Mama Moya, Carlos the ace of hearts!

They refused to leave the court without trying to talk to the Spaniard who had not option but to move his court-side seat.

BERRY GOOD IDEA

Mary Pierce and Mary Joe Fernandez hit upon a novel idea to beat the boredom arising out of incessant rains. They were at the press restaurant handing out strawberries to the world press yesterday afternoon.

A long queue materialised from no where but most of them seem to disappointed as the French star landed up in an innocuous black track suit, leaving her trademark tennis clothes behind. But that did not stop them gulping down the strawberries that the twosome offered.

The players have been waiting endlessly for play to begin and for those who had finished their first round matches there is a long wait ahead as the first round is yet to be completed. Pierce and Mary Joe were asked about passing time. “Listening to music and playing cards,” they said. That could have the answer from many other players as well.

FROM SIR WITH LOVE, ONLY ONCERain may have disrupted the schedule but one good thing is that Sir Cliff Richard has not been asked to sing on Centre Court, yet. Last year, he made full use of the rain break to entertain the crowd with his good old songs.

This year, however, he landed up, unannounced in the Radio Wimbledon studio when rain began knowing fully well they had hours of airtime to fill without any tennis to report. The station, funded by the All England Club, had Sir Richard for an hour.

However, the Club and Sir Richard have ruled out chances of a repeat performance on Centre Court. But the singer, who attends every day of the Championship, said: “It would be different if they drew up a contingency wet-weather plan and asked a few celebrities to put something together.”

Dressed to thrill

Martina Hingis’ clothing sponsor Sergio Tacchini has already made copies of her tight fitting Wimbledon dress and put it on sale in Harrods and other major London stores. According to the manufacturers, “she is the best player in the world, which is all that matters, and she looks lovely as well.” John McEnroe, however, terms it as `scary’ that a 16-year-old has become the world No 1. He feels that it will not help sustain interest in the game which, he thinks, has been diminishing over the years.<