THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012
WIMBLEDON WEDNESDAY DIARY: ROYAL VISIT TO SW19
Roger Federer met HRH The Prince Of Wales after his second-round win on Wednesday.
ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Royal Visit
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited The Championships for the first time since 1970 on Wednesday with his wife, Camilla, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
Prince Charles met four-time former semi-finalist Tim Henman, while Camilla, who arrived slightly earlier, chatted to three-time runner-up Andy Roddick on the Competitors’ Lawn at the All England Club. They both greeted Roger Federer after watching his three-set win over Fabio Fognini on Centre Court.
Roddick said, "I got to meet The Queen a couple of years ago and these are things you realise you don't get to do very often; they are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We always forget the magnitude of Wimbledon and who might be watching."
The royals also met three former Wimbledon champions Frank Sedgman (1952), Ashley Cooper (1958) and Neale Fraser (1960). On 24 June, 2010, Her Majesty the Queen, visited Wimbledon for the first time since 1977, when Virginia Wade won the ladies’ singles title.
Stefan Edberg, the 1988 and 1990 Wimbledon champion, his former coach Tony Pickard, entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth and Roger Federer’s parents were guests in the Royal Box.
Fish Explains Heart Condition
Mardy Fish talked to the media on Wednesday morning, after he felt unwell following his 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-6(1) victory over Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain the previous evening. Fish, who had an operation in Los Angeles on 23 May to treat a heart condition, explained his condition.
"I remember a week and a half before the French Open [at Roland Garros] I was just thinking to myself, 'I'm not even close right now', I'm still sleeping with this heart rate monitor," he told a re-arranged news conference on Wednesday. "I hadn't done the procedure yet. I didn't even know that that was necessarily an option quite yet."
Fish is now trying to play his way back to his best. "It's just the confidence part," he said. "It's really the only thing. It's just me convincing myself that everything is fine and that the doctors have given me the go-ahead on everything. During the day I don't have any issues. Like I said, [it’s] just when I don't feel perfect and when I don't feel exactly the way that I feel like I should be, sometimes that's when I get into a little bit of trouble. Over time I'll feel better. It's getting better and better. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in no time."
Federer Compares Djokovic, Nadal’s Games
Roger Federer was asked to compare the games of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, after his 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini. "They return in very different ways, which makes them very different to play against," said Federer, a six-time former Wimbledon champion. "They're some of the best, if not the best, movers out there in the game, but they do move differently to one another, which is very interesting as well.
"I think they turn defence into offence very quickly. I think the transition game today is so much more important than it might have been in the past where great offence was enough or great defence was enough on clay, for instance. Today, I think the way we all play, we need to be able to create transition very quickly from defence to offence."
Roddick Remembers Barry Mackay
After winning his first-round match against Jamie Baker on Wednesday, Andy Roddick paid tribute to former player and tournament director, Barry Mackay, who passed away earlier this month.
"I remember the first couple years I played San Jose, he came up, and he's got that big, friendly voice," said the American. "You could recognise it. You could be given a hundred voices and you could probably pick his out.
"I just remember kind of the kindness. I was a wild card, 150-odd in the world. He had been a tennis lifer. He had no need to seek me out or talk, but he always stopped. I don't know if he met my parents, but he knew their names, asked how they were. So little things like that, you remember."
Bhupathi, Bopanna Honoured To Play At Olympics
After weeks of discussions, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have been confirmed as a doubles pair to represent India at the Olympic Games in four weeks’ time.
Bopanna, who will be making his Olympics debut in London, said, "It’s a fantastic feeling. There's nothing bigger than representing your country at the Olympics. Obviously grass being my favourite surface, coming back here after Wimbledon to play at the Olympics, I'm really looking forward to it, and I think it's going to be a really good event."
Bhupathi, who will be competing at his fifth Olympic Games, said, "The Olympics is unexplainable to someone who is not an athlete, how special it is. Just being at the Village, and I'm really happy for Rohan. It's his first. For a tennis player to play [his] first Olympics at Wimbledon, it will be a great experience for us."
Wednesday Attendance
A total of 43,044 fans attended The Championships on Wednesday, an increase of 2,534 from the previous year.