Other Wimbledon stories in brief

Championships a real family affair

AMONG THE relations taking part in this year's tournament are three sets of sisters, four sets of brothers, a brother and a sister, a set of twins and a married couple. Venus Williams and younger sister Serena are playing in the singles and doubles.

Andy and Jamie Murray are here as are brother and sister Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. Thai twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana are in the draw, while the only married couple competing are Robert Seguso and his wife Carling Bassett-Seguso.

Seguso plays in men's senior doubles and his wife in the women's senior doubles.

Brothers Christophe and Olivier Rochus, from Belgium, are here; the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, feature in the men's doubles; Luke and Murphy Jensen are in the men's invitational doubles.

And sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko and Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska are in the women's singles.

Gym work helps Murray's fitness

RAFAEL NADAL has evidently made an impression on other players. Andy Murray, the 21-year-old Scot, has been criticised for not working as hard as some of his fellow players with Nadal's physique setting the standard. But Murray is fighting back.

"You've got to see me in the gym. I was doing chin-ups with a 20kg weight attached to me a week ago," he said. "My five-set record is much better and I've put on nine pounds since November and I want to put on the same again."

End of the line for Davenport

FORMER CHAMPION Lindsay Davenport hinted she might have played her last Wimbledon after pulling out of the tournament yesterday with an injured knee. The 1999 winner was due to play against Gisela Dulko in the second round but withdrew just hours before she was due on court. "I would be surprised if I were back here playing," she said. "I'm very short sighted about my future. I'm looking forward to the Olympics and the US Open, then no plans."

The 32-year old had her first baby just over a year ago.

Peta officials take issue

ON WEDNESDAY The All England club was reported to the Metropolitan Police wildlife crime unit for alleged infringement of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. In a letter to the club's chairman, Tim Phillips, from Bruce Friedrich, the vice- president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), which bills itself as "the world's largest animal rights organisation", the club was warned it could face court action for shooting pigeons. The club normally uses a hawk to scare away the pesky birds but players complained of being dive bombed before the marksman was hired.