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Colorful moments, upsets, record heat mark Wimbledon at halfway point

By Doug G. Ware
Great Britain's Andy Murray returns the ball in his match against Italy's Andreas Seppi on day Six of the 2015 Wimbledon championships, London on July 04, 2015. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI.
1 of 21 | Great Britain's Andy Murray returns the ball in his match against Italy's Andreas Seppi on day Six of the 2015 Wimbledon championships, London on July 04, 2015. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI. | License Photo

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- The most prestigious tennis tournament in the world reached its halfway point at the end of play Saturday, and there hasn't been any shortage of interesting, and sizzling, moments at the All England Tennis Club.

The tournament, one of the sport's four major annual events, has seen a handful of upsets, record heat, and even a player being asked to turn his headband inside out because it was too colorful for Wimbledon's dress code.

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Out of Bounds

Australian Nick Kyrgios wore the white headband -- striped with green and purple, the tournament's official colors -- during a match Friday.

Even though the headband was an officially-licensed Wimbledon accessory, the chair umpire decided it violated the largely "white-only" dress code.

"Competitors must be dressed in suitable tennis attire that is almost entirely white and this applies from the point at which the player enters the court surround," the official Wimbledon rulebook states. "There should be no solid mass or panel of coloring. A single trim of color around the neckline and around the cuff of the sleeve is acceptable but must be no wider than one centimeter (10mm)."

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The stipulation that applied to Kyrgios, though, is the book's rule No. 7.

"Caps, headbands, bandanas, wristbands and socks must be totally white except for a single trim of color no wider than one centimeter," it says.

After the match, Kyrgios downplayed the incident when asked by a reporter.

"I like [the dress code]. What kind of question is that?" he said.

Kyrgios's run-in with the Wimbledon fashion police might be the most attention paid to the tournament's traditional attire mandate since the flamboyant Andre Agassi first started playing there in the early 1990s.

In fact, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon between 1988 and 1990 specifically because of the all-white dress law. He eventually relented, wore white, and won the tournament in 1992.

He's Here, She's Gone

After Saturday's matches, Wimbledon reached its middle Sunday -- which serves as a rest and recuperation day.

By the tournament's halfway point, nearly half of the 32 seeded players remain in the gentlemen's singles draw and just 12 remain on the ladies' side.

One of last year's champions is still playing, and the other is headed home. Serbian ace Novak Djokovic has advanced to the Round of 16, where he will face 14th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson.

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But the defending women's champ, Czech star Petra Kvitová, lost her third round match in a three-set slugfest -- guaranteeing a new champion this year in the ladies draw.

Only four of the top 10 ladies' seeds are still playing, while 7 of the top 10 men remain.

RELATED GALLERY: The 2015 Championships at Wimbledon

Star-Spangled Banter

Ladies No. 1 Serena Williams and her sister, 16th-seeded Venus, are two of four remaining American women still alive. In fact, the siblings will meet in their Round of 16 match on Monday. Serena leads in the all-time head-to-head series with Venus, 14-11. The sisters have previously met five times at Wimbledon -- the last in 2009, which Serena won.

Madison Keys, seeded 21st, and Coco Vandeweghe are the other American women left in the draw.

The Stars and Stripes isn't represented nearly as well on the men's side, as just one American remains -- wildcard Denis Kudla, who will take on 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the Round of 16. It will be the second straight match against an American for the 9th-seeded Croat, who defeated No. 17 Jon Isner in a marathon five-set match that spanned two days.

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The last American man to win Wimbledon was Pete Sampras in 2000.

Deja Vu, or Someone New?

Since 2004, almost every Wimbledon men's title has gone to either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. The lone exception occurred in 2013, when Britain's own Andy Murray won the tournament.

In fact, every Wimbledon men's final since 2011 has included two of those four players.

As of Saturday, three of those four remain. The 10th-seeded Nadal was upset in the second round by Germany's Dustin Brown.

Heat... and Flames

This year saw the hottest Wimbledon on record. This week, the mercury topped 96 degrees -- the warmest it's ever been at the tournament. The previous record, 94 degrees, was set during the 1976 tournament.

The heat was so bothersome, a ball boy at the All England Club even passed out during a match between Isner and Matthew Ebden.

Australian Bernard Tomic required medical treatment after getting dizzy on the court during his match with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

But the record heat wasn't the only anomaly at this year's Championships. Wednesday, about 3,000 people were evacuated from Centre Court due to a reported electrical fire.

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The London Fire Brigade responded to the minor incident, and no injuries or damage were reported.

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