I thought the tertiary plot was more 'Alexandra trying to find out who her father was' and that tied into the main plot by Alexandra theorizing that would be Lilith's (or whoever the murderer is) motivation for killing her, and so much of the book was covered. But yes, it was also necessary not to have too much plot so we could learn about the world and characters, much like the first HP book.

BTW, I guess you're happy about the Women's and stunned by the Men's, right? But I suppose Murray had to win sometime, and at least he got some big win. As for Serena, there was never a doubt - I don't think Sharapova's managed to take a set from her in something like four years, but her silver is quite an accomplishment as well.