Wimble-dine? Not at this price!

THE cost of attending Wimbledon just keeps on rising.

The price of a Pimms at a tent on Henman Hill was an eye watering £11.20 a glass.

A bottle of Lanson Le Black Label Brut Champagne came in at £87. That’s $110 US – a bottle.

And some food to enjoy with that glass of very expensive champers?

At a seafood bar onsite, caviar is £30 ($38.00) a spoonful, whilst a while a seafood platter consisting of crab and salmon and cream cheese comest at £70 ($89.00)

Plant-based ‘vegan friendly’ option for cream is also available with strawberries. A couple of berries and a dollop of whatever this non-cream is, for £2.50 ($3.18).

A beer will set you back £7.55 (almost ten bucks) and a gin and tonic £10 ($12).

Looking for a souvenir? They’ve got you there as well.

£135 ($171) for a Ralph Lauren polo shirt that will cost little more than a ten pounds in a far east sweat shop to produce and £39 ($50) for a Wimbledon towel.

As for tickets…

A seat on centre court on days one or two will cost you costs £80 ($101), but that increases as the tournament progresses. A minimum of £255 (324) for the men’s and women’s finals.

One positive, fans can bring their own drinks, with a limit of one bottle of wine or champagne (750ml) or two cans of beer (500ml) or two cans of premixed aperitifs per person. No spirits.

DEFENDING champion Elena Rybakina has given her verdict on Wimbledon’s new underwear rule change that allows players to play in darker shorts, as a good idea.

For many years Wimbledon has enforced a strict all-white rule for the event.

And the rule has been strictly enforced as nothing from caps to underwear could be anything but white.

But for women, it often created some unease, especially during times of the month.

And after years of campaigning, the rules have been relaxed to allow players to wear coloured underwear.

WTA Council member Victoria Azarenka has praised the move calling it an important step.

“I think it’s good to have an option. But the same time I was also fine with all white,” Rybakina said.

“We still have the same tradition to be in full white. It’s just maybe little adjustment. Overall I think it’s good, yeah.”

But why was Jannik Sinner allowed to take a coloured Gucci bag onto the Centre Court, as part of new relaxed rulings?

PIC OF THE WEEK 1: When royalty meets royalty. The Princess of Wales with Roger Federer (and wife Mirka) at Wimbledon on week one.

WILL someone tell William John Ward what a ‘dick’ he is.

Who? The Just Stop Oil eco-terrorist who ran on to court 18 at Wimbledon on Wednesday complaining that the end of the world was nigh.

Flinging jigsaw pieces and confetti onto the ground, Ward, a retired engineer, should know better.

But, dressed in clothing created because of oil derivatives, this idiot said he ‘didn’t want to make a racket’ – no pun intended.

Yet he did, saying that right now, millions of people are being forced outside of the conditions necessary to support human life.

Fact: Life expectancy around the world has grown massively over the last 100 years.

Normally retirement brings travel, gardening, visiting stately homes.

Not for Ward, or retired teacher Deborah Wilde and retired musician Simon Miltner-Edwards, who invaded the same court on Tuesday.

All have been charged with what the police said was ‘aggravated trespass and criminal damage’.

Perhaps a spell of retirement behind bars might wake these idiots up.

And Wimbledon’s air-tight security measures?

THIS has to be the weirdest Wimbledon story of the week. An advertisement on the London Underground has caused a stir with Andy Murray as it unintentionally featured his groin and genitalia.

Having a metal hip, Murray has gone from potentially ending his career to continuing towards the highest level.

Castore, his main kit sponsor, released the x-ray of his metal hip which some have noted features his private bits!

It shows the 36-year-old’s metal hip crucially on one side with the caption: “Better Never Stops” as a note to his return.

It features his pelvic bone, bottom vertebrae and upper leg. But some eagle-eyed watchers also spotted the x-rated bits.

Did Castore know? Or perhaps they saw it as talking point that would generate more brand publicity.

AND this has to be the oddest story from a player…

Aussie Daria Saville, who was playing Katie Boulter in that match interrupted by the eco-terrorist and his confetti, said she was subjected to some English fans trying to put her off.

“These guys at the back were like making farting noises, that was very distracting. That really annoyed me, drove me nuts and I’ve got freaking ADHD,” Saville said.

“I did make a complaint but what they were doing was so subtle. Or maybe they weren’t being subtle, maybe they weren’t all there. I tried not to look at them, I wasn’t sure, maybe they have a disability.

“I put my towel down and they were talking to me saying, ‘oh good luck’, they were being sarcastic. Katie won the point and they say ‘good try’. I assume they were British, I don’t think the Aussies would be doing that to distract me.”

WIMBLEDON WTF moment…

Why was Britain’s ‘hypocrite general’, former soccer star Gary Lineker, chairing an environmental panel discussion at Wimbledon last week?

Lineker, a multi-millionaire TV presenter, who flies around the world first class, and drives expensive gas-guzzling cars, supported the Just Stop Oil protesters, who disrupted play on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Does he have any scientific qualifications to warrant such a role? No.

CONGRATS to former World No.1 Ash Barty, who gave birth to a son, Hayden, during the week.

Barty’s husband, golfer Garry Kissick, announced Hayden’s birth in an Instagram post today, saying: “Our beautiful boy … Welcome to the world, Hayden!”

Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suárez Navarro and Johanna Konta were among the first to congratulate her.

“Congratulations mama!” Azarenka wrote. “All the best to you guys.”

ELINA Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who welcomed daughter Skai to the world last October, posted images of their new ‘family’ on social media last week.

Svitolina returned to the sport during the clay season and the images on the post included two mirror selfies taken eight months apart, with Svitolina posing with daughter Skai as a month old infant and an eight-and-a-half month old toddler.

ONE to watch? Some think so. Brit Jan Choinski, born in Germany to a Polish father and English mother, is currently world no. 164 and appeared at Wimbledon for the first time.

Fitness freak Choinski realised last week he consumes 5500 calories a day.

“I eat a lot of carbs and keep it healthy,” he said.

GST is reliably informed his daily intake is the same as the World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper.

And his mum, from the southern city of Southampton, was a ballet dancer.

PIC OF THE WEEK 2: Is it finally the end for much-loved Venus Williams?