Wimbledon 2013: three cheers for the 'little people' as they have their day on court You on the other hand must feel nothing but the desire to win. In May Ernests Gulbis, the Latvian world No 39, complained to L'Equipe that tennis players generally, and especially Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, are too boring. The more relevant point would seem to be how do they hold it all together? How have they not gone off the rails? In the insane world that they move in, how do they retain some sense of perspective, some normality? They get paid ridiculously well for their efforts - the Wimbledon prize money pot increased by 40 per cent this year compared to 2012 - and the top four players have become commodities. They are ambassadors for this and that, their every move or utterance mapped on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or their own websites. According to Forbes, Federer earned $9.3 million in prize money between July 2011 and July 2012 and an estimated $45 million from sponsors, exhibitions and appearance fees. His sponsors include Nike, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz, Gillette, Rolex, Wilson, Lindt chocolate, Jura, Moet and Chandon and Netjets. Does Roger ever look around him and feel like screaming - is all this really for me? If he does, he does it quietly. Instead he and Nadal and Djokovic and Murray are unfailingly polite, shaking their opponents" hands, congratulating each other on their successes, forever taking the positives and moving on. It may be boring, but it is remarkable. But, this Wimbledon has been a treasure trove of chaos. The usual four men will not make their way to the semi-finals. Serena Williams and her bright pink pants has gone, turned over by a flabbergasted Sabine Lisicki. Maria Sharapova too has moved on, undone by the slippery grass and a qualifier ranked 131st. There are new faces, interesting faces. There will be a Polish semi-finalist for the first time, after compatriots Jerzy Janowicx and high-stepping can-can dancer Lukasz Kubot play each other in Wednesday's quarter-finals. We were charmed by Sergiy Stakhovsky, and his marathon autograph session, wonky smile and lucid press conference after beating Federer. Then there was the elastic tongue-pierced Dustin Brown, ranked in the lowly 180s, owner of both the longest dreadlocks in the game and the most flamboyant tears of the tournament after beating Lleyton Hewitt. Many of these are not insanely wealthy. They play for love, despite the grind, the intensity, the isolation and the demoralisation of successive defeat. Murray may yet dominate the fortnight if he wins on Sunday, but Wimbledon 2013 has belonged to the littler people, who have not yet learned to hide their true selves from the wider world.