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Going loopy

ESPN staff
June 21, 2011
Kevin Pietersen clearly got confused when he heard they were showing Wimbledon in 3D © Getty Images
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Looping to victory
Having just lost serve in the deciding set, Aravane Rezai was hanging on against defending champion Serena Williams. Rezai gave a good account of herself on Centre Court, but will be ruing a momentary lapse in concentration. Having rushed into the net, Rezai had the entire court to finish off the point after forcing Serena out wide. With Williams stranded on the tramline, Rezai hit her return straight at Williams, who managed to get a racket on it, and the ball looped over the head of Rezai, who, thinking it was going out, made no attempt to play the ball, only for it to bounce just inside the baseline. Oops.

Putting things into perspective
We often throw around words such as disaster and tragedy when discussing sport, but Virginie Razzano had things thrown firmly into perspective when her coach and fiancé Stephane Vidal died of a brain tumour last month. The world No. 96 bravely opted to play in the French Open barely a week later, only to fall in the opening round, but Razzano won her first match since Vidal's death, beating Sania Mirza.

"I don't know if it's relief for me, because when I go on the courts it's not easy for me. I play because it's my job and my passion and I must to continue," Razzano said. "It was good to win today because I have a lot of emotion on me when I go on the court to start the match. I try to think only positive and what I must do to play good and win today."

Time for tea
Fresh from their Test series against Sri Lanka, Andrew Strauss and his England team were guests in the Royal Box on Tuesday, but they soon disappeared from Serena Williams' match on Centre Court. We can only assume they were in desperate need of a drinks break. It's a good job they weren't on Court 18 for the Isner-Mahut marathon last year.

A damp squib
Sequels are never as good as the originals, but that didn't stop Isner-Mahut part II being an intriguing contest. Denied the chance to return to the immortal Court 18, the much anticipated rematch was done in just over two hours as John Isner powered to a 7-6(4) 6-2 7-6(6) victory against old foe Nicolas Mahut. Fans were desperate for the pair to return to the scene of their marathon, but Isner believes it was a good move to bump them up to Court 3. "I don't think they wanted to tarnish the memory of last year, and there was no way the match was going to be like last year."

Showing off
Special mention must go to Isner, though, for attempting (and failing) the most spectacular shot of the day. Two sets to the good against Mahut, Isner decided he had enough breathing room to start showboating. Finding himself wrongfooted by a Mahut return, Isner swatted at the ball behind his back, but missed the ball completely.

A timely reminder
Now that his astonishing unbeaten streak has been broken, everyone seems to have forgotten about Novak Djokovic. The Serb opted to miss Queen's to take a well-deserved break, and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and six-time champion Roger Federer are occupying the spotlight once again. But with an emphatic 6-4 6-1 6-1 mauling of Jeremy Chardy, Djokovic sent a timely reminder to his rivals that just because he is no longer invincible, doesn't mean he can't win Wimbledon.

Doing the hula
After ditching her famous celebration dance, Petkovic decided to start mixing things up. After the moonwalk at the French, the German has opted for a hula-dance on the grass at the All England Club. Obviously the moonwalk is well-suited to the slippery clay, but quite why Petkovic opted for the hula...? Perhaps she will don a grass skirt for her second-round match.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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