Left field

The trouble with a match as riveting as Andy Murray’s against Stanislas Wawrinka is that it’s very hard to find something good enough to follow it … and women’s quarter-final day at Wimbledon was singularly unable to do so.

From the sublime tennis provided by the British number one and the Swiss number two in an historic match under the new Centre Court roof, we went to a 6-1 6-2 victory for Venus Williams over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska that was ridiculously easy.

Next up was Elena Dementieva against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and the Russian won 6-2 6-2. And that, if you were one of the people clutching precious tickets for court number one, was that, save for a doubles match that hardly anyone bothered to stick around for, that was that.

Back in centre court, fans were getting a little more value for money.  Dinara Safina had to come from a set down to beat Sabine Lisicki 6-7 6-4 6-1 but even though this was much more of a contest it still felt flat compared to Monday night’s action. Maybe the last of the four quarter-finals, between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will catch fire.

The tournament certainly needs it to. I’m a fan of women’s tennis, and thought Maria Sharapova’s exit to Gisela Dulko was utterly compelling, but today was not a great advert for the game.

SUBLIME: Britain’s Andy Murray serves under the new roof of the centre court during his match against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, June 29, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville

RIDICULOUS EASE: Venus Williams of the U.S. returns the ball to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their match at the Wimbledon tennis championships, in London June 30, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh