Tennis Shorts

The Fred

* Scary Moment: Play at Wimbledon was suddenly halted Monday on Court 7, when one player rushed the net and hit a volley. The umpire and line-persons were stunned; the opponent was offended. Nobody had seen a volley at net in years and officials were not sure if it was a legal shot. Several spectators had to be treated for a form of vertigo. Play continued, with the offender promising to stay at the baseline.

At last report, the net had fully recovered from its close exposure to a player.

* Ch-Ch-Ch-Chattered. ESPN was generous in its coverage of actual play on The Championship's first day with nearly 20% of coverage devoted to match action. ESPN has limited court-side chatter among its 45 announcers to 50% of coverage time, with the remaining 30% reserved for commercials.

ESPN is experimenting with allowing announcers to narrate while points are being played, including having the announcers predict a player's shot before they actually make it.

Ann Hayden Jones

* Royal Rumors... are flying about the Queen's possible attendance at Centre Court in her Diamond Jubilee year. Usually, the Queen leaves this royal role to lesser immortals. Apparently, She Who Really Must Be Obeyed is keen on the idea as long as a British player makes it to the finals. Reportedly, she wanted to know Bobby Wilson's and Ann Jones's chances this year.

* Terrible Twenty-Twos. American player, Donald Young, was defeated in his first round match. This was his twelfth loss in a row on the tour.

When asked if it was time for the 22 year-old Young to hire a new coach to replace his parents, perhaps former coach Patrick McEnroe, his mother responded: "McEnroe constantly forgot Donald's feeding times and refused to carry his racquets for him. Enough said on that subject. It's just a phase."

Young could not be reached for comment. He was napping.