Gone missing
New for Wimbledon 2019! A progressive honorifics policy. In a move that brings the tournament in line with mid-20th century norms, umpires will no longer declaim the marital status of female players at the end of each game. According to the All England club “Miss” and “Mrs” have been given the chop “to achieve consistency for both ladies and gentlemen”. All that on a day of gender parity on the show courts too. As Heather Watson said when asked about the change: “Equality is always good”.
Free to air
TV viewers might be wondering why the American Express logo keeps popping up during BBC coverage, despite the public broadcaster’s ban on on-air advertising. It turns out that tournament organisers provide a pre-packaged video feed to the BBC – including an ad-heavy series of on-screen graphics entitled “Game Set & Facts” which exist largely as a justification for getting the name of an expensive credit card company on screens. The BBC has decided it has no choice but to suck up whatever video feed Wimbledon serves them, meaning it is now pumping out promotional images to millions of viewers without receiving a penny in return. “We do monitor the overall level of corporate branding, sponsorship and exposure at sporting events, and are satisfied Wimbledon’s facts graphics are in keeping with the event overall and are within our editorial guidelines,” said a spokesperson.
Question time
New for Wimbledon 2019! The People’s Press conference, where hacks are replaced by punters in the job of quizzing the stars. American Alison Riske (WTA ranking 55) was the first to be interrogated, by primary school kids on a day trip from Wales. Some of the questions – “how did you decide to play tennis?” – were of the sort even journalists would think to ask. Others – “how do you feel when you play tennis?” – had a metaphysical quality usually lacking in post-match pressers (Riske’s answer: a lot of nerves and some excitement). Fortunately for wearied reporters, there was one weakness discernible in the young press pack; stamina. Having been in a mini-bus since 4.15 in the morning, energy was flagging by the end of the interview, and bruising follow-up questions were replaced with timid looks and incessant fidgeting.
Canadian club
With three men in the ATP top 30 and 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu rocketing up the women’s rankings, these are good times for Canadian tennis. And on Court 12 there were maple leafs as far as the eye could see as teen sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime played fellow countryman Vasek Pospisil in what was branded back home as the “Clash of the Canadians” (and on Canada Day no less!). Should the prospect of Canadian tennis hegemony be a cause for concern? Not if Elizabeth Laurie, one of the many Canadians to have flown in to SW19, is anything to go by. “I tried to be as polite as possible” she said of her experience. “So I cheered on both players for the win.”
