WIMBLEDON - It was raining Wednesday, the schedule was backed up, matches were tight and people started getting wacky, indelicate or downright accusatory at Wimbledon.
It happens around this time every year, and when Serena Williams, Ryan Harrison or Robin Soderling are ornery it's no big deal. You just don't expect it from a quiet, diminutive 40-year-old Japanese veteran. Yet there was Kimiko Date-Krumm, after dropping a tough three-setter to Venus Williams, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6, very calmly accusing Williams of cheating during their match.
The 2-hour, 39-minute contest had been played under a closed roof on Centre Court, with no breezes beyond the artificially circulated air. The crowd grumbled loudly every time Venus tossed the ball high for a serve and then caught it, before re-tossing - which she did quite often, and which is perfectly legal. Tennis fans at the All-England Club always root against the Williams sisters, in any case. Now they were handed a real excuse.
The harrumphing grew exponentially. Then afterward, Date-Krumm suggested that Williams had faked the bad tosses for a tactical advantage, which would be extremely disrespectful behavior.
"When she tosses up the serve, she's always watching where I move to, backhand or forehand," Date-Krumm said. "She's just tossing up, and then watching where I'm standing, the return positions, I think. So she's very clever."
Date-Krumm said this in such a demure, pacific voice that most of the assembled international press didn't seem to realize the weight of her complaint. Even the bulldog Brit tabloid reporters let it go.
But later in the press center, Date-Krumm confirmed to two reporters that she thought Williams was fake-tossing the ball, clearly improper tennis etiquette. "She catches it, yes," she said. "She's always watching." Date-Krumm said she would never do such a thing. Then, oddly, she laughed.