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'I've no idea what One Direction stars look like'

Mark Hodgkinson
June 27, 2014
Niall Horan (left) is one of the members of pop group One Direction enjoying Wimbledon © PA Photos
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There's much to like about Madison Keys, the teenage American with a big serve who has made the third round of the women's tournament. Not least that she wasn't going to be joining those chasing One Direction around the All England Club. "I wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd," Keys said.

Blue shirts? No chance, but tattoos are fine

Lukas Rosol has a Maori tattoo © AP
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For all the restrictions on what players can wear - with the "almost entirely white" clothing rule being strictly enforced this year - there's nothing in the All England Club dress code barring tattoos.

Players in this summer's Wimbledon who have body art include Lukas Rosol, who tormented Rafa Nadal in their second-round match on Centre Court, and who has a Maori tattoo on his leg. Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former grand slam champion, has this inked into her skin, in Russian: "Only god is our judge." While another tattoo, also in Russian, reads: "Pain doesn't kill me - I kill pain."

Some of the tattoos are more romantic in nature, such as the red rose inked into the chest of Li Na, the Chinese who won this year's Australian Open title. "I had been with my husband for three years when I had it done," she has said. "I wanted to do something for us and for him. I chose a rose because it's romantic and having it on my chest showed I had given my heart to him."

And it's not just the players who have tattoos. Andy Murray's new coach, Amelie Mauresmo, has a picture of an angel on her shoulder.

Keep calm and stop drinking


No one appreciates a drunk in the Wimbledon Queue. "We're not strict. At Wimbledon, we try to do things with a light touch and people who come to queue at Wimbledon are pretty well behaved, but we do get a few people who turn up having drunk too much alcohol and that doesn't go down too well. Neither does playing loud music," Nick Pearce, Wimbledon's Head Steward, told me. "Enjoy yourself, but don't wreck it for everyone else."


Mark Hodgkinson is the author of Lendl: The Man Who Made Lendl. Hodgkinson is writing daily pieces for ESPN during Wimbledon.

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