I wonder whether in England we have more ways to describe rain than the Inuit have for snow? Drizzle, downpour, spitting, rainstorm, torrent, chucking it down, shower, deluge, mizzle (OK, that last one was Scottish). Today I will be safely at home, having endured two days out of four so far at Wimbledon with more rain delays than actual play, in the knowledge that more wet weather is likely today.
As I was catching a taxi at Wimbledon station yesterday, on my way to the partial washout that was Monday, I caught sight of someone who looked very like Roger Federer. He was dressed in tennis togs, doing a mini-exhibition outside Wimbledon station, surrounded by crowds people queuing for buses and taxis to the All England Club . If it wasn't him (and I'm not 100% sure that it was - because I was already in the taxi by then), then the guy was a very good lookalike.
Arriving at the All England Club itself, major changes had taken place over the weekend to the security arrangements. The gate I normally use was shut off from the road with concrete blocks, and ticket-holders are sent another two hundred yards to a different gate, to allow bags to be searched. The newly-used gate is too narrow to allow an open umbrella through - which is, as Roger Federer might say, a pity, because most people needed all the protection they could get from the fickle elements.
I was seated on Court 1 yesterday - a great seat, right in the front row, just a few yards from the court. Close enough to identify the players' zits, if they existed (I'm not telling! My photos may - I'll post them later). As most of you will know, the only match to be played there yesterday was between Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling, and it remains unfinished. I don't know what the record for "number of warmups played" in any five-set match is, but they have played five so far, including the one on Saturday, and will play at least six, assuming that the end of this match occurs before, oh, the middle of next week. "Heavy showers" are forecast for today by the BBC in SW19, through to tomorrow. Thursday and Friday are predicted to have "light showers"; Saturday is predicted to have "drizzle".
I passed right by Richard Gasquet walking in the opposite direction as I was on the way to Court 1 yesterday - close up, he is smaller than I imagined (most tennis players seem to be), but very tanned, and nicer-looking than I had thought from seeing him on TV.
As always, this is to be used as your daily post for discussing the action at Wimbledon today. The Order of Play is here. There are few things we all agree on in TW, but I doubt that anyone will hope for anything other than some decent rain-free time for match-play, to allow the tournament to progress. -- Rosangel