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Raining hard at Wimbledon and this is how it looks. The PA informs us that this is likely to keep up until around 3pm, after which it will be wine and roses and Monte Carlo levels of sunshine and unfettered play on every spare bit of grass. Possibly.
In the meantime the roof is drawn on Centre Court, where proceedings start in about 10-minutes. First up is Venus Williams versus Kimiko Date-Krumm, the battle of the golden oldies. We'll be covering that while also keeping an eye on the covers. What's going on under those covers? Are the pygmy professionals of the Lilliputian Tennis Academy playing one of their brutal, unseen contests? Or do the covered courts double as a kind of dormitory for the other players, with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Jurgen Melzer all slumbering on the lawns, waiting to be roused and called to battle? If this deluge keeps up, we may be forced to crawl under and find out just what's going on.
Until then we're moseying over to Centre Court.
Here's more from the great Matt Scott on today's Elf'n'Safety controversy.
Wimbledon has been publicly chastised by the health-and-safety
ombudsman over its claims that Murray Mount had to be closed in heavy
rain. A letter to the Lawn Tennis Association's chief executive, Roger
Draper, and his All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club counterpart,
Ian Ritchie, has been made public by Judith Hackitt, the chair of the
Health and Safety Executive, and it does not make for pretty reading
for the pair.
Hackitt's beef is that the closure of Murray Mount at so high-profile
an international event was nothing more than "an excuse". And it is
illuminating that Hackitt says sports fans are frequently subjected to
similarly shabby treatment. "There is nothing in health and safety
legislation which prohibits the continued broadcasting of centre court
action to the crowds on the hill during the rain," wrote Hackitt.
"People have been walking up and down wet grassy slopes for years
without catastrophic consequences. If the LTA was concerned about
people slipping and suing for their injuries the message should have
made clear the decision was 'on insurance grounds'.
"Health and safety excuses are becoming as much a feature of the
British sporting calendar as the rain. You will understand that while
we can do nothing about the weather, we will not let the excuses pass
unchallenged."
Hackitt believes it undermines genuine interventions by the HSE on
safety grounds. Wimbledon's ill-judged decision, it's the health &
safety executive that's gone mad.
We're now wondering if the picture above might not be of the notorious Elf and Safety. Elf calls to mind a smirking Andy Murray, while Safety resembles a placid, long-haired Roger Federer. Steer well clear. They've both gone utterly mad.
Down in the comments, Sociopol wonders why Britain's Alex Bogdanovic missed out on a Wimbledon wild-card. I believe this is on account of the organisers refusing him one after he lost something like seven first-round matches on the trot (at least I think it was seven: it may have been fewer, like six, or more, like 15).
What they gave him, by way of compensation, was a wild-card into the qualifying tournament. Bogdanovic promptly lost in the first round, in straight sets, to a player called Bastian Knittel, who in turn lost in the second round, in straight sets, to Marc Gicquel. Thanks to the Wimbledon daily report for providing such a window into the subterranean pre-history of this year's tournament.
In other rain-related news, a tweet from Esther Addley:
Three hrs of heavy showers, says #wimbledon officials, so no play for foreseeable. How will they stage olympic tennis here next year?
Is here time for an email? It transpires that there is. The courts are covered and the promised midday start rolled back to the afternoon. Wilson Beuys (presumably no relation of Joseph, the avant-garde German artist) has an issue with the Murray mask:
Whoever made that Andy Murray mask had a bit of a job on their hands. Where did they find a picture of him where he's not snarling? I can only assume they altered it in PhotoShop - which explains why it looks nothing like him.
Agreed, the image is deeply unsettling. It makes me worry that Murray and Federer have fallen in love, run to seed and are just about to embark on a dead-eyed killing spree, starting at your house, as the rain falls outside.
Bolt the windows. Don't open the door. Then mail to reassure us that all is well.
Looking on the bright side, here's the order of the play for the two main show-courts, where play kicks off at 1pm.
First up on Centre is what the tournament's official "daily report" is dubbing "the Zimmer Frame Special", pitting 31-year-old Venus Williams against Kimiko Date-Krumm, the Little Miss Methuselah who celebrates her 41st-birthday in September. That's followed by Nadal versus Sweeting, after which eighth seed Andy Roddick takes on Romania's Victor Hanescu.
Over on uncovered Court One, the 2010 runner-up Thomas Berdych faces France's Julien Benneteau. Then, all being well, we have Andy Murray battling for a place in the third round against Tobias Kamke of Germany, followed by Britain's Anne Keothavong versus the talented Petra Kvitova, who sliced and diced her way to last year's semi-finals.
The outside courts, meantime, play host to the likes of Gael Monfils, Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonereva, Richard Gasquet and the redoubtable Mardy Fish. It should be a grand day of tennis. But that "should", it must be pointed out, comes ringed by lowering clouds and trumpeted by an ominous rumble of thunder.
Umbrellas at the ready for day three of these Wimbledon championships, where the sky is like porridge and the met office are predicting heavy showers throughout the day. Already the moisture is gathering in the air around Centre Court and the ground-staff seem as nervous and jittery as rescue-centre greyhounds, all set to bolt for the covers at the first sign of a deluge.
Undeterred, Rafael Nadal is currently camped on an outside court, warming up for his second round match against Ryan Sweeting, belting topspin forehands with a blithe insouciance. Regardless of the weather, the reigning champion will be OK. He's due on Centre, most likely beneath the roof and possibly for the benefit of the rear admiral in the royal box. So bully for him and hurrah for the admiral. But what of the other competitors, cast out in the cold of the outside courts? And what of the lowly-born non-rear admirals who have come all this way to watch them? Here at the All England Club, we are battening down for a lengthy, stuttering afternoon. Stay indoors and watch us drown.
An early story knocking around SW19 today concerns health and safety bosses, who have criticised Wimbledon organisers for using their legislation to shut down the hill now known as 'Murray Mount' when it rains. History was made at SW19 on Monday when the giant screen was turned off for the first time as officials feared fans would slip and injure themselves. Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Executive, wrote to Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association complaining about the decision. The HSE clearly feels it is being wrongly scapegoated whenever there is the slightest chance of anyone getting injured.
"People have been walking up and down wet grassy slopes for years without catastrophic consequences. If the LTA was concerned about people slipping and suing for their injuries the message should have made clear the decision was 'on insurance grounds'."
• Xan will be here shortly. In the meantime, check out today's order of play and catch up with our reports from yesterday's matches.
• Feast your eyes on the best images from day two with our award-winning photographer Tom Jenkins's picture gallery.
• If reading our Wimbledon live blog has made you want to get down and experience the action at SW19 for yourself, why not enter our competition to win VIP tickets to savour this Saturday's action. It's a very simple question.
• And check out the weather at Wimbledon here ...
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jun/22/wimbledon-live-blog-day-three
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