FROM the creators of Notting Hill and Four Weddings comes this tennis tale which fails to serve up anything other than a bland, predictable love story, listless acting and a script which seems to get bored of itself half way through.

Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) plans to hang up his racket once and for all after his last Wimbledon tournament, dejected by seeing his ranking slip from 11th in the world to somewhere in the 100s.

While at the event as a wildcard entrant, he falls for the current US golden girl Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst).

After deciding they are head over heels about each other, Lizzie's tyrannical father bans Peter from contacting Lizzie again, fearing this romantic distraction will have a detrimental effect on his darling daughter's game.

What follows are a few farcical scenes as the fatuous pair meet in secret and half an hour of fictional tennis matches.

Ultimately, Wimbledon is about as interesting as sitting listening to Tim Henman read from the phone directory and never really goes anywhere.

This never stood a chance of being a smash hit, despite support from the talented Celia Imrie, Sam Neill and Robert Lindsay.

HC