It's been a wet Wimbledon to date, not because of lachrymose players wrenched by their defeats (though surely there have been those) but rather due to Mother Nature wreaking havoc in the skies above the All England Club. That said, your loyal Spin keeper takes these rain-delayed orders of play in stride and offers you a few amuse-bouches you may have missed in this first half of the fortnight:
MURRAY TALKS TO HIMSELF That might not seem anything new, but in truth, Andy Murray—the UK's great hope, now all the more hopeful after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's ousters—takes a different tack with it. ESPN The Magazine's new issue highlights a number of formidable athletes writing letters to their younger selves, ranging from Gabrielle Douglas to Abby Wambach.
EYE ON THE PRIZE America's most-tattooed tennis star, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, has been known to resort to a gimmick or two over time. The knee-high socks, the occasional wearing of basketball shoes, the funky clothes and hairstyles (and colors) ... and yesteryear's tennis-ball dress. This time she went from simple loud hues to some of the most advanced technology on the planet, documenting her Wimbledon campaign via Google Glass. (Former Indiana University basketball star Victor Oladipo, Thursday night's No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, apparently copped her style.) What's too bad for Mattek-Sands is that Glass can't keep forehands in the court for you—thus she bowed out early at SW19 to Angelique Kerber, whose shots just kept coming back.