Wimbledon Digest

A round up of today's other Wimbledon stories in brief...

Tipsarevic puts the books away

Janko Tipsarevic is a little bit different from some of the more vacant heads on the tennis circuit. The Serbian, who has a quote from Dostoevsky tattooed on his forearm ("Beauty will save the world") is an avid reader but has put the books away for Wimbledon.

"Some of the books that I was reading were kind of depressing and I didn't really like the thinking of the world that surrounds me after reading these books, especially the life that I have on tour," said Tipsarevic. "I just have a problem dividing what I have read from the reality of the world we are living in now in the 21st century."

McEnroe sells Warhol portrait

John McEnroe is selling an Andy Warhol painting he owns today in London. Sotheby's are to auction the rarely seen portrait of him and his first wife, Tatum O'Neil. The proceeds, which could be as high as €450,000, are going to charity.

McEnroe began to take an interest in art in the 1970s after his then mixed-doubles partner Mary Carillo took him to look at Monet's painting of water lilies at the Jeu de Paume during the French Open.

Later his friend and fellow player, the late Vitas Gerulaitis, took him around the art galleries of New York. McEnroe once owned a gallery in New York.

For his latest commission, McEnroe has asked 60s West coast Pop artist Ed Ruscha, who makes paintings with words emblazoned on the canvas, to do one with the immortal words "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS" on it.

Tipperary woman Brady treats stars

In the ongoing reporting of Irish influences everywhere at Wimbledon but on the court, Elaine Brady is also at the heart of the action. Brady is a physiotherapist working with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

She works behind the scenes treating players before and after matches and also performs what are called "court calls" should a player feel unwell or get injured during a match.

Elaine is from Tipperary and previously worked in the Mater Hospital as a senior physiotherapist before joining the WTA.

Wimbledon stirs couch potatoes

The Wimbledon championships are more of an inspiration to Britons to get fit than any other sporting event, it was revealed yesterday.

Searches online for tennis courts, equipment and lessons all soar during Wimbledon, a survey by online company www.Yell.comfound.

The survey also revealed that while other major sporting events led to a 19 per cent increase in searches, last year's Wimbledon resulted in a 53 per cent rise in tennis-related site searches.

On July 11th last year, two days after the end of the championships, there was an 87 per cent increase.