Americans taking Wimbledon by storm

The noise had built and built. Friday came, and the Sun implored Murray, "BEAM US UP, ANDY" with a "Star Trek" motif and Murray's photo superimposed into a shaft of light. ("Murray Faces Final Frontier After 71 Years Of Hurt," went the sub-headline.) Outside the grounds, about 800 people had bought a T-shirt of a shirtless Murray flexing with the words, "MURRAY'S IN MINT CONDITION," designed by business partners Mark West and Dallas Ayres, whose parents named her for the TV show. "We're also selling Michael Jackson T-shirts," West said. And then, by the end of another jarring day at Wimbledon, after Murray's loss to Andy Roddick, up on Murray Mound, formerly Henman Hill, the thick throng had mostly dissipated. Scattered gentle sorts sat at picnic tables. A cleanup worker reached under a table to find three empty champagne bottles and one empty wine bottle, and then he took his rake and swept away a bunch of cups.

STATISTIC OF THE DAY

12-0 -- Roger Federer's record in Grand Slam finals not involving Rafael Nadal.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Andy Roddick, on his new wife, model Brooklyn Decker: "You know, Brook has been a very calming influence, and is someone that I can kind of confide in and not have to put up, you know, a super brave front in front of. So it's been real good. And, you know, certainly makes the [Friends] Box better-looking."

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chuck.culpepper@yahoo.com