Love is all around for Garcia but it’s no laugh-in for umpires while Sock’s around
have seen the future of rock ’n’ roll and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” When the American critic Jon Landau made his famous pronouncement, the British critics sneered – no one wants to be told what to like. But it worked out for Broooooce in the end, and for Landau too – he was promoted to Springsteen’s producer and righthand man.
Did Caroline Garcia, the gamine No 6 seed from France, feel the weight of expectation when in 2011 Andy Murray raved about her?
The Scot tweeted: “What a player, u heard it here first” and although she insists this didn’t bring pressure it has taken time for the promise she showed at 17 to bear fruit. Just edged out by Johanna Konta at last year’s Wimbledon, she finished 2017 strongly by becoming the first WTA player to win the Wuhan and China Opens back-to-back, beating the likes of Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber along the way.
Garcia loves her mum and dad (also her coaches) and her pet Yorkshire Endy. At one time her heart’s desire was a Burberry scarf, though
0 Caroline Garcia: Murray tip. this may have changed as she sticks out her arms for a flying celebration in bigger and bigger matches. Might she end up recruiting Murray like Springsteen did Landau?
The Diary thinks Andy will
0 Ryan Porteous: Hibs tip. be too busy mentoring Ryan Porteous to become the rock of the Hibernian defence for years to come. here must have been a collective shudder in the exclusive-to-umpires Fortnite Dance Theme Bar at Wimbledon – the Diary is forced to concede there is no definite proof that such an on-site facility actually exists – when the games were allocated and the name of Jack Sock came up.
The officials would have winced because of the American’s strained relationship with officialdom. Sock’s highhanded attitude towards highchaired referees in the recent past has included Superbrat-esque shrieks of “Atrocious!”, demands for replacement umpires and a variation on the do-you-know-who-iam? diatribe: “I can do whatever I want. I’m a player. You wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t here.”
Now, Sock to the Diary, being of a certain age, conjures up memories from childhood of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in, still the greatest TV show for its early 1970s riot of dayglo colours and blizzard of quick quips including “Very interesting … but stupid”, “The news wouldn’t be the news without Dickie”, “Here come da judge” (can the Diary still use that one?) and of course “Sock it to me.”
Truly, these were simpler times, happier times. Well, if we don’t count Watergate and the Vietnam War.