Surprising double act
As they say on Love Island, there’s been a surprise recoupling. It involves Jay Clarke, the 20-year-old Briton who won his first singles match at a grand slam event on Tuesday. A four-set victory over Noah Rubin set up a second-round encounter with none other than Roger Federer, and now Clarke will cap off his week by partnering 15-year-old Cori Gauff in the mixed doubles. Clarke had been expected to pair with Harriet Dart, with whom he reached the semi-finals last year. However, he messaged Dart on Monday to tell her he had opted to partner the American teenage sensation instead. Sounds like someone’s head has been turned …
South Village style
New for Wimbledon 2019! The All England Club has launched its own range of “athleisure”, the clothing style that allows people to wear tracky bottoms at all hours without being shamed. The diary went out to inspect the collection, took pix of the lot and sent them to our fashion editor, Lauren Cochrane. Her verdict? “The leggings and gilet feel a bit athleisure basics,” she says. “Kind of like you could buy them in Millets.” Now that’s harsh but she does have a point. There is better news for the tracksuits, though. “The trousers and top are retro, which feels more ‘now’‚“ Cochrane says. “I love the tracky top – it’s a bit Chloe 2016.” We expect Alexa Chung to be down the South Village pronto.
Plenty of plant respect
There’s nothing the Diary enjoys more than admiring Wimbledon’s lush gardens, taking a pair of secateurs to the prettiest blooms and then flogging them for £20 a bunch outside Southfields tube. Only joking, guys, we would never do that and, according to the head of horticulture, Neil Stubley, you’d be surprised how few punters are tempted to meddle with the 80 varieties of flower blooming across the site. “We tend to find that, if something is pretty, they respect it,” Stubley says. “So we don’t have a problem with people taking plants, though we have had a problem with people sitting on them. It’s because they’re comfortable. We’ve had a guy who was literally sat on a buxus ball chatting away on the phone.” The hedge was saved but, according to Stubley: “It’s a bit flatter than before.”
Opelka’s new heights
Reilly Opelka not only reached the third round of the men’s singles, defeating fan favourite Stan Wawrinka in five sets. He also claimed outright the title of tallest man in the tournament. Opelka stands at a mighty 6ft 11in, which is the same size as Ivo Karlovic. But the Croat lost his second-round tie with the Italian Thomas Fabbiano, leaving Opelka brushing the treetops by himself. In an odd twist, Fabbiano is also one of the shortest male players at 5ft 8in. The shortest overall is the the Argentinian Diego Schwartzmann. He clocks in at 5ft 7in but can play Opelka only if they reach the final. No prizes for guessing which biblical metaphor will come in handy should that happen.
