Larry Ellison could buy the All England Club a hundred times over and, while he was at it, purchase the ATP, WTA and ITF as well, and probably make a better fist of running the sport than these often discordant orchestras. For now, he is more than happy simply to own the best-organised and most charismatic tournament in the United States.
Each day, the third-richest man in the US by virtue of his masterminding the Oracle software company, took a front-row seat at the BNP Paribas Open — and it is his, lock, stock and palm trees — and did not simply indulge himself by gesturing to the attendees like a Roman governor (although he bears a chilling resemblance to Frank Thring, the actor who