NOTEBOOK: "Homeless" Pironkova gets upscale embassy shelter

Jul 2, 2010, 11:18 GMT

London - Surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova almost found herself homeless in London as her stay at Wimbledon proved delightfully longer than ancitipated.

But her helpful Bulgarian embassy stepped in to offer her family a flat in posh South Kensington in which to stay.

The 22-year-old, who lost in the final-four round to Russian Vera Zvonareva, explained the situation, which occurred after she only booked a few days in a London hotel at the start of the fortnight.

After never passing the second round of a Grand Slam, the number 82 had little hint she was about the play the tournament of her life.

'There was no place that I could stay because the hotels at this time of the year are very busy, no one had rooms.'

Pironkova said that after speaking with the president of her federation, the official then got the embassy onto the case. That solved the housing problem in record time.

'Of course. No problem. They gave us one apartment in one beautiful area here in London, South Kensington. We've stayed there for almost 10 days now.'

Pironkova added that after her breakthrough performance, she will be booking a longer stay for next year's championships.

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NOTEBOOK: Henman Hill to be packed for Murray match =

London (dpa) - Wimbledon was braced for major crowd control on Henman Hill with thousands expected to pack onto the grassy knoll to watch Andy Murray's semi-final with Rafael Nadal on the big screen.

With an estimated capacity of 3,500, more are expected to try and squeeze in for the major match in front of a public whose players have not won the prestige men's title in 73 years.

In a move reminiscent of the ban of World Cup football telecasts on the ground, officials are expected to throw up a human ring of stewards to try and keep the numbers to a perceived maximum.

They fear that some fans who may have number one showcourt tickets might come outside and watch on the screen instead of witnessing live women's and mixed doubles on the inside.

But to hopefully head off the crowding problem, officials announced that the showcase matches will also be shown on a screen at court two.