Wimbledon Diary - Day Five

Wimbledon Diary - Day 5: Friday 29 June 2012

NO 3 ON ALL-TIME RICH LIST, NADAL BIDS FAREWELL TO WIMBLEDON

The shock waves reverberating around the tennis world following Rafael Nadal's defeat at the hands of little-know Lukas Rosol rumble on but the Spaniard was philosophical as ever.

Bidding an early farewell to Wimbledon, he shrugged off the loss as an accident of sport and challenged the Czech, ranked 100 in the world, to make further headway in the tournament.

The world number two, champion in 2008 and 2010 and an eleven-time Grand Slam title winner, said: "I played against an inspired opponent and I am out. That's all. It's not a tragedy. It's only a tennis match."

Nadal will fly home to Mallorca for some rest but will be back in time to challenge for Olympic gold.

Meanwhile, he can rest on his laurels in the secure knowledge that he recently became the third richest tennis player, ever.

After claiming his fifth French Open crown, Nadal surpassed American Andre Agassi for the third spot in the all-time list of richest tennis players.

Federer still leads the way with US$ 55,990,245, followed by tennis legend Pete Sampras, who falls at No 2 with US$ 43,280,489.

Nadal, with his hefty prize money balance of US$ 31,229,108 is otherwise way ahead with endorsements worth millions of dollars.

Surprisingly, none of the active tennis players besides Federer and Nadal have been able to make the top ten list; with Boris Becker, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Chang taking the spots from No.5 to 10.

Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports with nine sponsors that collectively earn him more than $30 million annually, including long-term deals with Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Credit Suisse.

He also commands more than $1 million per exhibition event.

The Swiss is widely perceived as the greatest tennis player ever and holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (16) and career prize money ($70 million), having appeared in a staggering 18 out of 19 Grand Slam finals between 2005 and 2010.

Meanwhile Nadal has established himself as one of the top tennis players of all-time and has been ranked among the top two in the ATP's year-end standings for seven straight years.

He has expanded his endorsement portfolio in recent years and counts Nike, Babolat, Kia Motors, Richard Mille and Bacardi among his sponsors.

In terms of wealth, Federer is ranked 30 on the Forbes Money List, and Nadal is 58^th but the Swiss is listed 5^th in the Sports Money List published recently.

MURRAY'S MILLIONS

According to the Sunday Times UK Rich List, Andy Murray has a net worth of £24 million ($37m) as of May 2012 and this places him 42^nd in the current UK running order.

Compiled by Philip Beresford, the leading authority on British wealth, the Sunday Times Rich List is based on identifiable wealth, land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies, but does not include the cash in their bank accounts, meaning the true level of their wealth could be even higher.

Ranked fourth in the world, Murray has been runner-up in three Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, and the 2010 and 2011 Australian Open, losing the first two to Roger Federer and the third to Novak Djokovic.

In 2011, he became only the seventh player in the open era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.

He has won £12.6m in prize money since making his professional debut in 2003.

Adidas showed their faith in him in 2009, signing him up for a five-year deal worth more than £10m.

That deal was the first secured by Murray since switching management agency to Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment, which also manages David Beckham.

The Scot also has sponsorship deals with Head rackets and the Royal Bank of Scotland, with whom the Scot was happy to negotiate downwards when the bank got into difficulty in early 2009.

A further deal worth £1m a year with Highland Spring water came to an end last February.

Should Murray become the first Briton to win the men's singles since Fred Perry in 1936, his earnings will go through the roof as commercial opportunities flood in.

RBS CANCELS HOSPITALITY AT WIMBLEDON

The Royal Bank of Scotland is reported to have cancelled its corporate hospitality at Wimbledon as it continues to deal with the IT meltdown that left thousands of customers without access to cash.

The bank said it would be ‘inappropriate' to continue providing the hospitality during the crisis.

According to the Daily Mail, the beleaguered bank had already hosted clients for the first two days of The Championships and had planned to do so for the rest of the fortnight.

The move came as Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King said that bank bosses should be subject to a 'detailed investigation' over the affair.

The bank said in a statement: "Technical issues have caused considerable disruption to many of our retail and business customers, as well as customers of other banks.

"We have made significant progress in resolving the issues and are working around the clock to put things right for our customers.

"Under the circumstances, we felt it would be inappropriate to provide client hospitality at Wimbledon.

"Our people are focused on resuming normal service for our customers as soon as possible."

RBS also confirmed it had cancelled a one-day golf tournament at Gleneagles in Scotland on Wednesday that was due to feature golf legend Jack Nicklaus.

A FINE ROMANCE?

Recent press reports have implied that the romance between Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy is affecting both their games - hers in tennis and his at golf.

During the period between 20 February 2011 and 18 July 2011 - apparently the exact date the couple went public - Wozniacki's average result at the 13 tournaments she played in was a place in the semi-finals.

Since then, she has played 18 tournaments and her average result has been a place in the fourth round.

Admittedly she has also been preoccupied with releasing a music track and launching an underwear range.

Following her dramatic exit from Wimbledon against Austria's Tamira Paszek on Wednesday, the question has been: "Do you think your relationship with Rory is affecting your tennis?"

"No," was the swift reply and, by Thursday, Caroline had left Wimbledon to go to Royal Portrush to support her boyfriend's assault on the Irish Open.

World number two McIlroy believes he has made progress following a disappointing U.S. Open and can overcome a slump in form this week.

He missed the cut on four out of his last five outings and there would be no better stage on which to reverse his fortunes than in front of his home fans in Northern Ireland.

"I feel like I've made a lot of progress and I'm really looking forward to this week and hopefully giving myself a chance to win here," McIlory told Sky Sports on Tuesday.

"I'm feeling good and had some really good practice over the last 10 days and my game feels in really good shape."

Speculation that their blossoming romance is doing little for their careers was greeted by a public display of togetherness at the Irish Open where McIlroy is at last finding some form and Wozniacki is looking relaxed and happy.

PIPPA

Watching from the Royal Box on Thursday, the 28-year-old sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, Pippa Middleton,  and her brother James, 25, saw Andy Murray's defeat of giant Ivo Karlovic in four sets, 7-5 6-7 6-2 7-6, to book his place in the third round.

Keen tennis fan Pippa wore an Orla Kiely macrame dress and a white and ink macrame jacket. The Duchess of Cambridge is known to be a fan of the brand.

"Pippa Middleton looking chic. We can confirm that Pippa Middleton has teamed her jacket with our SS12 Macrame dress, - great outfit," the designer label posted on its Twitter page.

Rumours persist that the Duchess of Cambridge will visit Wimbledon at some point, although it is not known when.

MORE EVIAN WATER TO COME

Evian will be the Official Bottled Water of Wimbledon for a further five years after extending its agreement with the All England Club until 2017, while women's world number one Maria Sharapova has also signed a new three year deal to extend her role as Evian brand ambassador.

Mick Desmond, Commercial Director of the All England Club, said: "Evian has ably demonstrated its enthusiasm and support for The Championships and we are delighted to be extending our agreement. 

"The brand's innovation and ability to embrace the ethos of Wimbledon, while adding its own twist, has led to a highly successful partnership and it is one which we are looking forward to developing over the next five years."

Adam Grant, Managing Director of Danone Waters (UK and Ireland) Ltd, parent company of Evian added: ‘I am delighted with this double dose of fantastic news.

"Everyone at Evian is immensely proud of our association with Wimbledon - it is the highlight of the British summer and the perfect opportunity to showcase Evian's Live young ethos."

ODESNIK IS NO SPY

Agence France-Presse reported a curious story about Wayne Odesnik, who has served a doping ban after being caught in possession of human growth hormone (HGH) and insisted on Wednesday that he did not agree to become a locker-room spy in exchange for clemency.

The 26-year-old American was suspended for two years after HGH was discovered in his luggage when he entered Australia in 2010.

But he controversially had his ban cut in half by the ITF, a move which sparked allegations that he had agreed to spy on his fellow professionals.

"I would like each and every single one of you to jot this down in capital letters, I would 100 percent never say anything bad about a player or do something that I was a spy," said Odesnik.

He insisted that he had been honest with the ITF and that the decision to cut his sentence was a reward for his co-operation in the investigation.

OLYMPIC SHORTS

• Westfield Stratford City is expected to have a 30% increase in trading hours during the Olympic and Paralympic Games to allow retailers to benefit from the millions of additional visitors to the Olympic Park. From 28th July to 12th August the centre will stay open until 11pm, with food and beverage outlets open until 12:30am.
• Elena Baltacha, who has struggled with injuries recently, said: "Last year I said I was going to retire after the Olympics, but I think I'm going to take it on a week-by-week basis. If I still really enjoy it, if I still believe I'm improving and I still love it, then I'll carry on."
• Indian tennis veteran Leander Paes has confirmed his participation in the London Olympics setting aside his initial fury at being paired with a lower-ranked Vishnu Vardhan in men's doubles.
• LI Na is upset with China's tennis federation for entering her into the doubles fixtures much against her wishes at the London Games. Wanting to focus only on the singles given her injuries, she said she doesn't know why they wanted her to play doubles with Zhang Shuai: "Last time I played doubles was during the 2007 Australian Open."
• Ground staff assure that the worn baselines on Wimbledon's grass courts will be playable again by the time the Olympic Tennis Event starts on 28 July. Things will actually start before the end of the annual championships: "The biggest challenge is germinating the seed and getting it on court as soon as possible so the root gets down into the soil. Staff will start germinating the seed in a big tub. They will tip in some amino acids with water - as hot as your hand can take - and the seed is kept in for two hours. The liquid is then drained off and the seed is left in the tub for another 48 hours. "When we see a little white spot at the tip of the seed it comes out of the tub and gets put on the bare areas of the court. We spray some liquid fertilizer over the court and should keep the temperature high if possible. That's probably happened on the Monday after The Championships and by the Friday or the Saturday (less than a week later) we'd expect grass about 2mm high to have regenerated."
• The grass required for play is 8mm high and for the Olympics 12 courts will be needed, as opposed to 19 for Wimbledon itself.