Laver salutes grass-court tradition: ROD Laver believes Wimbledon will eventually become the last grass-court tournament on the professional tennis calendar.

The grass-court season currently lasts for barely a month, encompassing tournaments including Halle, Queen’s, Eastbourne, Edgbaston and a solitary event in the United States, at Newport, Rhode Island.

Former Wimbledon champion Laver, 70, said of the All England Club: “This has been here forever and it’s not going to go anywhere.

“I would say this is going to be the last event that will have grass. I hope that Wimbledon never loses the grass. I remember when we were coming up, certain players didn’t play well on grass, so they hated it. So they would say, ‘Get rid of this grass’. “Then some press people would write a big article, ‘Why don’t we get rid of the grass?’. “But, no, I can’t see Wimbledon leaving grass.”

Tendulkar meets his boyhood hero

SACHIN Tendulkar, the superstar India cricketer, was a guest in the Royal Box yesterday.

No doubt he would have appreciated the drama of the men’s final, but Tendulkar may have also been starstruck before the match began. His boyhood hero was legendary star John McEnroe, and ‘Supermac’ was out on court before the players arrived, teeing up the match for the BBC television audience.

As a youngster, Tendulkar would copy McEnroe’s style, wearing wristbands and headbands, and played plenty of tennis until cricket began to dominate his life in the mid-1980s.

Ferguson keeps an eye on proceedings

MANCHESTER United manager Alex Ferguson was also spotted in the Centre Court crowd, so too Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and former Formula One driver David Coulthard. Yesterday’s Hollywood representatives – after visits from Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller earlier in the tournament – were Russell Crowe and Woody Allen.

Ace record just eludes Federer

ROGER Federer just missed out on the record number of aces in a match at Wimbledon. Ivo Karlovic holds that record, with 51 aces, Federer served 50 in the final.