Wimbledon Corner: Dispatches from SW19

THE BBC still lags some way behind its foreign counterparts in how many hours of the Championships it screens. While official figures show that Auntie brought us 163 hours and two minutes of the tournament on television last year, (the two minutes being highlights involving British players, presumably) viewers in New Zealand enjoyed 272 hours and 30 minutes and viewers in North Korea saw 165 hours and 56 minutes. Even tennis fans in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Guam enjoyed 166 hours and 36 minutes each, despite having no players competing.

Today's number: 950

The number of bottles of Lanson champagne estimated to have been sold yesterday. The bubbly, produced especially for the Championships and carrying the official Wimbledon logo, sells for pounds 33.50 a bottle.