AFP
London, July 7

A serial streaker struck again Sunday invading Centre Court during the Wimbledon men's singles final between Australian Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Mark Roberts, a 37-year-old father of three from Liverpool, ran onto the All England Club's hallowed turf during a rain break.

The streak, which appeared to delight the crowd, happened just as Hewitt and Nalbandian arrived back on court after a 14-minute rain delay.

It took three security guards to catch Roberts as he cavorted in front of the Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra as well as other dignitaries sat in the Royal box.

They threw a red blanket over him and handed him over to police.

A police spokesman said he was arrested for a breach of the peace and would be questioned further at Wimbledon Police Station.

"The man has done this at several major sporting events in the past," the spokesman said. "He has been very cooperative and I cannot say at this stage whether he will be charged."

In May this year Roberts ran on to the pitch at Hampden Park stadium, Glasgow, during the Champions League final.

Wearing nothing but a tartan 'See you Jimmy' hat, Roberts managed to dribble the ball from the halfway line and 'score' past Bayer Leverkusen's stunned goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt.

He was fined 200 pounds (300 dollars) for that stunt and is understood to have amassed around 2,000 pounds (3000 dollars) in fines over the past eight years during which he claims to have streaked 150 times.

He has been banned from entering football grounds in England and Wales after running naked onto the pitch at last year's FA Cup final and was banned from travelling to this summer's World Cup finals.

Two years ago he ran on to court number 14 at Wimbledon while Russian beauty Anna Kournikova was playing a doubles match.

The 1996 Wimbledon men's singles final was similiary interrupted when a woman dressed in an apron ran past Malivai Washington and Richard Krajicek on Centre Court.

Sunday's incident was the second at this year's Wimbledon with Manchester prankster Karl Power invading Centre Court in the first week when he and friend Tommy Dunn played a few shots dressed in tennis gear.

Power, who also lined up alongside players in a Manchester United team photo and invaded Headingley dressed in cricket whites during an Ashes clash, got away without being caught.

Tournament organisers said that they regretted Sunday's incident but that it was a tough task to find a compromise between containing spectators and great views and closeness to the court.

"In this incident it was quickly apparent that there was no threat but it would be a great shame if we had to put preventative measures in place to prevent people gaining access to the court. We clearly hope this will not be the case," a spokesman for the All England Club said.