles together.
Not your everyday request...#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/nWIli7inXu
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2017
RAFA SIGNS PROSTHETIC LEG
Rafael Nadal’s in the throes of his 49th Grand Slam campaign and has signed autographs after 217 previous match wins at the majors but it’s match win No.218 which may have just sprung the most bizarre signature request he has had yet. In the scheme of requests to sign body parts, a prosthetic leg surely takes the cake. The Spaniard had to laugh when a fan handed his fake leg, shoe intact, over on Centre Court.
“It was already off,” Nadal clarified. “I don't know if he take it off at that moment or not."
Surely, then, it was the weirdest thing the two-time champion had been asked to sign …
“Probably not (smiling),” he said.
WILLIS SHAKES UP SW19 AGAIN
OK, he may have had his heart set on another fairytale run through Qualifying for a return crack at taking on Roger Federer in the Wimbledon singles main draw, but Marcus Willis was content creating a stir in the doubles draw on Wednesday. He and fellow Brit Jay Clarke fought back from two sets down to deny Jared Donaldson and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-7(4), 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round of the Gentlemen’s Doubles. Get those shoes ready to raise again.
“It's great, I'm buzzing right now,” Willis said. “It's what you dream of when you're a player, coming back at Wimbledon, two sets down, packed crowd going crazy. It's a very, very good moment.
“[I’m] a bit sore, nothing major. Doubles is quite explosive but the rallies aren't long. Your lungs, it's easy. For your legs, it's tough... Yeah, yeah, I'm all right.”
