FOR years those oh so precious things of the ladies locker room at Wimbledon bitched and moaned.
First they wanted equal prize-money to their male counterparts – for spending less than half the time on court.
And they got it.
But it seems that £700,000 for around 15 sets of tennis isn’t enough.
Some of those poor pampered ladies of the circuit now want choice of courts, preferably close to the locker rooms, brollies held over their fevered brows and a helicopter, if possible, to get to courtside.
Before she was knocked out this week, Jelena Jankovic griped: “I was very surprised that we were not treated as we should be. I think, for the first two sets, there was not a ball boy putting the umbrella behind us. I told the umpire that it wasn't really professional.”
Not content with that brolly bad show, Jankovic then whinged that she “needed a helicopter” to get to court no.18, where her Wimbledon run ended, and might as well have been playing in the parking lot – court 18 is about 100 yards from Centre Court.
Then Serena Williams kicked off about having to play all the way out on Court Two. “I do think it is weird, especially for the defending female champion, Venus, who has won the tournament four times,” she said.
Roger Federer’s riposte was more cutting than anything I could supply.
“Pete Sampras played on Court 2 after winning seven times. Who deserves what here?” said the champion.
“It’s the club who decides in the end. We’re happy to be playing here.”
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