Australian Open 2017, day 11 highlights: Mrs Federer's sweater, Williams' divided loyalties and more

From Mirka Federer’s pink sweater to which players’ box the Williams’ entourage will sit during the women’s finals, here are all the off court highlights from Day 11 at the Australian Open. In the pink [caption id=“attachment_3223388” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mirka Federer during the semi-final match. Reuters[/caption] Roger Federer’s wife, Mirka, set tongues wagging with her eye-catching hot pink jumper during her husband’s semi-final against Stan Wawrinka. Much of the commentary wasn’t complimentary but it turns out that the garish item, with bright green collar and cuffs and emblazoned with a picture of a tiger, has cachet: it’s a Gucci design, with a price tag of about $1,500. That’s a lot for a jumper but it probably won’t concern Federer, who has earned about $1.4 million by reaching Sunday’s final. Name that grunt The Australian Open has been blessedly quiet this year as champion grunter Maria Sharapova is serving a drugs ban and the equally shriek-prone Victoria Azarenka is taking time off after the birth of her first child. Grunting has previously been so loud that it was audible from outside Melbourne Park and TV viewers have phoned in to complain. But for anyone who’s missing the screaming, one betting company has launched a ‘Guess the Grunt’ game on its website. Split loyalties Problems are brewing in the Williams camp over who will sit in whose box for Saturday’s final between Serena and Venus. Serena said most of their friends and family will have to toss a coin to decide where they’ll sit – although she has doubts about the loyalties of her new fiance, Alexis Ohanian. “I know he’s been rooting for Venus all week so we’ll see. I don’t blame him,” Serena said. Froome with a view Cycling king Chris Froome was among the celebrities courtside for Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka’s all-Swiss semi-final on Thursday. The three-time Tour de France champion tweeted a picture of himself with Australia’s Cadel Evans with excellent seats in the second row. He probably needed a sit-down, after pedalling 116 kilometres (72 miles) in a race earlier on Thursday.

Noah regrets Spare a thought for Noah Rubin, the American qualifier brushed aside by Roger Federer in the second round. As the Swiss great took to a packed Rod Laver Arena, Rubin was watching on TV from an empty Melbourne airport. “Abandoned Melbourne airport at 9pm or Rod Laver night match?….. Okay you win this round Fed,” he tweeted.

Name-dropping Australian legend Evonne Goolagong-Cawley accidentally let slip who will be presenting the trophy to the winner of the women’s singles final, the Herald Sun reported. As Goolagong-Cawley delivered the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to an on-court ceremony, she told the crowd: “I’m looking forward to handing it over to Hana.” An hour later, two-time Australian Open winner Hana Mandlikova was formally revealed as the woman who will present the trophy on Saturday. With inputs from agencies