Wimbledon Diary: Set your watches by the weather prophets of SW19

The Diary is mightily impressed with Wimbledon's ability to predict the weather in a country where it is a notoriously tricky business, as Michael Fish will attest. At the start of the day on Wednesday the word from Wimbledon was that Roger Federer's match with Marat Safin would not get on court until 4pm, which is almost exactly when it began. Uncanny. And during yesterday's rain-hit women's semi-finals the predictions were equally accurate, with forecasts suggesting rain would stop within five minutes and the sun would come out. And lo and behold. Bingo. Clouds clear, sun shines. Maybe someone within Wimbledon HQ has a hotline to the Big Man? Also, the All England Club should be congratulated on the way the lines of communication are kept open with the punters who are advised, via the many Tannoys, when the covers are... [read full story]