By Caroline Cheese BBC Sport Online at Wimbledon

Venus Williams is becoming an old hand at press conferences, but even she was flummoxed by one question that came her way after losing out to sister Serena in the final.

A journalist whose grasp of English was thin to say the least came up with this poser:

"Talent is universal. You are a little bit sad. How do you stay with the dancing and the singing, playing instrument with the music so generally?"

Venus, looking understandably baffled, took a moment before replying: "I don't understand."

Princess who?

The Duchess of Kent's absence from the Wimbledon final was a sad day for the traditionalists at the All England Club.

Serena was delighted with her new dinner plate

However, it did not seem to bother the two finalists, although both seemed a little unsure exactly who was presenting the prizes.

Venus said she had not missed the Duchess of Kent because she "liked this Duchess very much too," even though Princess Alexandra is yet to be promoted to Duchess.

Meanwhile, Serena seemed to be slightly better informed on the identity of the mystery trophy-bearer, although her curtsying etiquette did let her down.

"Venus told me 'when you accept the plate, you have to curtsy to the Duchess,'" she said.

"I think she was a princess today. I'm not sure. I didn't curtsy to the guy though (the Duke of Kent).

"Then Venus told me afterwards that she wasn't sure (whether to curtsy to the Duke) so she did a small one.

"I realised I should have done it too - older sister is always the wisest."

Attitude alert

Sharapova has designs on Anna K's tennis diva title

Maria Sharapova, who on Saturday reached the final of the girls' singles, has been making waves at Wimbledon this year, not all of them positive.

The 15-year-old blonde-haired Russian is widely touted as a star of the future and as a result already has a contract with Nike and is represented by IMG.

But though she is becoming a popular face among the Wimbledon crowds, she has hardly endeared herself to the press by insisting that her agent must be present at every interview she attends.

And who said Anna Kournikova has the biggest ego in tennis?

Lucky star

Seles consoled herself with tea at Madonna's pad

Monica Seles has wasted little time hanging around SW19 since her quarter-final defeat.

Instead she has sought solace with one of her many A-list pals, apparently hot-footing it round to Madonna's London home for a cup of tea and a natter.

And while Seles may no longer be the force she once was in women's tennis, she cannot be touched when it comes to star contacts.

The 28-year-old was also said to be one of the guests at the celebrity wedding of the year of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.