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Police: Weapons not welcome at Wimbledon
Police are asking tennis fans to leave any weapons behind when they come to Wimbledon And stalkers aren't welcome at the lawn tennis championships, either.
"We're taking a robust approach toward arresting anybody who might turn up with any sort of offensive weapon. Those people can expect to be arrested," said Simon Ovens, Wimbledon superintendent of the London Metropolitan Police. "I would appeal to people not to turn up with any sort of weapon that they don't need."
Do people need to be told that?
"Oh yes, indeed," Ovens said Monday, the first day of the tournament. "It's extraordinary what people turn up with."
Stalkers had been cordially uninvited to Wimbledon.
"People that we had issues with last year have been written to and asked to stay away," Ovens said. If they don't heed the warning, "they'll be robustly dealt with."
Ovens wouldn't detail security measures but said there was no specific threat against Wimbledon.
"The measures are commensurate with the threat level facing London," he said. "We live in dangerous times, and we're well aware of the general threat to London at the moment from various organizations. Our aim is to police this event in a manner that is safe.
"Is the world a more dangerous place than this time last year? Yeah, it probably is."
As in the past, fans, officials and staff — including police — were forced to walk through metal detectors and have their bags searched at all entrances to the All England Club. Selected people were frisked, and police with dogs patrolled the grounds.
"Move Over Becks!" Serena and Venus Williams have visited England enough to understand that if something can overshadow Wimbledon, it's the national preoccupation with soccer.
Rather than compete with England's run at the European soccer championship in Portugal this week, the Williams sisters have embraced it.
Serena was featured on the front page of Monday's Daily Mail newspaper wearing a skimpy replica of David Beckham's No. 7 England jersey. The adjoining headline read: "Move Over Becks!"
Wimbledon organizers, however, were forcing sports fans to chose between soccer and tennis by refusing to broadcast Euro 2004 matches on the big TV screens around the All England Club, even during rain delays.
"While we fully appreciate and understand that many of our visitors will be interested in Euro 2004, their safety and the tennis must remain our first priorities," Wimbledon chief executive Chris Gorringe said.
"It is therefore not our intention to show football matches on the large-screen TV, although we shall try to let people know the scores of the matches via the general information system."
Federer Defending champion Roger Federer can't be accused of having an excessive entourage at Wimbledon. Attempting to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time, the 22-year-old Swiss star doesn't have a coach or employ anyone to monitor his rivals. "I don't have any spies here. I'm the only spy around," Federer said Monday after his 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 win over Andy Bogdanovic. Federer listed Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Tim Henman as his foremost challengers. "They're too far away in the draw really to send out scouts to see how they play," Federer said. "If I make the quarters or the semis, obviously I start looking at their matches. But just now, if I watch their match, it's more to enjoy than to study." |
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