Tennis: Wimbledon - Court circular

Ivanisevic's

football brain

IT SEEMS that everyone has an opinion about the England football team's performance in the World Cup, and the latest to air his opinion is the big-serving Croatian tennis player Goran Ivanisevic.

When asked about the teams Croatia might have to face next in the tournament, the football fanatic replied: "Now it's Argentina for us, and then I would like to see us play England."

Might this be because he'd like to see his country rise to the challenge of playing such an exciting, dynamic and talented team? Unfortunately not. The Croat's answer is far more cutting. "I would choose England because they are playing really badly."

And Ivanisevic is someone who knows his football. Last year he trained with Hajduk Split and at one time almost played for them, as a substitute in a derby match against Croatia Zagreb.

Launching into an analysis worthy of Alan Hansen, Ivanisevic explained: "How would I attack England? With the defence the way they are, it's not tough to attack them. There's a lot of holes so we can sneak our forwards in. If Suker and Boban play it will help Croatia's game in midfield. If we play Romania, the way they play does not suit our game."

Honeymooners who

are still courting

THE THOUGHT of planning a wedding is enough to make most people break out in a cold sweat. But imagine trying to organise such an event when your intended is a tennis coach with the Italian Tennis Federation and you're a pro tennis player who is on the road for more than 30 weeks a year.

The 14th seed in the women's draw at Wimbledon, Sandrine Testud of France, had done exactly that, however. Testud and husband Vittoria Magnelli had planned to tie the knot last year but arrangements had to be postponed. "The date was hard to find," Testud said. "I didn't want to get married in the winter so it had to be between the French Open and Wimbledon."

Everything fell into place for the couple on June 13th this month in Testud's home town of Lyons. She confesses to not having hit a ball for a few days prior to the ceremony.

Instead of the usual honeymoon period, Testud rushed off to a grass-court tournament in the Netherlands to prepare for Wimbledon. But was a stint in rainy Rosmalen an adequate substitute? "It would have been nice to have gone to an island in the sun," she replies, "but hopefully we'll do it at the end of the year."

Jane Marlow

YESTERDAY'S STATS

200 Martina Hingis' career wins.

234 David Nainkin's world ranking.

106 mph Fastest female serve after two days' play.

20 number of courts at Wimbledon.

15 minutes. The walk from Southfields tube to the All England Club.

4,950 the number of tip up seats installed last year on Centre Court.

1986 the year yellow balls were introduced.

LATEST ODDS

Men's singles: Ev Sampras; 8-1 Krajicek; 12-1 Rafter; 14-1 Bjorkman, Ivanisevic; 16-1 Agassi, Philippoussis; 20-1 Henman.

Women's singles: 5/6 Hingis; 5-1 Graf; 7-1 Seles, Novotna

4-9 Moya v Arazi 13-8

4-11 Larsson v Sargsian 2-1

4-11 Ivanisevic v Medvedev 2-1

4-7 Ferreira v Costa 5/4

2-7 Kiefer v Dreekmann 5/2

(Odds supplied by Ladbrokes)

TODAY'S WEATHER

Partly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms.

Maximum temperature 18C (64F)