Sport360's tennis expert Reem Abulleil is stationed at Wimbledon throughout the tournament and each day will be providing an alternative outlook on the happenings at SW19.
There have been some interesting people stopping by Wimbledon throughout the week, most recently David Beckham, who was in the Royal Box on Saturday.
The ex-England football captain was a constant fixture on Centre Court and was one of the very few VIPs (along with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and his wife) who stuck around to watch Maria Sharapova’s match after Rafael Nadal had finished off Mikhail Kukushkin.
Sharapova said she didn’t know who Tendulkar was, but that she met Beckham a few times in LA.
“Besides being an incredible football player, there is so much he’s done in his career, having a family, maintaining so many things off the court. He's really nice person to chat to,” said Maria of Beckham.
Comedian Ricky Gervais also made an appearance and he joined Andy Murray in his warm down on the bike following the Scot’s third round victory.
Murray revealed he used to watch The Office every single night during the time he lived in Spain and was excited to meet Gervais.
Kevin Anderson is also a fan of the comedian and the South African says that both he and Gervais have something in a common – both are huge fans of rapper Eminem. Anderson admits he got a bit star-struck when he met Gervais.
“I was a little nervous. My hand started sweating. It’s just funny, when you’re not used to something it’s amazing what you get nervous about,” said the No20 seed.
I spotted Amelie Mauresmo and Andy Murray hanging out in an area where competitors warm up. The Frenchwoman was kicking about a huge fitness ball and when she hit her target, celebrated by waving to an imaginary audience as Murray sat by smiling. It’s nice to see them so relaxed before a match.
Mr Courteous
Ever wonder how the players are with the umpires off court? I was chatting to Mohamed Lahyani and another chair umpire when Feliciano Lopez showed up to greet them.
Lopez was joking around and told Lahyani: “Did you see the warning he gave me?” referring to the other official.
I can’t imagine Fabio Fognini having that kind of relationship with the officials but it’s cool to see players get along with umpires.
Visa woes
Kukushkin, who lost to Nadal, is one of very few players coached by females. His wife, Anastasia Kukushkina, is his coach but she was nowhere to be seen. It turns out, she couldn’t get a visa to the UK.
She’s not the only coach to face that problem. Malek Jaziri’s Serbian coach Dejan Petrovic also couldn’t make the trip because he couldn’t get a visa.
You’d think with all the travel these people have to do, they wouldn’t run into such problems, particularly for a huge event like Wimbledon.
