| |
Wimbledon Notebook Tennis matches come before work for judge
Posted: Tuesday June 29, 1999 08:25 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- A British judge is ditching his court room for Centre Court. Judge Patrick Hooton was to preside in a four-day sexual indecency case starting Monday. But he postponed the trial until December because he had tickets for Wimbledon on Friday. "Some months ago, I arranged to take this Friday off and start four weeks holiday immediately afterward," the judge told startled lawyers at Winchester Crown Court. "I won't be doing anything this Friday apart from sitting in Wimbledon watching the tennis. "Unless I can send the jury out first thing on Thursday morning I can't start this trial. It would not be right on the outside chance to make everyone feel that they have to rush it." Hooton said ordinarily he would have taken the time out of his vacation. "But it's the tickets to Wimbledon," he said. "I am never likely to get the chance of them again." While not objecting to the move, defense lawyer Robert Conway still had something of a gripe. "Wimbledon is in fact on my doorstep," Conway said. "But I can't get tickets."
Fergie sightingSarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, showed up at Wimbledon on Tuesday but her name was not on the list of royal guests. "She was not here officially as a guest of the club today," an All England club spokesman said. "She was a guest of a private member." Officials said Fergie was a guest of Mark McCormack, head of IMG, the American sports marketing company. The duchess arrived in a chauffeur-driven car outside the gate reserved for corporate guests. Asked which match she had come to see, she said only, "Tennis." But she didn't see any tennis. With rain still falling, she left just after 4 p.m. Also spotted at Wimbledon were Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and his latest companion, 29-year-old Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones.
Lone resultThere may not have been any play at Wimbledon on Tuesday. But there was one result. Scott Humphries of the United States and Romania's Catalina Cristea retired from the mixed doubles because the American has a hamstring injury. The result was that Zimbabwean brother and sister Wayne and Cara Black advanced to the third round on a 6-2, 4-6, 4-2 scoreline. The game was held over from Monday and should have been finished Tuesday.
Jelena vs. SteffiAustralian 16-year-old sensation Jelena Dokic has been practicing with seven-time Wimbledon champion Steffi Graf. The two could meet in Saturday's final. "We have been hitting and helping each other out to warm up each other," Dokic said. "She is a great player and a real pro. "In practice she gives me tips on what I should work on and things to do. And I have to say she's one of the best players I have spoken to and met." And a final between the two? "It will be tough ... but I'm not worried about that," Dokic said. "I have a lot of matches here to go."
Muscular girlMary Pierce has admitted using the muscle-building supplement Creatine. But after losing her fourth-round match Monday to Jelena Dokic, she was in no mood to talk about it any more. Asked whether Creatine had helped her game, the American-raised French player turned toward a Wimbledon official and said, "I think we can go into [questions in] French." When the reporter repeated the question, Pierce insisted: "Can we go into French, please." The British press has focused on Pierce's new muscular build and her use of the supplements.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
