As Chapman said the other day, the Olympics are poor background when writing; we’d much rather have a hockey game going on.

Tennis is really boring background, except for the grunting. And when someone is poisoned.

Scotland Yard is investigating allegations that a female tennis player was deliberately poisoned while competing at last month’s Wimbledon Championships.

Gabriella Taylor, 18, was forced to withdraw from the girl’s tournament midway through her quarter final match, after being struck down with a mystery illness.

It was initially thought she had contracted a virus while playing overseas, but after spending four days in intensive care, doctors eventually diagnosed a rare strain of Leptospirois, a bacteria that can be transmitted through rat urine.

Police launched a criminal investigation last week amid fears that she had been deliberately poisoned in an attempt to wreck her tournament chances.

One theory being explored is that Miss Taylor may have been targeted by an organised crime betting syndicate.

But the police probe will also raise questions over whether she could have been the subject of a malicious plot by a rival player or coach from the fiercely competitive junior circuit.

Last night Miss Taylor’s devastated parents Paul and Milena, were struggling to come to terms with what had happened to their daughter after discovering that she could have died.