etty solid." NOTES: Cardinals OF Matt Holliday (right hamstring

This might just be the quietest Wimbledon in years. Tennis has put Maria Sharapova on mute with the Russian banned after failing a drugs test. Victoria Azarenka is absent because of a knee injury, and Rafael Nadal isnt playing here because his wrist wont let him.But dont imagine that grunting has disappeared from tennis. Nick Bollettieri, the American coach who has previously been blamed for encouraging players to make some noise as they strike the ball, has told the Wimbledon Diary that grunting is still part of the game.Were here in England and its all prim and proper, but you cant stop this, its everywhere, he said. If you took one of those sound-meters to the courts, youd find that the men are just as loud as the ladies. So dont pin this all on the girls.The men and the women are putting every ounce of energy -- their hearts and souls -- into hitting the ball, and what are you going to tell them? Youre going to tell them to be quiet? Are you crazy?The last thing that tennis should be doing, Bollettieri suggested, is silencing the players and turning them into mummies or square asses.You dont want them to come to the court dressed in a shirt and tie and being a square ass, he said. Weve got to make this game fun, baby. Weve got to have a little excitement. Dont we want the players to show how much they care and want to win?50 shades of ... green?Among the quirks of this tournament is that if you stand at the southern end of all the courts across the All England Club, you will notice that the stripe to the left of the centre is the lighter shade of green.Unless youre looking out for that, you wouldnt notice that, the head groundsman, Neil Stubley, told the Wimbledon Diary. But thats just us being meticulous about what we do. We want to be as close to perfection as we possibly can.Parlez-vous Francais?If Serena Williams had her way, she would speak more French with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. But Mouratoglou, a Frenchman of Greek descent, told the Wimbledon Diary he prefers to have all important conversations -- such as when they are discussing tennis -- in English.We dont speak French together as much as we should. Serena always asks me to speak French to her but Im so used to speaking English to her. My vocabulary in English is bigger than hers in French, and I want to be understood when were talking about tennis, he said. Serena loves to speak French. She has a good accent, not bad at all. If I compare her to other Americans, shes doing really well.Kvitova the clean freakThere is no tidier tennis player than Petra Kvitova, a winner of two Wimbledon titles. The morning after winning the 2014 Championships, the Czech vacuumed the house she had rented in Wimbledon Village. She also put the bins out. That behaviour has continued this summer.A member of her entourage told the Wimbledon Diary that Kvitova is the one looking after the team in the house, including doing the laundry.Custom Chelsea Jerseys . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Custom Boston Red Sox Jerseys . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/custom-boston-celtics-jerseys/ . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Custom Russia Soccer Jerseys . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Custom Detroit Lions Jerseys . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. CHICAGO -- Put Yadier Molina down for four more hits. Four RBIs, too. Add another clutch hit to Allen Craigs total. The majors last game before the All-Star break sure had a familiar feel for the St. Louis Cardinals. Molina hit a three-run homer in St. Louis four-run ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 on Sunday night. "We never give up," Molina said. "Whatever happens in the game or the inning before were going to come after you." Craig lined a tiebreaking RBI single into left field before Molina drove an 0-2 pitch from Kevin Gregg (2-2) over the wall in left for his seventh homer. Pete Kozma added three hits and two RBIs as St. Louis finished with a season-high 21 hits. Chicago went up 4-3 on Darwin Barneys three-run homer off Adam Wainwright in the sixth, and pinch hitter Cody Ransom had a tying two-run double in the eighth. But the Cubs bullpen was unable to hold off the NLs highest-scoring team. "Obviously we lost, but I mean we showed a lot of fight," Barney said. "We showed maybe what kind of character we have in those kind of games." The Cardinals won for the seventh time in nine games to salvage a split of the four-game series. Edward Mujica (2-1) had his second blown save opportunity in 28 chances, but managed to get the win on the same day he was chosen to replace Wainwright on the NL All-Star team. Despite injuries to key pitchers Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Jason Motte, St. Louis heads to the All-Star break with baseballs best record at 57-36. It leads the NL Central by one game over surprising Pittsburgh, which lost 4-2 to the New York Mets earlier in the day. "I cant express how proud I am the way these guys play the game," manager Mike Matheny said. "It was a very fitting way to end before the break." A big reason for St. Louis success is the play of Craig and Molina, who are both headed to New York for Tuesday nights game at Citi Field. Craig is batting .489 (44 for 90) with runners in scoring position and leads the team with 74 RBIs. Molina leads the NL with a .341 batting average while playing his usual strong defence behind the plate. Wainwright, who allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, said he thinks Molina is baseballs best all-around player. "What can you say?" Wainwright said. "He gets the big hits when he needs to and he calls greeat games.dddddddddddd" Barney also had a run-scoring single for the Cubs, who went 6-4 on a 10-game stretch in Chicago that included a makeup game at the crosstown White Sox last Monday. The four RBIs for Barney matched a career high set in a 14-4 victory against Pittsburgh on July 30, 2012. After a slow start, the Cubs (42-51) are a respectable 24-21 in their last 45 games. Its good enough for a four-game improvement compared to last year at this point, when the North Siders were 38-55 on their way to their first 100-loss season since 1966. "Its a half that could have gone a lot different, but I think a lot of guys have progressed, kind of taken strides in the right way," said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who committed a mental gaffe in the eighth when he cut off a ball that might have got a runner at the plate. Travis Wood, who will represent the Cubs at the All-Star festivities, allowed three runs and a season-high 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings. It matched the shortest outing of the year for the consistent lefty, who pitched at least six innings in 17 of his first 18 starts. Molina was out of the starting lineup for St. Louis 6-4 loss on Saturday night and began the night in a 1-for-19 rut covering his previous seven games. But he singled in each of his first two at-bats, hit a leadoff double in the seventh and forced Bogusevic to make a leaping catch against the wall in centre in the eighth. "Tonight was me," Molina said. "Tonight I saw the ball pretty good and I made contact pretty solid." NOTES: Cardinals OF Matt Holliday (right hamstring tightness) missed his third consecutive game. "We need to be real careful so we can continue to progress, make sure we are aiming for that first day after the break," Matheny said. ... OF Cole Gillespie joined the Cubs, and reliever Henry Rodriguez was designated for assignment to make room on the roster. Gillespie was claimed off waivers from San Francisco on Saturday. He had a pinch-hit single in the eighth. ... Cubs RHP Scott Baker allowed four runs and six hits in three innings in his first rehab start with Class A Kane County. Baker missed last season with Minnesota after undergoing elbow-ligament replacement surgery. "Today was a big hump, to pitch against hitters and getting in a real game and the whole atmosphere and everything," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. ' ' '