Reginald Brace at Wimbledon: Return of HRH may produce majestic show from Murray

THE Queen visits Wimbledon today for the first time since the centenary Championships in 1977 when Virginia Wade marked Silver Jubilee year by capturing the women's title.

Fast forward 33 years and the memory of a joyous occasion remains untarnished.

Virginia clutching the hallowed trophy after beating Betty Stove, with the Queen leading the applause on an exultant Centre Court. All was well with British tennis.

So what went wrong?

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Who could have forecast the relentless decline that has led to only one British player surviving the first two days of the Championships, and the post-Wimbledon possibility of defeat by Turkey which would plunge us into the lowest division of the Davis Cup?

The Lawn Tennis Association held a backs-to-the-wall media conference at the All Engand Club yesterday to explain this year's debacle, with Leon Smith, head of men's tennis and Davis Cup captain, and Nigel Sears, head of women's tennis, fielding the questions.

The two spokesmen put on a brave face.

Sears thought that the collapse of Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong from winning positions did not reflect the progress they had made over the last two years.

It became a question of dealing with Wimbledon emotions rather than tennis and he felt that they would have won both matches had they taken place elsewhere.

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Sears believed there were fine Wimbledons to come from the youngsters Laura Robson and Heather Watson and he thought Yorkshire's Katie O'Brien battled magnificently in her three-set defeat.

Smith felt that too much media negativity was not good – "we get lambasted left, right and centre " – and promised steady progress towards more strength in depth. It all smacked of deja vu to veteran observers, who felt the excuses carried a familiar ring. But at least the LTA faced up to criticism of the lack of results from the millions of pounds which have been shovelled into player training. The trouble was we had heard it all before – including the promises of a rosier future.

Anyway, it is pleasing to welcome HRH back to the Royal Box to see our lone survivor, Andy Murray, pursue his championship quest against Jarkko Nieminen from Finland.

If it seems a long time since she visited the tournament, it should be remembered that she is closer to horses than tennis. Hopefully the monarch's return will be rewarded by a majestic performance from Murray, who has promised to perform the time-honoured bow.

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The day ended with the most extraordinary match ever played at Wimbledon still unfinished.

Fading light sent Nicolas Mahut of France and John Isner of the United States off court at 59-all in the fifth set after 10 hours play which originally began on Tuesday night. It was the longest contest in the history of the game.

The statistics are mind reeling. Mahut served 95 aces while the 6ft 9ins Isner hit 98. The last set alone lasted seven hours six minutes. And the packed crowd around Court 18 did not want the drama to finish.

Whoever wins when hostilities are resumed today, the two players deserved last night's ovation for their endurance and refusal to yield. Isner in particular looked groggy and Mahut was beginning to show the strain of an amazing contest. But both men were still producing vintage shots when dusk pulled down the curtain.

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