There has been more talk about Terry Towelling at this year's Wimbledon than many of the other stars of the tournament. So frequently have the great and good of world tennis been asked about their predilection for pilfering the All England Club towels, that the brand supplier Christy got in touch with the diary yesterday. Perhaps Christy is Terry's wife. Anyway, their urgency wasn't motivated so much by a desire to track down the miscreants and make a citizen's arrest as simply to remind everyone that it was actually they who invented the towel, back in the 19th century, and to tell everyone how happy about the partnership between two of Britain's iconic brands. Yes, and my own complimentary Wimbledon towel through the post would be very nice.
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No expense is being spared for Romeo Beckham, the 13-year-old second oldest of David's sons. A talented tennis player who hit with Andy Murray recently and is thought to have a big future in the sport, Beckham's parents have splashed out the £13,000 joining fee and £2,000 subs for him to join Queen's Club. That is nothing. Apparently, during practice, he actually only plays with golden balls.
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Alexander Zverev captured the hearts of the Centre Court crowd but isn't getting carried away by predictions that he is destined to be a future No 1. "There's been a million future No. 1's that never got to No. 1," he pointed out sagely.
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Coco Vandeweghe's confidence comes from her DNA. Not only did her grandfather play basketball for the New York Knicks and her mother swim at the Olympics, but her granny had some sage lines of advice too. "My grandmother always said to me, fake it till you make it," said Vandeweghe. "Coming from a Miss America that basically oozed confidence, that's a pretty good line."
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John Isner crashed out of the men's singles to Jo Wilfried Tsonga, 19-17 in the fifth set. This was unfortunate for the American, who considering he had won 70-68 against Nicolas Mahut at the All England Club in 2010, was still just warming up. Having gone six-all or later in the fifth set at a slam for nine times or more, it is little wonder that Isner feels it is time fifth set tie-breaks were introduced. "I mean, I would, but I have said that a bunch," he said.
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