Royal couple in Wimbledon visit

from: Wimbledon.com

Wimbledon's magical Monday in the sunshine has become a royal occasion, with a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

HRH Prince William and his new wife Catherine were given a rapturous reception from the Centre Court crowd as they took their places in the Royal Box before the start of the match between Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet.

For the visit, the Duchess is wearing a white tiered ruffle dress with circle details on the shoulder strap. The Duke is wearing a blue suit.

It is a visit that had not been previously announced but their presence may not come as a big surprise. William has always been a keen supporter of British sport at the highest level and Catherine's family are well-known as tennis fans. Earlier this month, the Duchess's sister Pippa enjoyed a day watching the action at Queen's Club.

And the then Kate Middleton came to The Championships in a private capacity in 2008 and afterwards sent a handwritten note thanking officials who had hosted her.

The note from 2008 reads, "Dear Sir. Thank you for your kind hospitality at Wimbledon last week. My friend and I had such a fantastic time and it was great to be able to enjoy the day knowing that we could have a little peace and quite if things got a little too hectic.

"It was a wonderfully relaxed day and we even spent part of it on the 'Henman/Murray Hill', which was great fun. I really was not expecting to be looked after with such hospitality and I certainly wasn't expecting to see any of the Centre Court games. I do hope the end of the tournament runs smoothly and this fantastic weather lasts 'till the end of the week. Thank you again for making it such a fun and easy visit."

On this occasion, the Duchess will be watching the action from the Royal Box, which also includes two Kings among its guests. They are Billie Jean King, the six-time ladies' singles champion, and Sir Mervyn King, the recently knighted governor of the Bank of England.

Other guests include: F1 driver Mark Webber; Olympic rowing gold medallist Zac Purchase; Chris Kermode, the tournament director of the AEGON Championships and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals; and Tony and Jane Henman, parents of Tim Henman who enthralled many a second Monday at Wimbledon during his career.

The Duke and Duchess's presence in the Royal Box marks the second major royal visit during the 125th Championships. Last week, the Duchess of Cornwall was in the Royal Box to watch the thrilling match between Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm. Beforehand, she met six ballboys and ballgirls on the players' lawn.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands - WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party

Not only is American tennis player of Bethanie Mattek-Sands ahead of Venus Williams in the WTA rankings, she's also managed to surpass the elder Williams sister in terms of outrageous outfits. The 31st-ranked Mattek-Sands turned heads at Thursday night's Wimbledon player's party in a dress designed by Lady Gaga's designer, Alex Noble.

The neon yellow dress featured a corset with attached tennis balls, a flowing skirt and a headdress that wouldn't have been out of place at the royal wedding.

The 26-year-old was still in Eastbourne on Thursday playing in the doubles competition of the Wimbledon tuneup and had to take a helicopter to London to attend the party. An hour after landing, following a quick fitting and sit-down in the makeup chair, Mattek-Sands walked the red carpet in the inspired frock.

Mattek-Sands met with Noble twice in Madrid, once to discuss the concept for the dress and another for a fitting. "I had a blast working with him," she said. "It's the funky dress I wanted."

The hat was one of her favorite flourishes. "When you're in England you have to have some cool headwear," she said. (Princess Beatrice: "Yup.")

Mattek-Sands is seeded No. 30 at the tournament, the first time she's ever been seeded there. She said she's confident entering Wimbledon despite the fact that she hasn't had a lot of practice on grass this year.

Her outfit on the courts of the All England Club won't be as wild as it was at the player's party or in other matches thanks to Wimbledon's "almost entirely white" clothing rule (the eye black and jail stripes will be a no-no). That's not to say she doesn't have something up her sleeve, though.

"Noble designed something for me to walk out onto the court with," Mattek-Sands said.

If it's not an egg, consider me disappointed.

Latest from the Wimbledon lawns

from: Wimbledon

Lucky losers on red alert

The withdrawal of Kim Clijsters after she aggravated her ankle injury at 's-Hertogenbosch meant that 2010 semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova moved up into the top 32 and thus is one of the seeds.

In the men's draw, Sam Querrey and Benjamin Becker have been forced to withdraw, each of them suffering from elbow injuries. Their places in the main draw will be taken by lucky losers, i.e. the highest-ranked players from those defeated in the final round of qualifying. Lukasz Kubot and Flavio Cipolla, seeded No.2 and No.9 respectively, stand to benefit should they lose on Thursday, but they would obviously prefer the ranking points, prize money and of course confidence that goes with a third-round win in qualifying.

Pippa watches practice

The courts were a hive of activity on Wednesday, with dozens of players on site to practice ahead of The Championships. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had a hit at various times during the day, with Maria Sharapova also on Court 14 early in the morning.

Thomaz Bellucci and Ivo Karlovic were spotted over lunchtime, while Court 7 saw a Swiss derby, albeit a very relaxed one. Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka had a leisurely knock-up at 1 pm, with former Federer and current Wawrinka coach Peter Lundgren officiating. Up on the clubhouse balcony, avid tennis fan Pippa Middleton watched the proceedings along with Jane Henman, mother of Tim who took part in Junior Wimbledon as a youngster.

Vera ends Serena's comeback
After playing - and winning - her first match in 49 weeks at Eastbourne on Tuesday against the above-mentioned Tsvetana Pironkova, Serena Williams was halted on her comeback trail against the woman she defeated in last year's Wimbledon final. Vera Zvonareva, who will be No.2 seed at The Championships after the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, came from behind to win 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 in an epic match which lasted over three hours.
Though Serena will be disappointed to have lost, the fact that she was given such a thorough test of her capabilities can only stand her in good stead for next week, where she will be now seeded No.7.

Nadal Balks Federer for Record: 6 French Open Titles

from: MiamiTennis News

For the second consecutive day, the French Open became a part of history as Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5,7-6,5-7,6-1 to equal Bjorn Borg with six French Open titles. Nadal also became the seventh man in the exclusive club of those with 10 or more major trophies.

The last time the two clashed in a final at a major was the 2009 Australian Open. This was the twenty-fifth meeting between Nadal and Federer, their fifth at Roland Garros and their fourth final.

In 2008, Nadal blew Federer off the court 6-1,6-3,6-0. After ending Novak Djokovic’s 2011 unbeaten run at 41 matches, Federer came in rejuvenated and relaxed, it was evident in the first set.

Subsequent to guarding serve, on a backhand error by Nadal, Federer had double break point. Despite Nadal getting to deuce, on his fourth opportunity, Federer seized the break and consolidated for 3-0.

After constructing a 5-2 advantage, as Nadal’s forehand sailed long, Federer had set point. However, with the dropshot missing its mark, Nadal was at deuce and later captured the game.

Serving for the initial set, Federer’s first serve which was instrumental in building his lead deserted him. Federer netted a backhand to hand Nadal break point. When the Swiss misfired on a volley after a passing shot, the players were back on serve.

Once Nadal leveled the set at 5 all, with a nice volley winner, he manufactured a second break point in the 11th game. With Federer dumping the forehand into the net, Nadal secured the break and closed out the set 7-5.

To open the second set, Federer dropped his serve at love and with a hold, Nadal was on a run of seven straight games. Finally, Federer toughed out a game to keep his disadvantage at one game.

Later on, Federer again dismissed double break point to stay in touch at 2-3. With Nadal pushing a forehand out of play, Federer had his third break point chance in the eighth game. With his rival’s backhand miscue, Federer squared the second set at 4 all.

Yet, as a result of a forehand landing wide, Federer stared at double break point. Despite getting to deuce, Federer produced two successive errors to surrender the break to Nadal for 5-4.

With Nadal at set point, Federer provoked him into a mistake resulting in deuce. At that instance, showers arrived causing a delay. This helped Federer to collect his thoughts. When the players resumed the contest, Federer overcame another set point and broke for 5 all.

The second set was decided ultimately by a tiebreaker. Because of a forehand miscue by Federer, Nadal had the mini-break and sprinted to 4-0 lead. Nadal dominated and took the tiebreaker 7-3.

Consequently, the result seemed no longer in doubt. Following being on serve, Federer buried a backhand dropshot into the net to hand Nadal triple break point. When the Swiss’ forehand went wide, Nadal secured a 4-2 edge in the third set.

Uncharacteristically, Nadal lost his serve at love to allow Federer back into the set. Federer capitalized and got to 4 all. With the first serve back on track, Federer kept in touch with Nadal and by forcing three errors in a row obtained triple break point.

By striking a forehand up the line winner, Federer banked the break and served out the third set to extend the match.

Going into the fourth hour of competition, Federer seemed to have momentum in his corner and started the fourth by fabricating triple break point. But, with clutch serving, Nadal managed to hold.

Then, with Federer serving at 1-2, he donated a double fault to face triple break point. Nadal capitalized and had a 4-1 advantage.

With a forehand volley winner, Nadal arrived at his second break point in the next game. When Federer sliced a backhand into the net, Nadal had absolute control of the match ahead 5-1.

On triple championship point, Federer’s forehand sailed long giving Nadal a historic sixth ‘Coupe des Mousquetaires’.

Today, Nadal improved his record to 17-8 against Federer, with a 7-2 mark in major finals. In denying Federer his 17th major, Nadal became the second youngest person behind Borg to claim ten majors and is now on par with Bill Tilden.

After the match, Federer congratulated Nadal on a “super match” and acknowledged “you are without a doubt the best on clay”. Federer stated “it’s a shame that I could not win. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the way I fought . . .and I am always grateful for the warm welcome and the support that I find” at Roland Garros.

Nadal also tipped his hat to Federer on a good two weeks and the fact that he “played a good match”. The Spaniard thanked the public and his team for their support saying “without you this would not be possible”.

With this victory, Nadal prevents Djokovic from climbing to number one. The top ranking will be on the line again at Wimbledon in two weeks time with Nadal being the defending champion.