NOTEBOOK: Serena starving in no-nosh locker room

London - Serena Williams could find herself a bit peckish in the Wimbledon locker room as she finally took note of the strict rules about not eating in that premises. If that is the case, the American complains on her website, why are bananas and energy bars on offer to competitors inside the locker room as well? 'I'm an athlete and my diet is very important during a tournament,' said the ten-time Grand Slam champion. 'Before a match, I eat in the locker room, it's a part of my routine.' Williams said that when informed she could no longer nosh in the zone, 'I was in shock.' 'I'm a member of the All England Club. As I am looking around the locker room a bit upset I must admit, I notice someone placing bananas and health bars into a basket for the other players and myself. 'Why have food in a room if we aren't allowed to eat in the locker room. This rule is unfair and new. There was no warning that this new rule would be implemented and I don't agree with it. 'I totally dislike rules that do NOT make sense.' The club said that Williams got the wrong end of the stick on a regulation which has been in place for nearly a decade since the opening of the new Millennium complex in 2000. With Williams saying she hardly ever goes into the player restaurant, ignorance of the rule may be understandable. ********************* NOTEBOOK: Retirement of Safin may save company racket budgets = London (dpa) - Marat Safin left Wimbledon this week for the last time as a player, with his career-long trail of smashed rackets not many months from its natural conclusion. The personable - yet mercurial - Russian who retires at the end of the season takes the prize for destruction of tools, with his racket company Head surely ready for some relief after a decade or more of shipping in replacements. Safin reckons he's gone through nearly 150,000 dollars in broken rackets, crashed and smashed in the heat of the moment on court. 'Breaking all those rackets, it was worth it. 'I'd guess I've smashed 700 in my career, maybe more. That's not so many. The rackets probably cost about 200 dollars each, so 700 rackets, not so much really.' The 140,000 guess-timate comes in addition for nearly 100,000 dollars in disciplinary fines for the two-time Grand Slam winner and former number one.