Wimbledon diary: Wozniacki mix-up and bees bothering broadcasters

Wozniacki confusion

There was confusion this week when someone looked though the women’s draw and saw the name Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane retired in 2020 and has been busy since, having her first child and now pregnant with her second. It was later discovered the rogue drawsheet was one from 2019 that had found its way into the stack of 2022 draws. Wozniacki is here as part of the BBC commentary team, the first time she’s filled that role, and has been offering insightful comments you would expect from a grand slam champion.

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Court speed questioned

The speed of the courts has been a popular talking point, with everyone from Carlos Alcaraz to Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis expressing their feelings that the court surface is particularly slow. Another Australian, Jordan Thompson, said he felt it was even slower than the French Open, which is played on clay. The All England Club insists nothing has changed and the perceived speed of the court can be affected by compacting of the soil, and the weather before and during the Championships.

Bees stop interviews

Crowds may have been down but a swarm of a different sort arrived at the All England Club a couple of evenings ago. On the roof of the broadcast centre, a swarm of bees interrupted television interviews and a specialist had to round up the offending insects in order for normal service to resume. The incident was caught on camera by former world No 1 Kim Clijsters, working for BBC television and playing in next week’s Invitational.

Isner aces it

John Isner will be remembered at Wimbledon as the man who won the longest match, an 11-hour, five-minute marathon with Nicolas Mahut over three days in 2010. Now Isner is another record-holder, having hit the five aces – in less than two service games against Jannik Sinner – he needed to overtake Ivo Karlovic at the top of the ATP Tour (since 1991) all-time aces list. The top 10 make interesting reading with Isner and Karlovic well ahead of eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in third, with Pete Sampras further down.