She nearly turned back the clock in a scarcely believable fashion. It might have happened if she had put away an inviting smash in the deciding set

'It is the eternal national spirit,' Chris McGrath at a wet SW19 is told by a couple sheltering under two enormous plastic ponchos

It's a sad state of affairs when you realise that never again will children be more precocious than their whizzy gadgets. I heard a radio documentary about Mozart's early years recently and was hugely impressed by how the kid had managed to outwit and tame a piano before he was five. Nowadays you get the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, who start writing code that even C-3PO wouldn't understand before they hit puberty.

Four of the six books on the shortlist for this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year award, to be announced on 30 November, have already been reviewed here – Blood Knots, Beware of the Dog, Trautmann's Journey and A Last English Summer.

As Sunday Rose Urban Kidman is born, John Walsh explains the new rules of celebrity monikers

Serena Williams once fancied herself an actress or fashion designer and often seemed to be more focused on those aspirations than on her tennis. But after winning her fifth Sony Ericsson Open title with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, the world No 8 said that for the moment she is focusing on her sport.

It was Andre Agassi's third wedding anniversary yesterday. While his wife, Steffi Graf, was taking care of their two children, Jaden and Jaz, the indefatigable 34-year-old from Las Vegas was battling for ranking points at the Madrid Masters here.

HENRY COOPER

High street fashion is having a golden season. Buy it by the armful, says JAMES SHERWOOD

Ronald Atkin recalls the triumphs and traumas of a player with a matchless aura

THE COVERS were drawn and pulled back off Court One like curtains yesterday - but that was because of the rain. Although, on a day when Jana Novotna lost her women's singles title, it was just as well they were prepared.

WIMBLEDON IS preparing to go into a third week after the programme was wrecked by rain again yesterday. Alan Mills, the All England Club's referee, is the busiest man at the championships as he attempts to complete the tournament on schedule by Sunday.

JUST FOR a moment yesterday the worst fears of Wimbledon's security team appeared to be realised. Anna Kournikova was on court when suddenly a spectator appeared on the edge of Court Two's lawn. You can imagine the consternation.

THE ONLY reason most people had heard of 16-year-old tennis player Jelena Dokic before yesterday was because her father, Damir, was arrested for unruly behaviour after being ejected from the recent DFS Classic in Edgbaston, Birmingham.