ANY MORE of this and the Wimbledon public will be demanding a refund, let alone a reduction in the ladies’ singles prize fund. Parity in pay for the damsons who deal in three sets was secured last year. Only a succession of singularly subdued performances from those chasing the £750,000 jackpot has left unimpressed spectators feeling distinctly short-changed.

Having taken uncommon delight in showing her compatriot and former champion Maria Sharapova the exit in the previous round, Alla Kudryavtseva’s 6-3 1-6 6-4 win over Shuai Peng of China was met with muted applause yesterday.

For doing the dirty and robbing Wimbledon of one of its favourite competitors, Kudryavtseva received the cold shoulder. Foisted onto an outside court, the 20-year-old second-year student of physical culture in Moscow received little support as she battled to overcome the two-fisted Peng, ranked a mighty 100 places higher in the world.

So much for the Brits having a soft spot for the underdog.

Kudryavtseva’s comments on Sharapova’s dress sense and personality clearly left a bitter taste in the mouth of those who like their tennis served by winsome blonds.

It was Peng, a doubles specialist, who received the support of the neutral.

Yet Kudryavtseva is made of sterner stuff. If a dislike of Sharapova’s celebrity status fired her to success in the second round, it was her own sloppiness that prompted a shriek of fury and the slap of an offending thigh. The chance of meeting another Russian, Nadia Petrova, for a place in the last eight was too good an opportunity to miss.

Having broken Peng’s suspect serve four times in the opening set, only to concede the initiative with a loss of concentration in the second, the suitably chastened Russian regained control in the deciding set, breaking the feisty Peng in the ninth game.

Petrova, however, will be a different proposition. Despite being taken to successive tie breaks, the 21st-seeded Petrova emerged victorious against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. To progress, Kudryavtseva will have to raise her game. And a smile.