Wimbledon Diary

Gasquet grilledThey say the women get all the hard questions in the post-match interviews. They are likely to face questions that range from what they are wearing to boy friends and jewellery, etc.

So, when French star Richard Gasquet arrived in and was asked if he was gay (a question inspired by a piece in a French magazine Le Point), imagine his surprise.

The French lad said non! But no one is entirely sure if the world's media believed him. One way or another a follow-up question was whether he made any new friends in the locker-room after all that hanging around in there during the rain delays. Non again.

Curran's raw dealFormer Irish Federation cup player Claire Curran could feel she and her doubles partner, Anne Keothavong, got a raw deal here.

As wildcards the British pair were drawn against the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, in the first round and were soundly beaten 6-1, 6-3. But the sisters then defaulted for the second-round match after Serena injured her calf muscle and thumb in her singles match against Daniela Hantuchova.

Borg set for returnApparently when Bjorn Borg left Wimbledon for the last time in 1981, he never came back. Not once, not ever until the parade of the champions in 2000 when he turned up for the first time in 19 years.

As a consequence of his self-imposed exile, the great Swede faced false rumours that the All England Cup had offended him in some way. But Borg simply didn't want to come back. He will, however, return this week, we are told. If Roger Federer can win his fifth successive title and equal Borg's five-in-a-row from 1976-'80, the baseline blonde will be around to mark the occasion.

'Surplus' concernMuch has been made of the amount of money Wimbledon generates each year. The "surplus" from the All England club is reinvested into British tennis and players to keep them, er, up there with the rest. But this year the club is concerned that the profits will be down because of the bad weather, the smaller crowds and the refunds. That, however, is nothing new. Last year's championship had a surplus of £25,544,765. But compared to 1998, when it came in as £33,078,748, or, 2001, when it was £32,044,906, this year may be a record year for the wrong reasons.

Healthy adviceNick Bollettieri was at Wimbledon the first week talking to anyone who wanted to hear how to become a top tennis player. The septuagenarian, however, spent some of his time telling journalists not to eat Lion bars because they were unhealthy.

Luckily the academy maestro has returned to Florida as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, can be seen wandering around the All England club constantly lighting up cigars.