Russia's Anastasia Potapova serves to Russia's Mirra Andreeva during the women's singles match on day seven of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
By Ken Maguire
Where and when to pop your Champagne is such a Wimbledon problem.
Someone got the timing wrong Sunday at the oldest Grand Slam tournament, where the bubbly helps wash down the strawberries and cream.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please, if you are opening a bottle of Champagne don’t do it as the player is about to serve. Thank you,” Australian umpire John Blom announced just after the start of a match on No. 3 Court.
Anastasia Potapova smiled and nodded in approval. The 22nd-seeded player was serving to start her third-round match against teenager Mirra Andreeva. When she tossed the ball in the air a cork popped and she sent the serve long. She then lost the point on her second serve, and the umpire's warning followed.
Lanson Champagne is available on the grounds of the All England Club by the glass, half-bottle and bottle. “Le White Label Sec” goes for 95.10 pounds ($122) for a bottle.
“Usually, actually, we buy it here, but it’s quite nice that you can actually bring your own in, which I didn’t realize until my husband looked it up this morning,” said Sarah-Jane Watson, a lawyer from Surrey.
“We brought a bottle," she said, “and then we bought a bottle.”
They watched matches at No. 2 Court, where a security guard asked that they not open the bottle inside.
A cork was heard popping at Centre Court, though, between points during a match featuring Iga Swiatek and Belinda Bencic.
The 32nd-seeded Marie Bouzkova said she's too dialed in to be distracted. The Czech Republic native, who lost to Marketa Vondrousova, said during a match a couple of years ago she hadn't noticed a fire alarm going off in a nearby building.
“I was like ‘what fire alarm?'” she said.
Though there's at least one place, she added, that's a bit louder than average: Flushing Meadows.
“In New York," Bouzkova said, "you have more outside noise, I would say, just from the crowd either drinking maybe too much beer or just being a little bit more loud.”
Sean Green, Co-founder of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, discusses which teams he's leaning towards and away from, who the breakout stars will be, and explains why UCLA, a No. 4 seed, will leave New Orleans with the title.
Sponsored by BetMGM
BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker gives her plays for some of the NCAA Tournament's biggest storylines, and explains why she is selling on both Coach K and - yes - Sister Jean.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, joined Cheddar News senior reporter, Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about Barstool Sportsbook and the NCAA March Madness tournaments. "What we really believe is that there's going to be the next generation of sports bettor, [who] will follow sports the way Barstool Sports follow sports," she said. "They'll like winners. They'll like losers. They'll like the storylines. They'll like the drama with the fans.”
Amy Purdy, the three-time Paralympic medalist and first double-leg amputee competitive snowboarder, made her debut as a commentator at this year's games, and she joined Cheddar News to recap the event. "I like to challenge myself because I was challenging myself as a Paralympic athlete myself," she said. "But then to be able to be a commentator and be able to, you know, support the game, support the athletes in a completely different way, it was a lot of fun."
College basketball forward for the HBCU Texas Southern University, Mimi O'Neal, daughter of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, is pushing for more changes in light of gender equity scandals in NCAA college hoops brought to light on social media last year.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tyler Fulghum, ESPN betting analyst, joins Cheddar Bets to break down the best value picks of the remaining teams in the biggest conference tournaments.
Sponsored by BetMGM
BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker joins Cheddar Bets to break down the biggest and best wagers on the quarterfinal round of NCAA Conference Tournament Week.
Sponsored by BetMGM
