The greatest intrusion that Tomas Berdych ever experienced away from the court was when he was followed by a couple of photographers.Berdychs semifinal against Andy Murray -- with Ivan Lendl looking on from Murrays guests-box, and with the 1973 champion Jan Kodes seated in the Royal Box -- was a reminder of how Czech players used to have their lives picked over by the states security apparatus. The Wimbledon Diary has seen the files from the 1980s that demonstrate how Lendl and Kodes were spied on by the StB, the secret police of the then Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, with the spooks particularly interested in who they were talking to.While Kodes had the codename Vitez, meaning winner, Lendl was simply known to the agents and their informants as Ivan. Its highly unlikely that any state ever spied on their tennis players as the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic did, with the administration terrified that the athletes would follow Martina Navratilovas lead and defect to the West. Lendl was analysed by the StBs X Division, which was responsible for the counter-intelligence against internal enemies.It was in 1982 that a division chief in Prague signed a document approving the opening of a personal file on Lendl, with regards to his connections with adversary persons. Among the collaborators informing on Lendl were some of his familys closest friends, as well as some within Czech tennis.Strawberries, no creamSerena Williams is halfway to being a tennis traditionalist. The Wimbledon Diary has learned that while the American eats strawberries at the All England Club, what she wont do is smother them with cream. You can watch the womens singles final?Saturday at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.Money, money, moneyHow better to calm Britains jittery financial markets than for Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, to spend a day in the Royal Box? By taking his seat on Centre Court, he seemed to be sending a message that, a fortnight after the public voted for Brexit from the European Union, he was no longer so alarmed about the economy. Otherwise, what would he be doing at Wimbledon?While Carney watched tennis in the sunshine, the FTSE 100 equity index rose by almost one per cent on Friday, closing at its highest level in almost a year. It was a good days work for Carney. The tennis would have been pleased him, too. Carney, who is Canadian, would have been thrilled to have watched Milos Raonic reaching a first Grand Slam final, which you can watch Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.Best of friends?All these years after they played on Centre Court, John McEnroes admiration for Bjorn Borg endures. God, he looks terrible, McEnroe said with heavy sarcasm when a cameraman showed a close-up of Borg watching Raonics victory over Roger Federer. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 China . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Shoes China . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. http://www.nikeairmax90cheap.com/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Nike Air Max 90 Cheap . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Online . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Nobody wants to atone for last years road-like WACA pitch more keenly than the curator Matt Page. However, circumstances of climate and schedule have conspired to increase the degree of difficulty for the ground staff commissioned to restore a slowing surface to its former glory.The New Zealand Test began on November 13 last year, 10 days later than this one, providing extra time for the surface to harden under the Perth sun. Additionally, this year, an unseasonably cold Spring has prevented the WACAs block of 10 pitches from baking in the sort of heat more commonly associated with the venue.Moving the WACA Test to the start of summer, after more than 20 years of opening Test matches at the Gabba in Brisbane, has complicated life for Page and his staff. That decision was based around Cricket Australias desire to hold a second day-night Test in the 2016-17 season while ensuring both visitors - South Africa and Pakistan - played one apiece. Perth is considered too late a time zone to host a match starting any later than a day Test.Nevertheless, Page has worked off the knowledge gained last season to try to produce a livelier deck. Weve done things a little bit differently this year, he said on Wednesday. Weve left a little more green grass on it, weve also adjusted our water.Being November, we dont usually get the high temperatures we need to bake that surface to try to give us every possibility to get something that will go through and give the bowlers a good crack at the batters. [The weathers] not been great, but weve tinkered with our prep to try to get a harder surface than we would normally see here this time of year and just try to help it go through a bit quicker. Unlike the WACA practice pitches, which have retained their traditional clay base and have thus remained arguably the quickest in the world, successive operations on the WACAs square have left it less settled than it should be. So some strips are faster than others, with the central one not necessarily so, to suit the commercial demands of television.ddddddddddddThis years pitch is the same as last years.The ones on this [east] side of the block seem to be a bit quicker, theyve all got their own little characteristics, the 10 wickets out there, they all do little things, Page said. There are some that are a little bit quicker than others. This one is a normal Test-match wicket. We saw a couple of one-dayers here a couple of years ago with South Africa when it went through really well.Last year was not so good, so were hoping that its more towards that South African wicket of a couple of years ago. Hopefully itll [also] be something very similar to the last Shield game we had. There was a bit of bounce there, there was a bit of seam, something there for the bowlers, something there for the batters, there were three hundreds. Thats sort of what were looking for this time of year, being November.Page was philosophical about the chances of getting things back to the old days, even as the construction of Perths new multipurpose stadium meant many major matches will be shifted elsewhere. Its something were working towards and weve seen wickets here since the wicket that was reconstructed that have really gone through well, he said. Our biggest issue is our consistency, theyre not consistently quick. Thats what were working towards to make sure it happens.Theres pressure with every wicket you produce at the WACA, theres that reputation of the pace and the bounce and getting it back consistently to the way it was in the 1970s. Thats what we try to do with all our wickets, sometimes we get there, sometimes we dont. Im pretty confident well have a wicket that will have a bit in it for both batters and bowlers.One form of pressure that wont be on Page is to tailor a pitch to the specific demands of the home team. 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