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Wimbledon: Coco Gauff's 'Wookie error' and hotdogs on court 14

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Published in Tennis
Thursday, 30 June 2022 15:24

There's been mixed fortunes for the Brits at Wimbledon so far with some big names bowing out and others causing big upsets.

Most of the pre-Championships favourites have had relatively comfortable passage to the third round, but away from the headline results there's been plenty of things you might have missed - both on and off the court.

BBC Sport rounds up an alternative look at some of the moments of the second round.

A 'Wookie' error

After finishing runner-up at the French Open prior to Wimbledon, big things are expected of Coco Gauff at the All England Club this year.

The 18-year-old American is the youngest player in the singles draw and there's been very few errors on the court on her way to the third round.

Off it, however, there's been a bit of a gaff for Gauff.

Asked to give a message to the legendary Sue Barker, who is presenting the BBC's Wimbledon coverage for the final time this year, Gauff looked initially a little confused, wondering why she was being asked in a tennis interview about a character from the Star Wars films...

Has Harmony been restored or not?

Few things are more entertaining than sports stars - or any famous folk - airing their dirty linen in public.

The morning after Harmony Tan beat the great Serena Williams in the most notable result of her career, she pulled out of the women's doubles with a thigh injury - leading to an angry backlash from her proposed partner Tamara Korpatsch.

It seemed the pair had patched things up when Korpatsch posted this Instagram message on Thursday morning...

Then the saga took another twist. This message appeared on the 27-year-old German's stories - but was later deleted - shortly after Tan won her second-round singles match...

Hmmm. Perhaps there was a clue to what triggered Korpatsch again in Tan's post-match news conference.

Asked how the row was resolved, the Frenchwoman said: "She text me and she apologised for this publication. I don't like drama. I'm not like this.

"So I didn't answer."

Hell hath no fury than a tennis player left blue-ticked.

When you know it's not your day...

Britain's Katie Boulter claimed a huge upset when she beat former world number one Karolina Pliskova to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.

But perhaps Pliskova knew it wasn't going to be her day before she even got on court.

The 30-year-old Czech is no stranger to Centre Court, and had reached the final the year before, but she got a little confused as she made her way to it on Thursday, heading the wrong way as she came out of the doors.

To be fair to her, the entrance is new for this year...

Never celebrate too early

You are making your Grand Slam debut and you hit what you believe is a brilliant winning point, of course you are going to celebrate it, right?

Well if you do, always make sure that your opponent definitely hasn't got to it.

That unfortunately was the case for Britain's Alastair Gray on Thursday. The 24-year-old wildcard thought he'd saved a set point with a superb angled volley and turned to fist-bump the air, only for his opponent Taylor Fritz to dive and get the ball over.

One thing's for sure, Gray will definitely not be rushing to celebrate in the future.

Running away from your problems

"Something like this happens once in a lifetime," said Jiri Vesely. But the Czech player was not keen to stick around and bask in the glory of his victory following a bizarre conclusion to his second-round match.

Had he done so, he would have discovered opponent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had received a point penalty for smashing a ball out of the court.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, it could not have been more ill-timed at match point down in a fifth-set tie-break.

"I don't even know what he got the point penalty for," Vesely said. "I didn't see what he had done. I was in the corner and just heard the announcement.

"I made a dash for the net and out before the umpire changed his mind. For him, it must have been a pretty tough end."

Get your hotdogs here!

If you were feeling hungry at Wimbledon on Thursday then court 14 was the place to be because there were more hotdogs on show than at a kiosk at a football stadium.

These were the sort that would satisfy your hunger for entertainment rather than fill your belly, however, as Lorenzo Sonego and Hugo Gaston had the crowd cheering with a couple of superb trick shots.

Who did it better?

Manchester City fan Liam Broady credited some Jack Grealish inspiration for his first-round win, suggesting the fact they have similar hairstyles may have had something to do with it.

He kept up the Grealish connection on Thursday, copying the England midfielder's celebration as he came out on top of a five-set thriller with Diego Schwartzman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

"It was easy, wasn't it?" he joked afterwards. "I had everyone fooled at two sets to one and a break down, but it's an amazing feeling. I thought I was coming off court going down in the second round for a third time, but you guys were amazing today."

If Broady manages to go on and win the whole thing, he may even manage to top Grealish's title parade celebrations...external-link

Something in your eye

It's not often a defeated player gives an on-court interview - unless it's the Australian Open prematurely retiring Andy Murray - but it happened on Thursday when a player really was signing off. And it was all rather lovely.

In her final match as a singles player, Kirsten Flipkens, a 2013 Wimbledon semi-finalist and 2003 junior winner, lost to 2019 champion Simona Halep, with the players sharing a warm and prolonged hug over the net as the Belgian's eyes filled with tears.

Receiving the warmest of ovations on court two, Flipkens then made the shape of a heart with her hands to the crowd and crouched down to kiss the grass.

After taking some deep breaths to compose herself, the 36-year-old told the fans: "I am really happy and grateful I could say goodbye here, on this court, against this champion, with a crowd like you guys."

A beautiful farewell...

A truly unique look

Did you perhaps watch on as a frustrated tennis star smashed up their racquet last year? Well, they may have actually contributed to something rather unique.

While you can't play with broken strings, you can, it transpires, make an intriguing-looking desk from them.

As part of Wimbledon's commitment to protecting the environment, one niche idea has been to turn used racquet strings collected in 2021 to produce desktops for the ticket desks at the grounds.

Stylish, practical and good for the planet. What's not to love?

Like father, like son

And how about a little bit of cuteness to round things off...

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