wimbledon diary - july 2

Sir Cliff - or is it Jimmy Jermaine?

An Absolutely Fabulous sight in the Royal Box enclosure on Centre Court... Jennifer Saunders and daughter, Freya, 16.

And, no, not even once, did mum appear to call her offspring "Sweetie" - or ask her to fetch a glass of "bubbles".

Ms Saunders, married to fellow comedian Adrian Edmondson, was only one of the famous showbiz faces among the elite fans on what has become known as Sporting Saturday.

There were plenty of other showbiz celebs there among the legends of the track and field.

Saunders surely swapped some notes with on-screen partner Dawn French, whose seats were booked in her own name rather than that of her companion and husband, Lenny Henry.

And the trio might even have heard one of veteran Wimbledon fan Bruce Forsyth's catchphrases after each match: "Good game, good game".

Soccer knights Bobby Charlton and Bobby Robson most probably discussed the merits of the £16.5million transfer of Darren Bent to Tottenham

- although they would have had to keep their voices down as he was seated just in front of them - with mum, Shirley.

Also rubbing shoulders with the Royals, represented on Saturday by the Duchess of Gloucester and Lady Rose Windsor, were Martina Navratilova - who must have had a day off from BBC commentating - octogenarian former champion and pro tennis promoter Jack Kramer, Dame Kelly Holmes, top gymnast Beth Tweddle, cricket legend Clive Lloyd, golf's former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher and TV personality Des Lynam.

And two more sporting Sirs: golden oarsmen Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.

We even had a 'Brit' on Centre Court with Greg Rusedski, the Lawn Tennis Association's new youth development officer, taking his place in the Royal Box as well.

But, as far as Diary is aware, no sign yet of Mr Harry Webb - aka Cliff 'Lucky Lips' Richard, who has been known to start a sing-song or two when the weather gets bad.

A sighting was reported just outside Wimbledon railway station but, happily, this turned out to be lookalike-soundalike Jimmy Jermaine, a winner of the 'Stars in their Eyes' TV talent contest a few years ago, who was entertaining train-travelling fans.

As the man loading people five at a time into tennis-bound taxis at £2.50 a head, so graphically put it: "He only knows about six songs. Sounds better than Cliff, though."

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Definition of optimism? Two pretty ladies from Ambre Solaire offering free sun cream to fans on their way to Wimbledon on rain-soaked Saturday. Unsurprisingly, not many takers.

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Don't talk to French star Marion Bartoli about the Federation Cup, the women's equivalent of the Davis Cup.

She's fed up with the Fed Cup - or, at least, all the speculation surrounding her likely selection for her national team.

Bartoli, 22, who pre-Wimbledon had impressive grass-court performances when reaching the latter rounds at Roland Garros, Birmingham, and Eastbourne in consecutive weeks, had just completed a long interview in French only to face the first English question after beating Israel's Shahar Peer: "Can I ask you about Fed Cup?"

Bartoli's face was a picture. Then, after a pause, she ranted: "I just spoke in French for 10 minutes about Fed Cup. What the... about Fed Cup?"

Raving on, she frothed: "I'm not doing the selection. The captain is doing it and he has not done it already. So I don't know if I'm in it. The question is not in the moment. I can't answer your question because I don't know."

Calm down, Mademoiselle.

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Gold earrings, ankle-length flowery dresses and Ena Sharples-style hair-nets - all worn by Leicester's De Montfort University students Dominic, Adam and Daniel despite rumours of a ban on fancy dress at Wimbledon this year.

The lads - far from being Hooray Henrys, although they admitted to having had a "little bit" of drink and pizza for breakfast - reported they had queued to purchase ground-passes and were determined to have fun providing some free entertainment "in the interest of British spirit".

Any problems getting in? "None," said Dominic. "They appreciate here that people like a laugh. And we've enjoyed it, watching Venus Williams, the Bryan brothers and having a chat with the long jumper Jonathan Edwards."

A Wimbledon spokeswoman said: "After the 'Fathers for Justice' episode last year [when two publicity-seekers ran on court to play "a few points" during a break in the Federer-Ancic quarter final], we have tightened up a little on dress code but anything within the spirit of the event is still okay."