Postcard from Roland

Serbian (for the moment at least - see below) player Novak Djokovic delighted the crowd as he showed off some fancy footwork on the centre court on Wednesday, flicking the ball up four or five times before volleying sweetly straight into the ball boy's arms.

But with his country kicking off their World Cup campaign with a tough opener against the Netherlands on Sunday, it seems a little too late to be pushing for a place in the starting line-up.

Following this week's revelations that Djokovic is looking into the possibility of becoming British (is it really that easy?), the 19-year-old was backtracking on his comments rather hastily on Wednesday.

Asked if he is likely to feel some pressure on his imminent arrival in England for first Queens and then Wimbledon, Djokovic pulled a face and said that he did not want to talk about the subject any more and that his game is the most important thing on his mind at the moment.

It seems likely that someone close to the youngster pulled him aside after the initial comments were made and informed him of the nature of the British press. And that means that Djokovic should maybe think a little harder before making revelations of such a nature in the future.

Here was Postcard thinking that Rafael Nadal was the hot crowd favourite at this year's Roland Garros. Well, after Wednesday's play, we stand corrected.

The Court Chatrier was half empty for the appearance of the defending champion's match against Djokovic, and those that were there were surprisingly muted in their support as the day's play started in blazing sunshine at midday.

But the stands soon filled to bursting point as Frenchman Julien Benneteau took to the court for his clash with Croat Ivan Ljubicic.

And the noise levels would have raised the roof (if there had been one), as the crowd cheered on their boy every time he notched a point, albeit on his way to eventual defeat.

As the masses sweated and burnt in the glaring sunshine on the centre court on Wednesday, one section of the crowd managed to maintain an air of cool composure thanks to a freebie being handed out on entry to the stadium.

The VIP section's guests gave the sun cream a miss as they were all handed a natty boating hat as they took the best seats in the house, giving off the rather strange impression that we were all at Henley regatta and not, as indeed we were, at a Grand Slam tennis quarter final.

John McEnroe was scheduled on the clay of Roland Garros once again in the late match on Wednesday as he continued his quest to win the Legend's Trophy with partner Anders Jarryd.

Standing in his way though was another legend of the tour – Ilie Nastase, along with his partner Jose-Luis Clerc. Come back again tomorrow to find out who got the upper hand!

4 million - The amount in euros spent this year in the merchandising stores dotted around Roland Garros by souvenir seeking tennis fans. One spectator in three who have passed through the gates has bought something with an average amount spent of &euro50. Among the products on offer at extortionate prices - tee-shirts, huge Roland Garros tennis balls, watches, mobile phones, baseball caps, rackets, seat covers... the list is endless.