WIMBLEDON 2

So. Hewitt played better than he has for years, which was terrific to see; Sharapova fell early, which wasn't; Safina - no.1 in the world rankings - was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by the great Venus Williams, but Dementieva almost beat Serena, losing only through a faltering of the mind (which is surely inevitable whenever she glances up at her mother: a woman so fretful-faced and nervy that just to see her there, as the camera too often did, was to feel your soul shrivel a bit).

Murray went down fighting, but will come up again; and though you had to feel sorry for Roddick, given what was at stake for him and after how magnificently he played his last matches - and how hugely his range of shot has improved - I passionately wanted Roger Federer to win . . . and I want him to go on to win many more Grand Slam tournaments yet. He’s so clearly an artist on a whole other level that to want to see him break all records is merely to want to see justice done.