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Sampras Three peat at Wimbledon

July 10, 1995

Pete Sampras blazed his way into the record books at Wimbledon yesterday as he became the first American to win three consecutive men's singles titles at the All England Club.

It was scarcely the most compelling spectacle of a hot, dry fortnight, but Sampras 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 final victory over a muted Boris Becker is likely to rank high on the 23-year-old champion's personal roll of achievements.

Apart from becoming only the second man in the modern era after Bjorn Borg to register a bat-trick of Wimbledon successes, it allowed Sampras to draw a line under a painful 12 months.

"To make this a three peat is something I'm pretty proud of," Sampras said. "Right now it's kind of a blur to be honest. I'll just go back home tomorrow, put the racket up for a bit and reflect on what I just did."

His coach Tim Gullikson is still battling a brain tumour, his world number one ranking has been hijacked by Andre Agassi and, since last year's Wimbledon, he had failed to win any of the three other major titles.

Sampras revealed afterwards he had dedicated his win to Gullikson and spoke to him by phone soon after coming off court.

"We were all pretty pumped. I really dedicated this win to Tim. He's a true champion. The way he has handled his treatment has been an inspiration. He's in great spirits and is hoping to do some travelling by the end of the year."

But Sampras, whose main priority once he gets home will be to go in search of "a good greasy burger, some fries and a Coke", remained untroubled by the comparative lack of acclaim he received from the Centre Court crowd.

"Boris is a great champion, he has played here a number of times, I knew the crowd were going to be on his side a little bit." he said. "I just go out with the attitude that I let my racket do the talking. I just hope they can appreciate my tennis. I'm not going to act like a jerk out there and that's the way I'll continue to be."

Smiling despite the comprehensive nature of his defeat, Becker said: "That was probably the best feeling in all the four finals I have lost. It's the first time I've ever been asked to do a lap of honour after losing!"

Becker, the oldest Wimbledon finalist since the 31-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1984, described Sampras' hat-trick as " an amazing feat" and said: "I think he has a very good chance of breaking Bjorn Borg's record of five [successive] wins here."

"When he's on the court he doesn't let anything disturb him. That's probably what you have to do to serve about 45 times on the lines."

"Unfortunately, he owns the Centre Court now. It belonged to me a few years ago, but now he owns it."

"Especially when he is leading he is an unbelievably good front-runner. Once he is up a break early in the set he hits those bombs and you just hope for rain."

"The [Cedric] Pioline and Agassi matches were very tough. I lost my power after the first set and I think Pete sensed that. He's the most difficult opponent I've faced in a Wimbledon final."

"I can't blame myself - I didn't have any chances at all."

"After the first set he just bombed me. My coach told me that I only won 20 points on his serve and sever of those were double faults."

The match barely flickered as a contest, except when Becker won the first set tie-break 7-5 to encourage visions of a fourth Wimbledon title 10 years after his first as a 17-year-old in 1985.

Sadly for Becker, the accuracy of his serve never matched his desire to win and 15 double faults badly undermined his cause.

Sampras, in contrast, unleashed 23 aces in a display notable for its power and precision if not its passion, and never allowed his opponent a single break point in the contest which lasted two hours 28 minutes.

With few rallies of more than seven strokes it made certain that, for the third successive year, the women's singles final turned out to be an infinitely more thrilling showpiece than the male version.

But with Sampras, who has now won six of his eight Grand Slam finals, the end result is far more important than showboating for the crowd and he has now gone 21 matches at Wimbledon without being defeated.

Becker was clearly the popular favourite, winning the biggest ovation even in defeat as he did an impromptu lap of honour with his consolation salver, but cold, hard statistics showed he won just 17 points on Sampras' serve in open play.

Double faults cost him crucial breaks early in the second, third and fourth sets and while Sampras regularly raised puffs of chalk, Becker's efforts invariably fell the wrong side of the lines..

At one stage in the final set he wandered along the baseline mimicking a blind man with no idea where the ball was going, an accurate summary of his ability to pick the Sampras serve.

The tiebreak was only the second he had ever won against his opponent in eight attempts spread over years, but the final outcome meant he has yet to beat Sampras anywhere outdoors.

Sampras received a record cheque of 365,000pound, while Becker collected 182,500pound.

Article supplied by Ida Tang

 

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Sampras romps to Wimbledon hat-trick
By Paul Hayward (The Electronic Telegraph)

July 10, 1995

Pete Sampras became the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1978 to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon men's singles titles by beating Boris Becker on a roasting Centre Court yesterday.

He wore his broadest smile as he lifted up the gold Challenge Cup trophy and waved to his girlfriend Delaina.

As Becker held aloft his salver for runner-up during a lap of honour made at the insistence of the crowd his wife Barbara and mother Heidi were in tears.

Sampras, 23, from Tampa in Florida, collected £365,000 for beating Becker 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, but did not plan a champagne and caviar celebration.

"I've been eating so well that I'm going to have a greasy burger, some French fries and Coke," he said.

The final, watched by the Princess of Wales, failed to achieve the same heights of excitement as Steffi Graf's victory over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario on Saturday, but was the climax of an emotional last day.

It lasted 2hr 28min and confirmed the defending champion as one of the elite of tennis.

Becker, who won the first of his three Wimbledon singles titles a decade ago, was relaxed as he chatted to the Duke and Duchess of Kent after the presentations.

He made a playful grab for Sampras's trophy, to applause and laughter from the crowd. Becker said he thought that Sampras could go on to surpass Borg's record of five consecutive wins. "He's young, he's fresh. Very few people have played against me the way he did today.

"I used to own the Centre Court a couple of years ago. Now he owns it."

Referring to press reports, he said: "I see that some of you guys call me the old lion. I may have a beard like one, but at 27 I don't feel that old yet."

 

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Becker hands 'back garden' over to new era's champion
By: Paul Hayward (UK Telegraph)

July 10, 1995

There was no escape from the rifle-crack of Pete Sampras's serve, no hiding place for Boris Becker as he sought to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his first Wimbledon win with a fourth. He was taken apart by an opponent who was too young, too sharp, too good. Becker said: "He owns the Centre Court now."

Perhaps the only spectator who got real value for money from this one-sided encounter was the woman who grabbed not one but two of the shirts Sampras threw into the crowd. It was a match which juddered on the point of take-off for nearly 21/2 hours but confirmed Sampras as one of the very finest players to have performed on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

It takes granite in the heart as well as graphite in the racket to reach such peaks of excellence. As the usual hum of anticipation spread through the courts yesterday morning, Sampras knew that he was within sight of becoming the first since Bjorn Borg in 1978 to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. Even after losing the first set in a tie-break he closed on that target with withering force and made Becker seem a humbled and leaden-legged veteran whose time had long-since passed.

For many the absence of Andre Agassi was a fatal flaw in this final line-up

IN the post-match interviews Becker was extravagant with his praise for the man who has deposed him as the foremost Wimbledon specialist. Becker thinks Sampras "has a chance" of surpassing Borg's record of five Wimbledon victories and said: "If there's a role model in tennis it's Pete Sampras. Of all the players he's one of my best friends. Off the court he's a real nice fellah."

It took Becker 47 minutes to grind out a win in the first set and Sampras just 69 to win the next two. By the fourth game of the fourth set, with a Sampras victory seemingly assured, Becker slipped into a desperate pantomime routine, covering his face and flicking his racket to trace the direction of Sampras's aces. His growing facial resemblance to that tortured genius, Van Gogh, seemed apt.

A decade ago Becker was a precocious and gangly 17-year-old who cut the ribbon on the age of power tennis by thundering to an astonishing victory. In establishing his own Wimbledon hegemony at the end of the 1980s he also planted the seeds for his downfall. Becker is two inches taller than Sampras and 17lbs heavier but now cannot match the muscle and zest of the younger brigade. He has not won a Grand Slam event since the 1991 Australian Open.

For many the absence of Andre Agassi was a fatal flaw in this final line-up. But the plot-lines were still strong. With Sampras skirting the fringes of greatness and Becker endeavouring to recapture past glories it was a confrontation to savour. This was a clash of two eras, as Becker acknowledged later, and his ginger bristle and pale skin provided a striking physical contrast with Sampras's burnished Floridian countenance.

The lap of honour which Becker allowed himself was entirely deserved

Two sets of statistics tell the story of Sampras's hat-trick. He accumulated 23 aces to Becker's 16 and double-faulted seven times against 15. By the start of the second set Becker was still moving sweetly and hanging on to his chunk of history. But then Sampras pulled away, breaking Becker's serve twice in the second set to win it 6-2 and then steaming through the next two to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

The lap of honour which Becker allowed himself was entirely deserved. He once referred to Wimbledon as "his back garden" but is besieged by squatters now that a younger generation has found his patch. "I used to own it [Centre Court] a couple of years ago," Becker said. "Now he owns it. Very few people have played against me the way he did today."

The sense that a new hierarchy is in place has been growing for a couple of seasons. "There was a big change when Sampras and Agassi came through, and McEnroe and Connors went out," Becker said. "I started with Lendl and now I'm playing with Agassi and Sampras. It's a completely different game now. I'm glad I managed to play in both."

Sampras's progression into the Wimbledon elite has not been smooth. He has a habit of trouncing British players (like Greg Rusedski) and usually declines to indulge in the traditional Wimbledon banter between players and crowd. As he said last night: "I just let my racket do the talking. I'm not going to throw any tantrums and I'm not going to behave like a jerk. That's just the way I was brought up."

Yesterday Becker might as well have tried to charge down a gale

THE more discerning observers will recognise that here is a truly gifted player. The subtlety and daring of his finer strokes are often concealed by the overall pace and power of his game. Watching him is only dull when there is nobody to match him. Yesterday Becker might as well have tried to charge down a gale.

In fairness to Becker, he had endured two of the most gruelling matches of his career - against Cedric Pioline in the quarter-final and in beating Agassi a round later. This was a Wimbledon which rose to a stirring climax with the Becker- Pioline epic, two cracking men's semis and one of the classic women's finals on Saturday. "After the first set I lost power in my whole game," Becker said. "I think he sensed that."

Sampras-Becker may have failed to match those earlier heights of passion but it did sweep away any lingering prejudice surrounding Sampras. The £365,000 first prize was the least of his acquistions here. As Becker said: "I watched him last year and it seemed to be a really easy win. This year he had to struggle."

The emotion may not show on court, but it is there, crackling through the fibres of Sampras's superbly athletic frame. He said that his sleep would be disrupted for a good few days as he digested the magnitude of his victory, and he would be "pretty wired" as he lay by his pool in Tampa, trying to relax.

The Centre Court is his, and he deserves it.

 

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Sampras Wins 3rd Title in a Row
By: Bruce Jenkins

July 10, 1995

Wimbledon, England -- They were meant for each other, Pete Sampras and the Wimbledon champion's cup, but they are uneasy companions. Sampras never looks quite comfortable with it. He struck the appearance yesterday of a man who was merely borrowing it for a while.

Boris Becker had a silver plate in his hands, signifying defeat, but he played the role of affable host. He did a little victory lap, chatted amiably with the dukes and lords, maybe even received a larger ovation from the Centre Court crowd.

There was nothing particularly special about the tennis, at least from a competitive standpoint. If there was a defining moment from Sampras' 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory, it came in the aftermath. Sampras moved self-consciously through the pomp and circumstance while Becker, the fallen victim, acted as if he owned the place.

He does, too. They both own Wimbledon. Seldom has the postmatch ceremony been such a heartfelt tribute to both competitors.

"In all my years in tennis,'' said Becker, "I can't remember feeling quite so good after a loss.''

Above all, there is history to be addressed. In winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title, Sampras joins Fred Perry (1934-36) and Bjorn Borg (1976-80) as the only men to win at least three straight since World War I. Jimmy Connors couldn't manage three Wimbledons in his entire career. Nor could Lew Hoad, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall or Don Budge. For Sampras, it's three and counting -- and he's only 23 years old.

Andre Agassi is still the world's No. 1-ranked player, with Sampras No. 2. Even yesterday's outcome couldn't change that. It's safe to say who feels No. 1 right now, though. Agassi left Wimbledon with his confidence in ruins, but Sampras has made everyone forget his emotional crisis, his terrible European season, or any other hint of vulnerability.

"There is something supernatural,'' said Bud Collins, "about Pete Sampras on the Centre Court.''

One can argue endlessly about the greatest player of all time. Some of the crustier observers believe Sampras hasn't even cracked the top 10. But the feeling is nearly unanimous that Sampras owns the most devastating right-handed serve in history; only the late Pancho Gonzalez, a genius with the wooden racket, is mentioned in Pete's company.

And like all the great ones, such as Montana and Koufax and Magic Johnson, Sampras picked the highest stage for his signature performance. Sampras never faced a break point against his serve in the Wimbledon final. Even the formidable Becker couldn't find a single chance to break through. Nobody could recall that happening in a men's match of this significance.

At one point in the final set, Becker put his hands over his eyes and staggered around, mockingly using his racket as a cane. "It wasn't going to make any difference if my eyes were open or not,'' Becker said later. "He would have put that serve right on the line anyway. My coach (Nick Bollettieri) told me I won 20 points off Sampras' serve, and seven of those were double- faults. So you can imagine how often I had a chance to actually hit a few tennis balls.''

That's what Sampras did yesterday. He took away the tennis. There can be no rallies if the ball is unhittable. Sampras delivered 23 aces and countless service winners, and as Becker said, "he even aced me five or six times with his second serve. He just keeps hitting those bombs and you just . . . hope for rain.''

There were many interesting faces in the crowd: Lady Di, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Pancho Segura, Tony Roche, Jack Kramer. The one who counted most for Sampras was Tom Gullikson, whose twin brother Tim -- Sampras' longtime coach -- is hospitalized with brain cancer.

Sampras wasn't sure where Tom was sitting yesterday, but at one point, he heard someone yell "Pistol!''

"That could only be Tom,'' said Sampras. "Tim calls me that a lot, and they sound exactly like each other. Tom is a great friend, and obviously we've both dealt with Tim's situation in a very public way. Just to have him here felt really good.''

From the moment Sampras seized a service break in the second set -- taking a 2-1 lead with a brilliant forehand reaction shot off Becker's overhead -- he was unbeatable. Becker, admitting some fatigue in the wake of his long matches against Cedric Pioline and Agassi, wound up with an embarrassing 15 double-faults and a marked shortage of answers.

This was the 10-year anniversary of Becker's first Wimbledon title, achieved at the tender age of 17. What would the old Becker have done?

"I probably would have jumped the net and tried to beat him up (laughter),'' said Becker. "No, I don't think it would have mattered if I was 17 or 21 or feeling totally rested today. Pete was on another planet.''

Finally, after two long weeks, the tennis came to a merciful close. Brown and tattered, with chunks of loose grass lying all around, the storied Centre Court looked like some long-forgotten lawn during a Texas heat wave. It would be time now for the Duchess of Kent, the lineup of ballboys and girls, and the trophy presentations.

In the swirl of earnest nodding and hearty smiles, Sampras looked as he always does: endearingly shy. He moved uneasily with the cup, not quite certain where he was supposed to go. Becker had a tremendously hands-on chat with the Duchess, applauded at all the right times, and at one point was seen waving giddily to certain members of the Royal Box (they waved right back, flushed with the joy of recognition).

Eventually a bunch of spectators began clamoring for Becker. He couldn't believe it at first, then made a gesture that said, "Me?'' When they roared their approval, Becker began trotting around the court as if he'd won the Olympic 400 meters.

"I would not have done that except for my friendship with Pete,'' said Becker. "We are very close. I admire him probably than any other player. Those fans made me feel like a part of Wimbledon today. It's one of the nicest feelings I've ever had,
and I'll never forget it.''

So, Pete, would you trade that cup for the ovation Becker received?

"No,'' he said, smiling. That was perfect Sampras, on his perfect day.

 

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The shy champions

July 10, 1995

Have there ever been two Grand Slam singles champions so inherently shy? Graf wanted badly to join her coach and parents after Saturday's match, but she didn't leapfrog into the stands like Martina or Pat Cash. She ran under the stands, then up a flight of stairs, and when she finally appeared in the Friends Box, only a few dozen people even realized she was there.

On the court she was the ultimate survivor, simply refusing to miss as the epic 32-point, 20-minute game progressed. Later came her eternally mysterious side. She was smiling, yes, and looked positively radiant. But nobody really knew about her feelings, her fears, her back, her future . . . anything. These are things she would rather not share.

Similarly, Sampras was at a loss to explain his arrival in history, becoming only the third man to win three straight Wimbledons in the modern era. What did it mean to him? Couldn't say. How about Borg's record of five straight? Hasn't thought about it. Were his emotions burning inside? Not really. How will he celebrate? Maybe a burger and some fries. "I'm craving for some grease,'' he said.

One hopes that Sampras realizes how he is viewed by others. As Boris Becker said after Sunday's final, "What he's done here is something really special. This is a guy who doesn't say anything, never shows his emotions on the court, and maybe that's why he's so good. Over time, perhaps, people will truly appreciate him. Right now everyone talks about Andre Agassi and all the attention he gets. But if there's one role model in tennis, it's Pete Sampras.''

If the '95 Wimbledon will be remembered for anything, it will be pure greatness. In these times, with these players, we should ask no more.

 

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Sampras too much for Becker
By: Robin Finn, New York Times

July 10, 1995

WIMBLEDON, England - He was unusually animated: soon after losing the first set of this final to the initially marauding Boris Becker, Pete Sampras incited the Center Court crowd to riot right along with him as he attempted to break Becker's serve in the third game of the second set.

He was unusually motivated: Sampras dearly wanted to use this championship as a get-well gift for his ailing coach, Tim Gullikson, who is back home in Chicago undergoing chemotherapy in an attempt to battle brain cancer.

And he was unusually accurate from the service line: Sampras was, in fact, so deadly perfect with his delivery that Becker never managed to sneak in a break point against the defending champion's serve, much less convert one.

All of this led to an unusual accomplishment Sunday for the 23-year-old Californian with the classic strokes and classy temperament. He not only won Wimbledon again, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, he thoroughly outclassed Becker, the 27-year-old German who made history here exactly 10 years ago when he rose from the unsung ranks of the unseeded and captured the first of his three Wimbledon titles.

"Unfortunately, he owns the Center Court now,'' Becker said after being rendered a runner-up for the fourth time in seven Wimbledon finals. "I used to own it a few years back.''

Already Wimbledon's two-time defending champion, Sampras transformed himself into this Grand Slam tournament's first three-time defending champion in 15 years.

"To make this a three-peat is something I'm pretty proud of,'' said Sampras, who raced off to a telephone to celebrate long distance with Gullikson after receiving the silver chalice from the Duke and Duchess of Kent and sending a brief bow in the direction of Princess Diana.

"People don't really care who comes in second, and to be able to be the first American to win three in a row, I mean, this was a big, big moment for me,'' Sampras said.

Not since Bjorn Borg reigned on these lawns from 1976-80 has any player so dominated at Wimbledon, the crown jewel of the four Grand Slams and the event for which this unassuming high school dropout was groomed since he was 9 years old.

"If there's one role model in tennis, it's Pete Sampras; he's behaving perfectly on the court, he's a real nice fellow off the court, and he doesn't have a bad shot in his game,'' said Becker, who discovered that firsthand. "You have to somehow scramble to get into a tie breaker, or basically convert your first break point you have in the set because you don't get any more.''

Or, in this case, any at all.

As Sampras tossed his shirt, a glass of water, and then, to help dry the fans he had drenched, a towel into the stands, Becker was urged to take a non-victory lap by his fans and, since the princess was prominent among them, acquiesced.

"Of all the four finals I lost, this was probably the best feeling I ever had here after a loss,'' said Becker, who insisted that he will be around, and remain a threat, at least until he's 30.

During the match, Becker stopped feeling good as soon as Sampras tightened up his swing on his return games and beefed up his serves, which reached 129 mph.

"Once I broke him in the second set, my game kind of elevated to a new level,'' Sampras said of the inspired performance that earned him a sixth career Grand Slam title.

The second-seeded Sampras smoked 23 aces past Becker, who later repeated the disparaging statistics he heard from his coach, Nick Bollettieri, regarding his inability to put a dent in the winner's serve.

"I think I won just 20 points against his serve, and seven of them came from double faults, so you can imagine how many chances I had to actually hit a few tennis balls out there,'' said the bearded Becker, who called Sampras a fearsome front-runner. "Once he's up in the second set, he hits those bombs and you hope for rain.''

Becker added, "After the first set I kind of lost power in my whole game.'' Becker wound up with 15 double faults, most of them because he was overhitting his second serve in an attempt to undermine Sampras' ever-improving returns.

Flushed from the heat, which reached 110 degrees on the court, Becker plopped a white cap on his head after falling behind by 4- in the second set. But the extra touch of shade failed to rejuvenate his playmaking. A bulldog when the match began, he was clearly the underdog the longer it wore on. Meanwhile, a shade of a Mona Lisa grin began to brighten the normally impassive features of Sampras.

"I just started to connect on my returns,'' Sampras said, "and my serve didn't let me down, and I could tell he was more tired, and put it all together and I felt pretty great about my game out there.''

The American's three previous Grand Slams events had been a disappointment to him. A foot injury had prevented him from making an adequate defense of his 1993 U.S. Open title, he fell to Andre Agassi in the Australian Open final, and last month at the French Open, he folded in the first round.

"This was a year that already had enough disappointment in it, and I really didn't want to be flying home on that plane tomorrow thinking about another lost opportunity,'' Sampras said.

He ended the second set with an ace, and in the third set embarked on a four-game service tear in which he didn't yield a single point against his serve. The third set ended just as the second had, with an ace; the only difference was that this time he used a second-serve ace to reach set point. Once Becker double-faulted at break point in the fourth set's opening game, Sampras had his opening; ahead, 5-2, after breaking Becker again in the seventh game, Sampras used an ace to set the stage for his match point, which Becker converted for him with a floppy return that veered wide. In keeping with his image, there were no additional theatrics from the champion: he raised his arms, sprinted across the frazzled lawn to console Becker, and then slumped into his chair.

"It just felt good to get the job done,'' said Sampras, who has beaten Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, and now, in Becker, the three-time champion who ruled this regal roost before he arrived.

"Winning here is what it's all about,'' Sampras said. "It's the biggest thing we've got in our sport. It's all a blur right now, but I know I'm feeling pretty relieved about everything.''

 

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Sampras the Centre Court Heartbreaker
By: Shekhar Bhatia

July 10, 1995

The women in the lives of Pete Sampras and Boris Becker suffered two and a half hours of agony and ecstasy at Wimbledon yesterday.

Boris's wife Barbara, sister Sabine and mother Heidi were in tears as Pete trounced the German star 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

But there was also disappointment for Pete's girlfriend Delaina Mulcahay, who hoped he would propose marriage on the Centre Court to celebrate his third successive victory.

Even so, she was all smiles as she linked arms with Barbara Becker afterwards.

In the Royal Box the players got a standing ovation from the Princess of Wales, who was enjoying a very different sort of afternoon from Prince Charles.

While she was being thrilled by the tennis, he was being spilled from the saddle in a crashing polo fall at Cirencester, Glos. The Prince landed heavily on his hip and in obvious pain, took two minutes to compose himself before remounting.

Back at Wimbledon, Dealaina cheered up visibly as Pete collected his trophy.

Asked why her 23-year-old lover had not proposed, she smiled and said, "You'll still have to ask Pete."

When challenged, he joked, "I ask her the question every day - 'What's for dinner?'"

Becker, the people's favorite, did a lap of honor around the court - at the insistence of the crowd. He said it was "one of the nicer feelings I have ever had".

He added, "it made me feel like a part of Wimbledon, part of the whole tournament. I am veyr proud of that."

Relaxed and gracious in defeat, he even made a playful grab for Sampras's trophy.

But Boris, who won the first of his three titles 10 years ago, aged 17 said, "Unfortunately, Pete owns the Centre Court. I used to own it, but it is his now."

Referring to his family's tears, he said, "They get very nervous, they get very emotional and they don't come to all my matches because they would have heart attacks. They get more emotional than me."

Barbara said, "I just can't hear this. The loss is going to hurt very bad later."

Sampras ended the occasion on a meaty note. He said he was planning to "get some grease" in the form of a burger and fries - forbidden food during the tournament.

Princess Diana, looking elegant in a lemon suit, was joined by her American friend Marguerite Littman, who has written a book about David Hockney's paintings in benefit of an AIDS charity.

Princess Michael of Kent saw Hollywood husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman sitting near the Royal Box. She excitedly pointed them out to her neighbors, including Diana.

Article supplied by Georgia Christoforou

 

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