With friends like these
Rory McIlroy was back on Centre Court to support Rafael Nadal, his new friend, in the men’s final. He had been ringside in Hamburg the night before to watch David Haye, his friend, lose to Wladimir Klitschko. It was the second time in three days that the US Open champion had been at SW19. On Friday, he backed Andy Murray, his friend, to beat Nadal. He may find himself losing friends soon.
Tweet of the day ‘Been ousted to the cheap seats today. No Royal box with @McIlroyRory. Current US open champs only!!’ Graeme McDowell, last year’s US Open champion
Broady out of frame
Liam Broady’s photograph was hard to avoid in the final week of Wimbledon, but the one place you will not have been able to find it was in the LTA’s player guide. In 2007 the LTA temporarily withdrew funding from Broady’s sister, Naomi, after images of her on a night out were posted on a social-networking site. Liam’s father, Simon has since refused to allow profiles of his children in the brochure. For his part Liam deflected questions on this all week.
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Herd instinct
Björn Borg sunk to his knees, Roger Federer burst into tears, Pat Cash clambered up the stands to hug friends and family, and Novak Djokovic celebrated his first Wimbledon triumph by chewing on Centre Court grass. “The grass tasted quite well, really,” he said. “It was well kept. I felt like an animal. I wanted to see how it tastes. It tastes good. It came spontaneously. I didn’t plan to do it. You know, I didn’t know what to do for my excitement and joy.” For the defeated Rafael Nadal, it was probably all a bit hard to swallow.