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Michael Jackson remembered at Wimbledon

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Here’s a postcard on Michael Jackson from Chuck Culpepper, who’s covering Wimbledon for The Times:

TV stations stayed tuned to Los Angeles. ‘JACKO DEAD,’ screamed at least two tabloids.

And the very first question to Serena Williams after she advanced to the fourth round: ‘What did Michael Jackson mean to you personally?’ (Eleven more Michael Jackson questions followed.)

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Turns out Williams met Jackson (and hyperventilated) a few times, learned he liked tennis, learned he had a tennis video game that helped familiarize him with Williams.

‘He’s just the greatest entertainer of all time for me,’ she said.

Turns out Roger Federer once went, sans ticket, to a concert in Basel, Switzerland, and stood outside the stadium listening.

And it turns out that Novak Djokovic, a gifted impersonator, actually played Michael Jackson two years ago during the Monte Carlo tournament players’ show, which features a dance number.

‘So we chose ‘Thriller,’ and I was him,’ Djokovic said. ‘So you can imagine what it looked like.’

Actually -- special thanks to YouTube -- he looked fabulous.

More Wimbledon coverage from Chuck on latimes.com.

-- Mike Hiserman

An unidentified Michael Jackson fan at Wimbledon on Friday. Credit: Hugo Philpott / EPA

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