Wimbledon. It's simply ace

THE good news is that Tim Henman and Greg Rudeski are both still in, as the first half of the Wimbledon fortnight draws to a close today. Plus attendances are at a record high, the weather has been relentlessly glorious, and even strawberries are down in price.

The bad news is ... well, there isn't any, as such. Yes, all eight British women in the singles tournament have been eliminated, together with Monica Seles, the No 4 seed, who lost to Mirjana Lucic last night. But then they were never expected to achieve anything spectacular.

And on the plus side, Anna Kournikova, the Russian teenager who sets the pulse of half the population racing, is through to the second week.

Let's not be sexist about this, so it is only right to mention that Andre Agassi, eye candy for the gels, is still in too.

It is Henman and Rudeski who are the repositories of British aspirations this year. One of them could even lift that elusive championship trophy next week - the first time that a Briton, male or female, has done that since Virginia Wade triumphed in 1977.

On Thursday, a record 41,312 people attended. Even the fickle British weather has broken with tradition. It is the first time for four years that play has not been rained off at all in the first week.

Full coverage,

Sport, pages 29-32