This is the Tribe's daily post for discussing events in SW19. Today's Order of play can be found on this link.
Rain and then heavy showers are predicted today in the Wimbledon area, though it is hoped that these will later clear somewhat, with some sunny periods. It will probably be windy again. Where I live, a few miles away, we're getting intermittent rain right now.
On Centre Court yesterday, although it didn't rain, the light was poor for most of the day; the last match finished around eight o'clock, and even if another had been scheduled, I'm not sure that it would have been possible to finish it. Tim Henman played a second five-setter against a Spaniard, and this time went out despite the crowd's exhortations.
This morning I heard him being interviewed on BBC Radio - not about his defeat, but about the dearth of young British players coming through, with the hint that the contenders, could, frankly, make more effort. No Brits in the third round. It's a while since that happened.
The Sharapova match was mercifully fast. During the Nadal match (again, he had a lot of vocal crowd support - not just from the females present), a lady sat down next to me quite late in the proceedings. Shortly after she did so, I had the camera to my eye, Rafa bent down and began checking his socks before serving, and a young woman in the crowd behind him yelled out "Nice (insert vulgar English term for Rear Admirables)!". I was interrupted in my photographic endeavours, as my new neighbour plucked my sleeve. "What's his name?" she said. I was still snorting with laughter (I don't think Rafa understood what had just been said). Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to enquire which player she was talking about. It turned out it was "the other guy". "Werner Eschauer", I said, with proper Germanic pronunciation. "Vilma?", said she, computing how it would sound if she shouted out her support for him using a what sounded like a woman's name. I spelled it out for her. "Oh, Wilma", she said. She still looked bewildered, although she did explain to me that he was wearing borrowed clothing, was very much the underdog, and she felt sorry for him.
It being England, I suppose she did. I heartlessly continued taking pictures of Rafa. Wilma got no vocal support from my neighbour. However, his presence is a reminder that one of the great charms of the early rounds in a Slam is that there are opportunities to see quite a few players who otherwise aren't often on our radar screens.
Meanwhile, I see that although there are no Brits left in the tournament, one perennial favourite from Australia, TW's very own WARY NET RUSHA , managed not only to come through qualifying, but to convincingly put out number eleven seed Tommy Robredo to reach the third round yesterday.
-- Rosangel