By Alex Perry and Piers Newbery BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Publicity-seeking Russians

It seems in Anna Kournikova's absence, the army of fellow Russians taking her place at Wimbledon this year are equally interested in their off-court publicity.

Old hand Elena Likhovtseva and highest-ranked Russian Anastasia Myskina had obviously been tipped off to a full-page article in the Daily Telegraph on Friday.

And both were seen eagerly buying up copies of the said paper in the Wimbledon newsagents before frantically flicking through the pages to check out what the latest article had to say about them.

Venus on form

Venus Williams may not have been in the best form coming into Wimbledon, but she clearly feels things are looking up.

QUOTE OF THE DAY It was like lightning in my brain Rainer Schuettler is surprised when a lob beats Todd Martin

After her crushing win over the highly-rated Nadia Petrova the American felt it had not been that long since her last stellar performance.

"When was the last time you felt like you had all the right shots from the start of a match?" she was asked.

"I guess on Wednesday," Venus replied.

Music to our ears

Lindsay Davenport says that tennis could be livened up by playing music in the change of ends.

Which got us to thinking what they might play at Wimbledon.

"You cannot be serious" by Weird Al Yankovic would probably get the crowd in the mood, while Westlife's "Swear it again" would probably be appropriate if Greg Rusedski is playing.

Andy Roddick's favourite number would no doubt be ACDC's Thunderstruck with his bullet serve.

But after Friday's weather, perhaps "Why does it always rain on me" by Travis would be more appropriate.

Rarely would Tim Henman's name be uttered in the same breath as the Rolling Stones.

The British number one, however, would certainly walk on court to the tune of "You can't always get what you want."