Wimbledon Diary: Bartoli wants to swap the courts for a seat in power

Marion Bartoli, the gutsy Frenchwoman who thrilled with her jaunt to last year's final, is no ordinary player. We knew that already of course. Most pros spend their post-match press conferences talking about the wayward lob in the second set at 3-2 down on their own serve or some such nonsense. Marion entertains with dreams of James Bond. Now, in an exclusive interview with The Independent, she has given a wonderfully contradictory view of what she wants to do when she hangs up her rackets. "When I finish I want to have a normal job, a normal life, to see my husband, to see my kids growing up," she says. So what would she be if not a tennis player? "Probably a minister in the Government. You have to do university for eight or 10 years. I always wanted to be at the top. I always wanted to be the person giving the orders, not the one taking them." It goes without saying she expects to boss her way to the third round today.

Pest control stops short of war footing

Reports that the Army has been drafted in to shoot the pigeons, and that soldiers are also targeting foxes, can be roundly trounced. We can confirm no such deployment has been made, with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan taking a slightly higher priority. As for the foxes: whatever next? Wildebeest stalked on court 5? Giraffe safaris round the bandstand? Pull yourself together people.

Place a flutter on Murray in pigeon debate

The pigeon furore started by The Diary has captured the attention of bookmakers. One firm, Sky Bet, is offering a price of 10-1 against Andy Murray commenting on pigeons in a live interview on the BBC during the tournament. If you want to collaborate in a sting, Andy, please call.

What's in a Naomi, Ms Cavaday?

Naomi Cavaday bowed out yesterday. Strictly speaking, everyone has been spelling her name wrong all tournament (and longer). Naomi's dad is Nigel Day. Her mum is Celia Çava. And Naomi's name on her birth certificate is a double-barrelled amalgamation of the two: Çava-Day. But to make matters simpler for passport purposes, she went with Cavaday, and stuck with it. We can put to bed one other rumour that her dad was originally Nigel Niceday. There was never any prospect of Naomi being Naomi Cava-Niceday.

First in the Queue

Sleeping on the pavement is part of the whole Wimbledon experience. Each day we will bring you an interview with the first person in the queue for the day's play.

Names Michele Jennings and Suzanne Pyefinch.

From: Norfolk.

Age: 30s.

Occupation: Mum/banker.

Arrived in the queue: 11pm on Monday.

For: Today's play.

Who are you here to see? The Williams sisters more than anyone.

Why? They're great players. We used to be massive Tim fans. We've been coming for about 20 years, but this is the first year we've been at the very front of the queue.

Are you clinically insane? Yes.

Today's random question: If Roger Federer is a cardigan, what article of clothing is Andy Murray? Anything that's grey.

If the All England Club served a pigeon that has been slaughtered at The Championships, would you eat it, if it was prepared nicely, perhaps in a salad? No, unless it was cooked by Gordon Ramsay.