Even trash has its class at Wimbledon

LONDON, JULY 3. The trademark colours of green-and-purple seem to be all-pervasive at the $11.8 million Wimbledon Championships right down to the trash can liners.

Basic black is not good enough any more for the World's top tournament. This year, bin liners all over the grounds of the All England Club are tinted a more subtle and sophisticated club dark purple to match many of the other surroundings.

The theory may be that the thousands of fans, who pour through the gates of the club each day for the tennis fortnight will be more likely to stash their litter in the smart-look bins, partly because they are so out-of-the-ordinarily handsome with their posh new liners.

In other tournament housekeeping notes, thousands of extra floral arrangements have been laid on around the grounds for this edition.

Sales of suntan lotion seem to have reached something of a summer frenzy, with souvenir shop officials reporting that the protective cream has outsold cameras for the first time.

The phenomenon might be short-lived, though, as the traditional rain is forecast towards the end of the week, a change sure to spur umbrella sales.

It's `Fiesta' time for Barry

Among the lifestyle trivia dug up on brave battling Brit Barry Cowan, who last week stretched top seed Pete Sampras to five sets - his car is about as old as they come.

The lanky loser, who lives at home with his working- class parents in the north of England was reported to drive a Ford Fiesta registered in the mid-1990s, an appropriate accompaniment to his modest lifestyle on the fringes of tennis.

The machine stands in sharp contrast to the BMW Z8 in the Sampras garage back home in Los Angeles. Other tennis players also show a love of fine machinery.

Brit Greg Rusedski drives a Jaguar, whose anti-theft alarm managed to go off in the club parking lot at a pre- Wimbledon tournament in Nottingham.

Jan-Michael Gambill, his opponent at the time, is an avid collector of the British marque and also has a fondness for the live Jaguar as well.

Patrick Rafter doesn't bother with a car on his Island retreat in the Bermudas. Compatriot Lleyton Hewitt uses a BMW at home in Adelaide.

Andre Agassi, meanwhile, could afford any Mercedes or Ferrari in circulation, but loves nothing better than to get behind the wheel of one of the huge, American-made land-yachts, put it on cruise control and travel on auto-pilot.

No home alone for Clijsters:

Belgian star Kim Clijsters admits life on the professional tennis circuit can get very lonely but she has the ideal recipe to combat the problem in boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt.

``It's nice to have someone with you on tour. It's not that I see him every tournament, so at the big ones, it's nice to have someone who you trust and who is always there for you. We live a very lonely life,'' explained the French Open finalist Clijsters, through to the last eight of the women's singles.

- AFP, DPA

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