Lindsay Davenport v Venus Williams

1.20pm: Rain stops play

Venus begins to serve the next game, but then, with all the predictability of Tim Henman fist-pump, the heavens open and spray their load all over SW19. Keep it here for drop-by-drop coverage.

"Did you miss that crowd shot double-whammy?" asks Matt Tempest. "Sir Cliff and Saint Cilla, sitting next to each other." What a duet that would be. It gives me the Sideshow Bob shivers.

"Now that it's raining, the BBC must be showing you lots of drop shots," writes Bob O'Hara.

First set: Davenport* 0 - 2 Williams

This is great quality tennis from the off. Davenport sends Williams one way and plays the ball the other to race to a 30-0 lead. But Williams fights back and takes the game to three deuces as the rain starts to fall. The umpire looks to be waiting till the end of the game before taking the players off. Davenport rushes and pays the price - losing her first service game.

My pasta salad was rather heavy on the mayo - now I feel sick.

First set: Davenport 0 - 1 Williams*

Venus is on fire straight away. She wins two lovely rallies with killer forehands which hit the chalk and the follows up with a couple of aces to win the game to love.

Some preamble

Time for a quick cut-and-paste from the news agency wires... Wimbledon's Centre Court hosts two all-American women's quarter-finals today, with the domination of the Williams sisters Serena and Venus under threat from compatriots Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport.

First up is fourth seed Venus against Davenport in a repeat of the 2000 final won in straight sets by the elder of the two Williams sisters.

Venus also beat fifth seed Davenport in the 2001 semi-finals en route to her second successive Wimbledon triumph.

Now I'm no John Ketley, or Sian Lloyd for that matter, but from the look of the cumulonimbus clouds overhead (GSCE geography! come on!), this is going to be rain interrupted.

And what do we do when it rains at Wimbledon? Why, we sing along with hideously-attired Cliff Richard, of course. And laugh at errant pigeons. So come on, send in your favourite Cliff stories/lyrics/pictures/torture fantasies. Email me with reports of how you started a Mexican wave in your office. Send in that crossword clue you're stuck on. Together, we'll get through this.

Play is due to start on time at 1pm.