Wednesday, July 4

Winning Wimbledon - with an infographic

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge.

Today information graphics surround us in the media, in published works, in road signs and manuals. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form, and act as a visual shorthand for everyday concepts such as stop and go.

These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information.

I'm pretty sure they used to be called 'pictures' or 'graphics'. Regardless of this, now there's one for winning Wimbledon.

Resistance is useless!

I was extremely happy today when the BBC commentator compared Djokovic's ability to adapt to his opponent's game as being like that of the 'Borg'. It was the Vogons who used the phrase 'resistance is useless' before the Borg's 'resistance is futile' but I believe either would have applied to the first matches out on the show courts today.


Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both delivered quarter-final masterclasses, in straight sets, against Florian Mayer an Mikhail Youzhny respectively. At one point Youzhny appealed to Andre Agassi and the Royal Box for some advice on how to cope with Federer's onslaught. In less than two hours, including the rain delay, it was all over. The Russian won just four games. Germany's Florian Mayer did manage to take nine games from Novak but again he didn't come close to really threatening the defending champion. So we can now look forward to what promises to be an explosive semi-final.

BBGs - safer than Murray's pockets!

Each year around 700 boys and girls apply to spend two weeks in the summer chasing and collecting tennis balls during the Championships. The ball boys and ball girls, or BBGs, are so much a part of the furniture that you could be forgiven for not noticing them and in some respects that is how they'd like it. The chances are if a BBG is in the spotlight it's because they've made a mistake or had the misfortune to slip over when going for the ball.


The BBGs, aged 15 on average, begin training over four months before the start of Wimbledon. The final squad will number 250 and they need to fit and disciplined, as well as have a good understanding the game. They are also taught how to stand still and must be able to hold the pose without fidgeting for a long time.


No matter what emotions the players are going through the BBGs need to maintain their unintrusive, professional manner at all times on court. They are constantly vigilant for stray balls and avoiding serves coming at them at over 100 mph. They have even been involved in moments of levity such as Del Potro teasing a ball boy during a match at Wimbledon against Nadal last year. It did get a laugh from the crowd and it will long be a talking point for the young lad involved.  You can see it here on YouTube.

Rufus flies again

That was a nervous couple of days I can tell you.  Were my nails bitten down watching Andy Murray battle into the night against Marcos Baghdatis?  Well yes they were however the news that Rufus had been 'stolen' caused extreme consternation.

In case you've been unconscious since last Friday, Rufus is a Harris hawk whose main responsibility is to gently persuade the pigeons of SW19 that they should flap off and build their nests somewhere else.  He vanished from his cage overnight and wasn't even wearing his radio transmitter so nobody knew where he was.  Fortunately Harris hawks are not often seen on Wimbledon Common so once spotted he was soon back with his owners, the Davis family.

Apart from a slight leg injury he appears to have come through his ordeal unscathed. After a day's rest and a few press conferences Rufus is back flying over Centre Court today.  We can only speculate as to the nature of his disappearance, perhaps the pigeons tried to organise a hit?