Alcaraz was no less accommodating once they arrived, breezily granting Djokovic the choice of towel boxes and then, having won the coin toss, electing to receive with an almost apologetic air. Such are the qualities – humility, respect, good cheer – that, at the age of 21, have already earned Alcaraz a place in the collective heart. 

Modesty, though, should not be mistaken for meekness. Alcaraz may be a smiling assassin, but he is an assassin nonetheless, and over the two hours and 27 minutes that followed he ruthlessly exposed the limitations of an opponent whose mere presence in the final, barely a month after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee, was a victory in itself. 

Summoning his finest tennis of the fortnight, Alcaraz stormed to a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory, retaining the title he wrested from Djokovic’s grasp in contrastingly epic fashion last summer to take his tally of grand slam titles to four. In every possible sense, it was an uncomfortable afternoon for Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 grand slam titles at the All England Club but, forced to play out of his forehand corner more often than his knee could comfortably withstand, never looked likely to add an eighth.

Only Rafael Nadal has inflicted a more one-sided defeat on Djokovic in a major final and, but for a late wobble on Alcaraz’s part, this loss might have been almost as comprehensive as the 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 hammering the Serbian world No 2 suffered at Roland Garros in 2020. 

Serving at 5-4 in the third set, Alcaraz missed three championship points in row, brought to grief by a double fault, a penetrating return from Djokovic, and a swing volley that he drove narrowly wide after a distracting cry from the crowd. But like Roger Federer, the only other man in the open era to win his first four major finals, Alcaraz seems to have been born for these occasions. Broken for the only time in the match, the Spaniard steadied himself to force a tiebreak, where a timely drop shot carried him to match point before Djokovic netted a backhand to signal the end of his challenge. 

Afterwards, Alcaraz spoke respectfully of his opponent’s achievement in mounting a run to the final of a tournament that it seemed scarcely credible the 37-year-old would even play after his brush with the surgeon’s knife.

“I still believe Novak is Superman,” said Alcaraz. “What he’s done in this tournament with a surgery just a few weeks before the tournament began is amazing. As I said on court, I was talking with my team [about how] the work he’s done has been unbelievable. 

“He gave himself the chance to be able to play the tournament. [Djokovic] making the final is something out of this world for me. I beat him today but, for me, Novak is still Superman.”

At this point, Alcaraz perhaps ought to be donning a cape himself. Following his victory over Alexander Zverev in last month’s French Open final, he becomes only the sixth man in the open era – not to mention the youngest – to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season. The other members of that elite club – Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Nadal, Federer and Djokovic – are all in double figures for grand slam wins, an indication of Alcaraz’s extraordinary trajectory. 

“It’s a great feeling, thinking about being the French Open winner and Wimbledon champion the same year, that just a few players have done it before,” said Alcaraz. “It’s unbelievable.”

The direction the afternoon would take was foreshadowed in the opening game, a 14-minute tussle on Djokovic’s serve that took in seven deuces, with Alcaraz finally prevailing on his fifth break point. Even at that stage, the Serb was wasting no opportunity to go to the net, a notable departure from his signature baseline game. It was the first suggestion that his surgically repaired knee would not allow him to compete effectively from the back of the court. It also pointed to a wider tactical dilemma for Djokovic, who struggled to contain the Spaniard’s power and variety in the rallies, yet fared little better when he sought to shorten the points in the forecourt. 

“I was inferior on the court,” said Djokovic. “That’s it. He was a better player; he played every single shot better than I did.

“He wasn’t also allowing me to have any free points on my serve, he was reading the serve, he was playing with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way, to be honest. I mean. 136[mph] – maybe I was missing something this tournament, but I’ve never seen him serve that fast.”

Djokovic’s predicament was underscored at the start of the second set, where Alcaraz broke the sidelines with a heavy forehand, prising a groundstroke error from his scrambling opponent to bring up break points, then converted the opportunity with a dipping forehand pass that drew a volleying error. On a day when Alcaraz produced his best serving display of the tournament, it was the platform he needed to stretch what would become an unassailable lead. 

“It was a great match for me,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously Novak didn’t play at his best in the first two sets, a lot of mistakes, so I made the most of that.”

He has made the most of all his grand slam final opportunities so far, not least at Wimbledon, where his record of 18 wins from his first 20 matches is bettered only by Laver. On this evidence, there will surely be many more to come. 

The post Alcaraz sweeps past Djokovic to retain Wimbledon title appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

In the emotional aftermath of a final that swung back and forth for almost two hours before Krejcikova finally prevailed 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, the 28-year-old Czech paid an eloquent and composed tribute to her compatriot, who coached and counselled her before her death from cancer in November 2017. Speaking in her on-court interview, Krejcikova recalled how a coaching partnership that began when she knocked on Novotna’s door as an 18-year-old, clutching a letter and asking for guidance, changed her life.  

“I think coming to Jana, knocking on her door, giving her the letter – everything that happened during that moment, I think it just changed my life,” said Krejcikova, the 31st seed, after winning her second grand slam singles title. “It definitely changed my tennis life, because during the period when I finished juniors, I didn’t know what I should do, if I should continue and play pro, or if I should go the way of education. 

“Jana was the one that told me I had the potential, and that I should definitely turn pro and just try to make it. Before she passed away, she told me to go and win a slam, and I achieved that in Paris in 2021. It was an unbelievable moment for me, and I never really dreamed that I would win the same trophy as Jana did in 1998.”

Shortly afterwards, when the cheers had subsided and the glare of flashing cameras dulled, the emotion of the moment hit home in earnest. It is more than a quarter of a century since Novotna banished the memory of two losing finals by claiming a cathartic victory over Nathalie Tauziat, but memories of her title run, five years after a heart-wrenching defeat to Steffi Graf in the 1993 final left her crying on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent, will forever be embedded in Wimbledon folklore. Having made her way off Centre Court, Krejcikova paused to gaze at the honours board, where her name had been freshly inscribed alongside Novotna’s on the roll of honour. She was overwhelmed with emotion. 

“The only thing that was going through my head was that I miss Jana a lot,” said Krejcikova. “It was just very emotional, a very emotional moment to see me on a board right next to her. I think she would be proud. I think she would be really excited that I’m on the same board as she is, because Wimbledon was super special for her.”

In an absorbing final, it required a performance of outstanding quality and resilience from Krejcikova to subdue an impassioned fightback from the seventh-seeded Paolini, who gave everything in pursuit of her dream of becoming the first Italian Wimbledon champion. For a set, she was played off the court. Krejcikova, picking up from where she left off in her semi-final win over Elena Rybakina, the former champion and title favourite, made a near-flawless start, putting a remarkable 90% of first serves into play in the opener and barely missing a return. But Paolini roused herself magnificently in the second set, returning from a bathroom break with renewed energy and aggression to turn the match on its head. 

After returning to the fray, Paolini ripped through her opening service game, her groundstrokes acquiring fresh depth and penetration as she moved up the court and sought to dictate. Showing a first hint of fallibility, Krejcikova made a trio of unforced errors in the next game to drop serve for the first time. When the Czech sliced tamely into the net to miss a break point in the next game, frustration surfaced, Krejcikova gesturing in exasperation after being disturbed by a noise from the crowd. Now Paolini was on her way, refocusing her attack on the Czech’s backhand even as Krejcikova became increasingly passive off the forehand. The shift in momentum was most starkly reflected in the players’ serving statistics. While Paolini’s second serve win percentage rose from 38% in the first set to 83% in the second, Krejcikova’s dipped from 50% to 33%, a measure of the Italian’s rising assertiveness.

Having fought back from a set down against Donna Vekic to win the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history, Paolini had more history in her sights as she matched Krejcikova step for step over the first six games of the final set. No woman had rebounded from losing the first set in the final two rounds at the All England Club since Graf came from behind against Novotna and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario to win the 1995 title. 

But facing the first break point of the decider at 3-3, Paolini unsuccessfully challenged a call on her first serve, the disruption to her rhythm and focus costing her dearly. Delivering her only double fault of the entire afternoon, Paolini gifted Krejcikova what proved a decisive breakthrough. Three games later, the Czech navigated a nervy service game to convert her third match point with a 108mph delivery that went unreturned. 

It has nonetheless been an extraordinary six months for Paolini, who had never won a match on grass before this year and started her season ranked outside the world’s top 30. Having since reached the last 16 of the Australian Open, won the biggest title of her career in Dubai, and made a left-field run to the French Open final, Paolini will now rise to a career high of fifth on Monday. That will perhaps come as scant consolation after losing the biggest match of her life, but the late-blooming 28-year-old, who was demolished by Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, knows she is getting closer

“I started bad, but I said, ‘OK, take some time and try to relax and to come back in the second set stronger, to try to push the ball more,’” said Paolini. “I was a little bit, you know, controlling too much, and I missed a lot of shots. But she was playing, honestly, very good. The first set she was serving really, really good, a high percentage of first serves, so it was tough. I think I did better than the last final, but still not enough.” 

Krejcikova, meanwhile, did more than she ever imagined possible. On an afternoon when she joined a long and illustrious line of Czech Wimbledon champions dating back to Jaroslav Drobny in 1954, all the way through to Marketa Vondrousova last year, two of the most famous, Martina Navratilova and Jan Kodes, looked on approvingly from the Royal Box. Somewhere, perhaps, so too did Novotna, the most important of them all.

The post Krejcikova thwarts Paolini to win Wimbledon title appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

The 28-year-old Czech defeated Elena Rybakina, the former champion and runaway title favourite, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach her first final at the All England Club, where she will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini at the weekend. 

Across a fortnight packed with uncertainties, Rybakina had seemed the one sure thing. While her fellow top-five seeds were buffeted and toppled – Jessica Pegula in the second round, Iga Swiatek in the third, Coco Gauff in the fourth – the 25-year-old Kazakhstani defied the prevailing mayhem, making serene progress through the second quarter of the draw. Aside from Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who pushed her to a decider in round two, no one had taken more than three games in a set against Rybakina. She knew the course and distance, having won the title two summers against Ons Jabeur, and was mercifully free of the health problems that afflicted her in Rome and Paris. Surely she would be the one to step up, reaffirming the notion of a women’s “big three” by joining Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion – sadly forced to withdraw through injury on the first Monday – and Iga Swiatek, the French Open winner, as the third different champion in three grand slams?

It was a solid enough argument, but it overlooked a number of intangibles. Krejcikova, a former world No 2 and winner of the 2021 French Open, also knows what it is to go the distance at a major – even at Wimbledon, where she has won two doubles titles. She too had advanced to the last four for the loss of just one set (albeit her opening-round win over Veronika Kudermetova, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, could barely have been tighter). Above all, Krejcikova had won both her previous meetings with Rybakina, and was no doubt one of the last players Rybakina would have wished to see obstructing her path to a third major final. 

After a shaky start, Krejcikova made all those factors tell. She drew on her experience, maintaining her composure and positivity after losing all but one of her first four service games. As Rybakina launched a blistering early barrage, establishing a 4-0 lead, Krejcikova’s mental game was outstanding, the Czech responding to any rare sign of encouragement with a clenched fist. Often in tennis, such gestures are mere bluster, designed to intimidate the player at the opposite end, to let an opponent know that you are there. Not so with Krejcikova, whose stoic detachment is a defining quality of her game, even if her self-exhortations did grow in ferocity as the afternoon wore on. 

Krejcikova also switched up her tactics from the second set onwards, approaching the net more often, using drop shots, crafting angles, moving inside the baseline. Rybakina, who smoked 19 winners in the first set to offset her 15 unforced errors, began to miss, her aggression no longer cancelling out her mistakes. By the time she righted the ship, it was too late.

“At the beginning she was just playing really well, she was just smashing the ball and she was [making] a lot of winners,” said Krejcikova. “But I felt that if I just stayed in the game, and if I kept fighting and tried to just stay there with her, that I’m going to get my chances.

“I felt that I had to maybe put a little bit more pressure on her just to change it. I was just looking for some options, and one of the options that I have is to serve and volley.”

The upshot is that an eighth different women’s champion in eight years will be crowned on Saturday, when Krejcikova will attempt to emulate the Centre Court victory of her late mentor, Jana Novotna, 26 years ago. She referenced the Czech legend in her on-court interview.

“Years ago, I was working with Jana Novotna, she won here in 1998,” Krejcikova recalled. “At that point, she was telling me a lot of stories about journeys here, and how she was trying to win Wimbledon. I was so far, really, when we had this talk. Now I’m here and I’m in the finals. Wow.”

The post Krejcikova stuns Wimbledon favourite Rybakina appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

A run to the last 16 of January’s Australian Open held promise of better to come, and when the 28-year-old claimed a historic triumph in Dubai the following month, becoming only the third Italian woman to win a WTA 1000 title, the feeling was that she had delivered. In fact, she was barely getting started.

Six weeks ago, Paolini embarked on an extraordinary run to the final of the French Open, and on Thursday she reached the final of a second straight major, prevailing in a physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting battle with Donna Vekic to win the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history. 

By the time Vekic drilled a final forehand wide to confirm Paolini’s 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) victory, two hours and 51 minutes had elapsed, eclipsing Serena Williams’s epic 2009 win over Elena Dementieva by three minutes. In a measure of the magnitude of her summer, Paolini also became the first woman to reach the finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season since Williams in 2016. In half a season, she has gone from a grand slam also-ran to being mentioned in the same breath as arguably the greatest female player in history; like her latest success, it has been the wildest of rides.

“It was really tough today, she played unbelievable,” said the seventh-seeded Paolini on court afterwards. “She was hitting winners everywhere. I was a little bit struggling at the beginning, but I was just repeating to myself to fight [for] every ball and to improve a little bit. 

“I am so happy with this win. This match, I will remember forever.”

It was, indeed, unforgettable, an occasion of unrelenting drama and emotion and no little quality. Yet Vekic, who cut a distraught figure down the stretch, will not be able to banish it from her memory soon enough. 

If major trophies were handed out on the strength of perseverance alone, the unseeded Croatian would have been a multiple grand slam champion by now. As it is, she has taken the long road, one punctuated by injuries, knee surgery and thoughts of retirement. This was her first major semi-final – she has previously reached the last eight at the Australian and US Open, achieving a career-high ranking of No 19 – and while she is projected to rise from her current position of 37 to the cusp of the top 20 next week, that will be scant consolation. 

Vekic dominated the first set, barely losing a point behind her first serve while feasting on the 5ft 4in Paolini’s delivery. Returning from inside the baseline and going hell-for-leather with her booming forehand, Vekic looked nigh-on unplayable. 

But history has shown otherwise, and as Paolini improved her serving statistics and started to show greater variety, throwing in drop shots, approaching the net and switching to a deeper return position, so she began to make inroads. It made for a far more competitive second set, the pair matching each other step for step until the 10th game, where the cumulative pressure told on the Croatian. Serving to stay in the set, Vekic left the door ajar with a double fault, and Paolini gratefully forced it open.

On we went to a deciding set, one Vekic looked likely to control when she consolidated an early break to lead 3-1. But Paolini was far from done. She hit back to level, promptly dropped serve again as Vekic jumped on an inviting 66mph second serve, and then took full advantage as the Croatian, feeling the toll of going the distance for the fifth time in six matches, began to stretch out her legs and ice her forearm. 

From there, it became a battle of Vekic’s brave shot-making and Paolini’s tenacity and resilience. The Italian kept pressing, moving her opponent deep into the corners, forever making one more ball. As Vekic prepared to serve to stay in the match, she was visibly distressed. She nonetheless steeled herself to hold with some brilliant serving, saving a match point in the process, and at 5-5 she twice held a break point that would have left her serving for the match. 

Again, Paolini held on. As Vekic trudged disconsolately back to her chair, she dissolved into tears. Up in the players’ box, Pam Shriver, her coach, yelled encouragement. Brankica Vekic, her mother, wore a haunted expression. Somehow, though, Vekic rallied to hold again, winning a tense 17-shot rally to fend off a second match point. A fraught 10-point tiebreak followed, but it was not be for Vekic.

“Tough, tough match,” she later reflected, struggling to maintain her composure as she faced the media. “I believed that I could win until the end. She played some amazing tennis and all congrats to her, she definitely deserved it.

“I thought I was going to die in the third set, I had so much pain in my arm, my leg. So it was not easy out there, but I will recover.

“I was more crying because I had so much pain that I didn’t know how I could keep playing.”

Paolini, meanwhile, stands on the brink of history for the second time in little more than a month. In Saturday’s final, she will face Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who later fought back from a set down to stun Elena Rybakina, the former champion and title favourite, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. 

The post Paolini edges out Vekic to reach Wimbledon final appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Sure enough, with the tennis world braced for the next chapter in the burgeoning rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, up popped Medvedev, the disruptor-in-chief of the men’s game, to rewrite the script. On an afternoon when Sinner struggled with illness, Medvedev came through a turbulent five-set battle with the Italian world No 1, prevailing 6-7 (7-9), 6-4 ,7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club for the second year in a row.

After losing five straight matches to Sinner, not least January’s Australian Open final, it was a restorative victory for the former US Open champion, who has been in danger of losing ground at the top of the men’s game after failing to win a trophy in 14 months and losing each of his past five matches against opponents ranked in the world’s top five. 

Three of those top-five defeats have come against Sinner, who had not won a match against Medvedev in six attempts before beating him last October in Beijing. For Medvedev, this victory was a reminder to his younger rival – and, perhaps, to Alcaraz, whom he will face in a repeat of last year’s semi-final after the Spaniard recovered from a set and a break down to defeat Tommy Paul – that he remains competitive at the business end of majors. 

“I lost five times to him, a lot of close matches and the last one [in this year’s Miami Open semi-finals] was super easy,” said Medvedev. “We’re going to play probably many more times if we are both on tour, probably semis, quarters-finals, whatever. 

“For me, it was important to just show [him], ‘I’m always going to be there, I’m always going to fight, I’m always going to try to make your life difficult. Maybe you’re going to win more, maybe I’m going to win more, I don’t know. But I’m going to fight.’ 

“Even if he won today, the goal was to show him that every time, I’m going to be there to fight and to win, and today I managed to do it.”

For Sinner, who edged a high-quality first set in a nervy tiebreak but then looked increasingly out of sorts, it was a harrowing experience. The 22-year-old took a medical timeout three games into the third set, by which time he was a break down, and had his heart rate taken as he sweated profusely and clutched his head. He subsequently trudged off court, flanked by a physio and a doctor, sparking real concern. 

After an 11-minute break in play, Sinner returned looking a little more sprightly, but the manner in which he slumped into his chair at the next changeover betrayed his continued physical struggles. He managed the situation beautifully, however, using a combination of drop shots, net rushes and huge forehands to shorten the points. After a series of unforced errors from Medvedev as he served for the set at 5-4, Sinner broke back, and even fashioned two set points in his opponent’s next service game. Medvedev held on, and subsequently went on to win the set on a tiebreak, but the Italian showed impressive resilience to recover, cantering through the fourth set to force a decider.

“I was not feeling great,” said Sinner, who revealed he had woken up feeling unwell. “I didn’t vomit. But I took some time, because I was dizzy quite a lot. Actually, off court I had a little bit the toughest time maybe.

“When I went back, I tried my best. Obviously disappointed about the third set, had a couple of set points, couldn’t use them. In the [fourth set] I raised my level a little bit, and in the fifth had just one poor service game, which decided the match.

“I was so surprised that I pushed the match longer. I retired a lot two years ago. I don’t want to retire if it’s only a little bit of illness or sickness or whatever. I was still in shape to play somehow. The fifth set I felt a little bit better again, the energy level was a bit up. 

“[But] today the energy level was not consistent. It was up and down. Like this, it’s also not easy to handle the situations on the court.”

That is especially true against a wily and ruthless competitive animal like Medvedev, who is never more dangerous than when he scents blood in the water. Ever the amiable Machiavellian, the 28-year-old admitted in his on-court interview that he wanted to make Sinner “play more points to make him suffer a little bit more” – “in a good way,” he added with a mischievous smile – but said it was difficult playing with the knowledge that Sinner would eventually be forced to go for broke. Now he will face Alcaraz, the defending champion, who rarely plays with anything less than free-hitting abandon.

“You know that whatever shot you hit, he can hit a winner from there,” said Medvedev, reflecting on the threat posed by the Spaniard’s “easy power”. “So you try to make his life difficult, you try to hit the shot as good as you can so maybe he goes for it and he cannot make it. 

“But that’s pretty special, because there are not many players like this. There are lot of players that if you play cross[court], there is less chance that he goes down-the-line winner etc. Carlos can do whatever, from any position – and that’s not easy to play against.”

Paul, the American 12th seed, can vouch for the truth of that analysis. After winning a marathon first set courtesy of a late break and then snatching a 2-0 lead in the second as his bold shot-making forced Alcaraz to overpress, the Queen’s Club champion appeared to have laid the foundations for another big upset. But Alcaraz found another gear, powering to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win to reach a second straight major semi-final, following his victory at last month’s French Open. If Medvedev is wary of the challenge that awaits, the feeling is mutual. 

“The most difficult thing about facing Daniil, or the most special thing about him, is he can reach every ball,” said Alcaraz. “He is like a wall. Every ball bounces back. I feel like I can hit an unbelievable shot, the ball is going to bounce back.”

The question now is whether Medvedev can rebound from last year’s semi-final defeat against the Spaniard to cause another big upset. As he demonstrated against Sinner, it is the kind of challenge he relishes.

The post Medvedev foils Sinner’s Wimbledon ambitions appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

After easing past a below-par Holger Rune in straight sets, Djokovic used his on-court interview to vent his displeasure at fans whose expressions of support for the Danish 15th seed he mistakenly took for jeers. The 37-year-old misheard cries of “Ruuune” as boos. 

Despite assurances to the contrary from the chair umpire, Nico Helwerth, and later an attempt to defuse the situation by his interviewer, the BBC’s Rishi Persad, Djokovic insisted Rune’s supporters had used the chants to conceal their derision. 

“To all the fans that have respect and have stayed here tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” said Djokovic following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win. “And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a goooooood night. Goooooood night. Goooooood night.”

Djokovic shot down Persad’s suggestion that the supposed offenders were voicing support for Rune, rather than expressing disrespect for the Serbian second seed. 

“They were, they were, they were,” said Djokovic, shaking his head. “I don’t accept it. No. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo. Listen, I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years, so trust me, I know all the tricks, I know how it works. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s OK. I focus on the respectful people that pay the ticket to come and watch tonight, and love tennis and appreciate the players, and the effort that the players put in. I played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”

It was an unexpectedly spicy conclusion to a contest that was, in truth, something of a damp squib. Having previously beaten Djokovic on hard courts and clay, Rune will have drawn encouragement from the former champion’s struggles against Jacob Fearnley and Alexei Popyrin, both of whom pushed him to four sets. But Rune’s hopes of completing a surface trifecta effectively evaporated within seven minutes, the time it took for the Serb to pocket the first 12 points of the match and establish an unassailable first-set lead. 

From there, the 21-year-old was always playing catch-up. Broken again in the seventh game of the second set, Rune fended off six set points at 5-3 to stay in contention, sealing the game with an ace. It was during that miniature tug-of-war that Djokovic began to take issue with the chants for his opponent. Having made his feelings known to Helwerth at the changeover, he was soon eyeballing his perceived tormentors as he saved a break point to serve out for a two-set lead. 

From there, a couple of late slips posed the most meaningful threat to Djokovic’s progress, but the knee on which he had surgery barely a month ago survived the tests unscathed. He will now face Alex De Minaur, the Australian ninth seed, who defeated Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight for the first time. 

“I think Holger didn’t really play at his expected level,” said Djokovic. “But I think I also made him uncomfortable on the court in terms of being very solid from the baseline and serving well in important moments. There were a couple of games – when I was serving for the second set, [and in] the third set [at] 3-2 up – where I saved some break points, where he had chances to shift the momentum to his side. But I think I played some good points.”

The post Djokovic takes aim at Wimbledon crowd after Rune win appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

A defining feature of the Polish world No 1’s dominance has been her ability to take time away from her opponents with her early ball-striking and quicksilver movement. And as she stormed through the opening set against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, it seemed very much business as usual. Then, Putintseva found fresh impetus – and Swiatek began to lose control of time.

What followed will go down as the upset of the fortnight. Yet Putintseva’s 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory was not entirely unforeseeable. Two months ago, she came within a point of establishing a 5-1 lead against Swiatek in Rome. That was on slow red clay; on the slick grass of Wimbledon’s No 1 Court, where time is at a premium, the fiery and tenacious 29-year-old was always likely to pose a greater threat, particularly after winning her first title on the surface last month in Birmingham.  

It was the manner in which Putintseva went about her work that caught the eye. A bundle of scarcely contained energy at the best of times, the world No 35 went into overdrive after going a set down. Her stride became more purposeful. Her tempo quickened, both in the rallies and between them. She regularly delivered her first serve with 17 of the allotted 25 seconds remaining. She also shifted her receiving position, moving back to give herself more time to read and neutralise Swiatek’s much-improved service. It was a change that reaped dividends, Putintseva discomfiting the Pole by drilling deep, powerful returns down the centre of the court à la Novak Djokovic.

The cumulative effect of these adjustments was dramatic. After dictating the rhythm of the contest in the first set, Swiatek found herself constantly rushed. An abiding memory came as the end neared, when she prodded an ungainly backhand skywards after being caught at her feet by a searing return. It was a shot that smacked of helplessness, an unaccustomed feeling for a woman who had lost just four matches all season. Swiatek was quite literally ushered towards the exit. 

“Putintseva is just so good at playing quickly, playing the momentum,” said Ashleigh Barty, the former Wimbledon champion turned BBC pundit, early in the final set. “She hasn’t given Iga much time to think about it. She’s playing quickly, playing to her tempo. It’s all happening so quickly. There needs to be a way [Swiatek] can wrestle back the momentum, otherwise she’ll run out of time.”

Which is precisely what happened. After reaching the quarter-finals at the All England Club for the first time last year, Swiatek appeared poised for an even deeper run this time around. She began the tournament with a pair of emphatic wins over Sofia Kenin and Petra Martic, and carried a 21-match winning streak into the third-round. But from the outset, Putintseva, herself unbeaten in seven outings, was a woman in a hurry. Before her opening service game, she glowered impatienly as Swiatek ran across the baseline to place her towels in the courtside boxes. Her mood darkened further in the second set, where she appeared distinctly unimpressed whenever the Pole went to her towel or took a moment to compose herself before settling into her return position. Putintseva denied she was intentionally trying to hassle her opponent.

“I was not rushing on purpose,” she said. “Honestly, I think every time I’m playing my service game, I’m not taking much time. I never go for a towel or anything. I’m just going.”

When Swiatek feels rushed by the server, she tends to raise her racket, signalling that she is not ready – a standard gesture among players, but one the Pole performs more often than most. It is a way of wrestling back time, of gaining precious extra seconds. The 23-year-old has deployed the tactic in the past against Marketa Vondrousova, another player who likes to play her service games at a quick pace. Putintseva was having none of it, however. Forced to restart her service motion on a game point early in the second set, the Kazakh held with a lovely wrong-footing forehand and then cast a death stare down the court. A couple of games later, as she battled off three break points, Putintseva exploded with fury after being delayed on serve, gesticulating wildly first at her coach, Roman Kislianskii, and then at Kader Nouni, the chair umpire. Her anger only intensified her bustle and brio.

Technically, the receiver is required to play at the server’s pace. It is something of a grey area, however: in the right hands, the rule can be weaponised, effectively allowing a player to quick-serve an opponent by putting the ball in play before they are ready. With the two women operating at opposite ends of the time spectrum, Nouni’s reluctance to intervene seemed sensible. 

The Frenchman was equally right not to penalise Swiatek when she took an authorised break between the second and third sets. While Putintseva postured theatrically as she awaited the Pole’s return, Swiatek was within the allotted timeframe: five minutes from the moment a player enters the toilet or changing area, not including the time required to get there and back. Swiatek returned to the court roughly seven minutes after departing, so the boos that greeted her reflected an ignorance of the rules. Yet the delay fired up Putintseva still further – another of the countless ways in which time shaped the outcome. 

“I was a bit, like, not annoyed, but she took a lot of time off the court,” said the Kazakh. “I don’t know what happened, how many minutes she was taking. Honestly, at some point I was so bored.”

Ensnared in an ever-widening web of force and finesse, Swiatek has rarely looked more harassed than she did down the stretch. Remarkably, Putintseva won 18 of the first 21 points in the decider. It was quite the turnaround: Swiatek is normally the one harrying opponents into submission. But grass, where the ball skids through fast and low, complicates matters. With less time to set up her shots, particularly the buggy-whip forehand so central to her success on other surfaces, Swiatek’s ability to take the ball on the rise and force the play with the strength and accuracy of her ball-striking is compromised. At the same time, the unpredictable footing makes it tougher to move, diminishing the advantage afforded by her peerless athleticism and defensive prowess. Putintseva used a combination of power and panache to exploit those vulnerabilities  

Nor should the cumulative toll of an exhausting clay-court campaign be overlooked. Swiatek’s French Open victory last month, her fourth in five years, marked the culmination of a run that included a first title in Madrid and a third Italian Open crown, a sequence of 19 matches in 45 days. As Swiatek acknowledged, the quick transition from Parisian clay to English grass, a turnaround of just 23 days, left her short on rest and preparation; again, a lack of time played its part.

“My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly empty,” Swiatek reflected. “I was kind of surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t really rest properly. I’m not going to make this mistake again. After such a tough clay court season, I really must have my recovery. 

“I thought that I’m going to be able to play at the same level, but I feel like on grass I need a little bit more of that energy to be patient and accept some mistakes. Mentally, I didn’t really do that well in this tournament. I need to recover better after the clay court season, both physically and mentally.”

The post Time told in Swiatek’s Wimbledon loss to Putintseva appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

His beautifully choreographed Centre Court sendoff on Thursday night was neither a final nor a victory, yet somehow it felt like both. At the time, it wasn’t even a farewell, given that Murray was entered in the mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu – although that has changed now that Raducanu has withdrawn from their scheduled first-round match.

It remains to be seen whether Raducanu, who said she woke up with stiffness in her right wrist following her third-round win over Maria Sakkari, will suffer a backlash over her decision. After undergoing surgery on both wrists last summer, and with the chance to reach a first Wimbledon quarter-final on the line when she faces Kiwi qualifier Lulu Sun on Sunday, her caution will be understandable to many. Then again, her partner has a metal hip, suffered ruptured ankle ligaments only a few months ago, and had surgery on his spine on the eve of Wimbledon. Were the roles reversed, it is hard to imagine anything would have prevented Murray from taking to the court.

The mood in the Murray camp seems clear. When broadcaster Marcus Buckland described Raducanu’s withdrawal as “astonishing” in a social media post, Murray’s mother, Judy, replied: “Yes, astonishing.” Ultimately, though, perhaps it is more fitting that Murray’s Wimbledon career ended alongside his older brother, Jamie, on a midweek night that felt more like the second Sunday.

All the hallmarks of a final were in evidence. The rapturous, prolonged standing ovation. The address to the crowd. The televised walk back to the locker room, applauded by the great and the good of the All England Club, before a pause to wave to the assembled throng outside Centre Court from the walkway leading to the millennium building. Murray, twice a champion on the grass of Wimbledon, has done it all before, of course. But never quite like this. The beauty of the occasion lay partly in treating him as though he had just won a third title. 

In reality, of course, it was just an opening-round doubles match, one the Murrays lost in straight sets to the Australian pairing of Rinky Hijikata and John Peers. But that was immaterial. It was a night for reliving past glories with family, friends and fans, not for dwelling on the realities of the present. 

To that end, Sue Barker, another national treasure, resurfaced from retirement to conduct one last Centre Court interview with Murray, just as she had done after each of his three finals. The look of astonishment on the brothers’ faces when she appeared was priceless. So too was the initial tremor of emotion in Barker’s voice. As always, she captured the mood perfectly. 

The video montage that followed, which interspersed footage of Murray’s greatest moments with contributions from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams, left nary a dry eye in the house. Up in the stands, Judy and Kim, Murray’s wife, struggled to contain their emotions. Down on the court, Jamie fared little better. The one person who held it together, for the most part at least, was Murray. He had earlier left the court to compose himself for what was to come, and although he wiped away a tear as the crowd gave him an ovation that felt like it would never end, this was not a repeat of his speech after losing the 2012 final to Federer – even if he did use similar words, reflecting that “it wasn’t easy” to come back and win the following year.

“I did find it pretty stressful to be honest with you,” said Murray. “But I obviously had an amazing team of people around me, supporting me through all of that. 

“The crowd support obviously made a huge difference. Playing at home is a huge advantage in all sports, and I used it that day. Novak [Djokovic] had an off-day, obviously. I just managed to get over the line. I didn’t really actually enjoy it as much as I should’ve done. I just found the whole thing very, very stressful.”

He will have found his conversation with Barker barely less so. The obvious parallels with Federer’s tearful farewell interview with Jim Courier at the 2022 Laver Cup were accentuated by the on-court presence of a stellar array of former Wimbledon champions –Djokovic, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Conchita Martínez and also Lleyton Hewitt, after whom one of Murray’s dogs is named. This being Wimbledon, there was also a British contingent comprising of Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Tim Henman (although, curiously, not Jamie Delgado, Murray’s former coach, or Laura Robson, alongside whom he won a mixed doubles silver medal at the London Olympics, both of whom looked on from the wings). 

Fittingly, given Murray’s steadfast support for the women’s game throughout his career, Iga Swiatek, the world No 1, was also in the line-up, as was Holger Rune, the Danish world No 15, with whom he played doubles in Brisbane this year.

The moments that threatened to tip Murray over the edge – talk of his family, and of the injury-plagued conclusion to his journey in the sport – were also redolent of Federer’s farewell. Yet Murray’s dry wit and raw honesty ensured the occasion remained uniquely his own. It is hard to imagine Federer recounting quite so many tales about vomiting. The final-that-wasn’t will linger in the memory beside Murray’s other Centre Court highlights, another remarkable chapter in his Wimbledon story. Short of winning the title, nothing he might have achieved alongside Raducanu would have come close.

“When the video was playing, my head was spinning a lot, because I know I’m about to have to speak,” said Murray. “It’s difficult in those moments, because there’s a lot of people you want to thank and address, but it’s also not easy, it’s pretty emotional. 

“Watching the video was nice, but hard as well for me, because you know it’s coming to the end of something that you’ve absolutely loved doing for such a long time. So that’s difficult. 

“It was really nice that a lot of the players stayed. I obviously have very close and good relationships with the British guys that were there, but there were also a number of players there on that court that I’ve got enormous respect for, some of the greatest players in the history of the game, so it was really nice that they stuck behind, because we did finish quite late.”

It was the least he deserved. There has been so much noise around Murray on his final visit to the All England Club as a player, so many questions and doubts and what-ifs following his recent back surgery. Play or don’t play; singles, doubles, mixed; injured, fit, somewhere in between. In the end, none of it mattered. Murray’s legacy in these parts was secure from the moment a Djokovic backhand nosedived into the net 11 summers ago, signalling the end of Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon champion. 

What followed will forever live on in the national consciousness, a series of freeze-frame mental images drenched in passion and joy and catharsis. Murray’s racket seemingly suspended in mid-air as he turned to the crowd to celebrate. Kim holding her head in wide-eyed disbelief. Judy crying on the shoulder of Leon Smith, the British Davis Cup captain, then almost finding herself overlooked when Murray failed to spot her after clambering into the players’ box. 

Eleven years on, Murray’s daughters Sophia and Edie, the two eldest of his four children, have a moment of their own to remember. This was their final, the moment when Wimbledon belonged to their father in a way it has rarely, if ever, belonged to anyone. Defeat notwithstanding, it was a perfect ending.

“I’m ready to finish playing,” said Murray. “I don’t want that to be the case, I would love to play forever. But like today, even though it was a doubles match where physically it’s not as demanding, it was still really hard for me. 

“This year’s been tough, with the ankle, the back surgery, obviously the hip. I’m ready to finish playing because I can’t play to the level that I would want to any more. That’s something that I guess is a bit out of my control. If I knew that my body was going to be able to do it, I would play.

“But I know that it’s time now, and I’m ready for that.”

The post Forget mixed doubles, this Wimbledon belongs to Murray appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

“He has this software in his head that he can switch when a grand slam comes,” said Ivanisevic. “A grand slam is a different sport compared to other tournaments. He switches his software. The day we arrived here, he was better, he was more motivated, he was more hungry. Every day he played better and better.”

Slowly but inexorably, the software is sparking into life again at Wimbledon. 

Djokovic, a seven-time champion in these parts, was not perfect in the face of a skilled and spirited challenge from Jacob Fearnley, a British wild card ranked 277 in the world. Even as he established early control of a contest he would go on to win 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, he had some uncomfortable moments. One minute, the 37-year-old would be steering groundstrokes of immaculate length and precision into the corners. The next, his movement and balance, the twin pillars of his game, seemed to desert him, resulting in an ungainly tangle of arms and legs. 

Given that it is barely four weeks since Djokovic abruptly abandoned his title defence at Roland Garros to undergo surgery on his right knee, such difficulties are only to be expected. It took intensive, daily rehab merely to make the starting line at the All England Club, and the knee brace he has been wearing has served as a constant visual reminder that it is borderline miraculous he is at Wimbledon at all. 

“I do feel that it has an impact on my movement, in terms of the speed,” said Djokovic of his recent brush with the surgeon’s knife. “It’s not yet there, where I want it to be. I’m kind of late on balls that I’m normally not late on. So that’s the part which, I guess, comes with matches. The longer I stay in the tournament, I think the better the chances that my movement will improve. 

“The earlier rounds is where I’m still a little bit rusty on the movement, I think. That’s what I felt today, at least. But I don’t worry about reinjuring my knee. I don’t have time nor energy to think about it, nor do I think it’s worth it. I wouldn’t be here unless I think – not just myself, but the whole team – that I’m ready to compete at this level.

“The more matches I have, the better the chance I’ll have to feel more comfortable moving around and gain that speed, agility, change of direction – that freedom that I’m looking for, really. I had it in certain moments today, certain moments in the first match [against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva], but then it’s still not there. In a way, it’s expected and normal when you come back from surgery. The body’s trying to understand what’s going on.”

Indeed, curiosity about what is going on has ranged far beyond Djokovic’s own body. Many have struggled to understand why, having prioritised the summer Olympics, where a gold medal remains the only significant omission from his glittering résumé, he elected to put his season on the line by competing in SW19. But Djokovic, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz over five epic sets in last year’s final, was desperate to give himself the chance to challenge for a record-equalling eighth title, and he can only have drawn confidence from his latest victory, which provided a far stiffer test of his recovery than most anticipated.

Fearnley, a 22-year-old from Edinburgh with junior wins over Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to his name but scant experience at this level, could hardly have done more. He stayed with Djokovic throughout the opening two sets, holding his own in the baseline exchanges, crushing forehands and using his heavy serve to telling effect. Only twice did Fearnley offer up a break point; on both occasions, Djokovic capitalised in clinical fashion. Such is the difference between plying your trade in American college tennis – like Cameron Norrie, Fearnley attended Texas Christian University – and making your grand slam debut against a man who has won 24 of the things. 

With nothing to show for maintaining an extraordinarily high level across the first two sets, it would have been easy for Fearnley to lose heart. But his belief never wavered. When he dropped serve early in the third set, he hit back immediately, prising an error to break Djokovic for the first time. When he found himself 15-40 down at 4-4, he recovered with a superb forehand winner and a lovely piece of anticipation at the net to move within a game of the set. And when Djokovic snuffed out that opportunity, Fearnley simply created another. Two games later, with the world No 2 serving to stay in the set for a second time, Fearnley forced a volleying error before stretching to hit a deep forehand return that caught Djokovic on his heels. The set was his. 

Had Fearnley converted a break point with Djokovic serving at 2-3 in the fourth set, who knows how the match might have unfolded. But the Serb slotted away an overhead to ward off the danger, and from there an eerie calm descended on him, an imperturbability that we have seen many times before. Victory was inevitable from that point, but Djokovic knew he had been in a fight.

“Credit to him for playing a really great match,” said Djokovic. “He fought, kept believing even though he was two sets down and a break down. He got the crowd involved. I dropped my level and I think I should have done some things better in the third set to finish it off. 

“But very challenging conditions today, very windy and not easy to find the right tempo and the right rhythm on the ball. I think I just did enough to win there in the fourth. I was a bit lucky to get out of trouble, not to go a break down. Hopefully I can raise the level in the upcoming rounds.”

There lies the only potential cloud on the horizon for Djokovic, assuming his fitness holds. When the draw pitted him against a qualifier followed by a wild card, the natural assumption was that the first couple of rounds would give the former champion a chance to ease himself into the fortnight. Fearnley ensured otherwise, and Djokovic will need to raise his game still further against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, who scored a five-set upset Tomás Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, the 30th seed, and pushed him hard in the second round of this year’s Australian Open. Stand by for another software reboot.  

The post Djokovic mind machine sparks into life at Wimbledon appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

“It’s a great learning experience for me going forward,” Raducanu said in a television interview the following day. “Next time, hopefully, I’ll be better prepared.”

She was. 

The 21-year-old returned to the scene of her teenage ordeal on Wednesday an infinitely more composed and accomplished player, delivering an artful and assured performance to dismantle Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-2. 

Raducanu is now through to the third round of a major for the first time since her historic run to the 2021 US Open title, which came barely two months after her baptism of fire against Tomljanovic, and while it is far too soon to start imagining that she might mount a similar run at her home slam, she is playing with a quality and abandon that will inevitably evoke memories of her New York fairy tale.

Much has changed since that landmark victory, of course, the intervening years having brought a smorgasbord of injuries and coaching changes, not to mention surgery on both wrists and an ankle last summer. A string of lucrative commercial endorsements and high-profile social engagements led many to question her commitment to the game, and perhaps understandably there have been times when Raducanu appeared a shadow of her sunny 18-year-old self. Yet the megawatt smile that illuminated Flushing Meadows three summers ago is back on her face, and the joy has returned to her tennis. Raducanu is accentuating the positives. 

“I didn’t even think of that,” she said when reminded that she had not played on No 1 Court since facing Tomljanovic. “When I think of Court One, I just think of that amazing win against Sorana [Cirstea, who she defeated in the third round in 2021]. I think that was my first coming out into tennis society, if you would like to call it. 

“I just have such amazing memories from that court, and that match in particular. It was the first time playing on a court that size, the crowd, the environment, the feeling of adjusting at the start to playing on a court that big. So I only have good memories of playing on that court.”

She will have even better ones now. This was a far cry from Raducanu’s error-strewn win over Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa in the previous round, which she described as a case of “winning ugly”. Powerful and precise off the ground, inventive and resourceful in defence, Raducanu left Mertens dumbfounded with the quality of her ball-striking and her outstanding speed and agility. The Briton rattled through the opening five games, and although the 33rd-ranked Mertens rallied to hold from 0-40 down at the start of the second set, Raducanu broke at the next time of asking with a brilliant backhand pass. She would not relinquish her lead.

Raducanu will now face Maria Sakkari, the Greek ninth seed, whom she defeated in the US Open semi-finals in their only previous meeting.

“The circumstances are different in a third round compared to a semi-final,” said Raducanu. “At the time the dynamics were also different, I was an unknown player pretty much. 

“She’s top 10 in the world, so it’s going to be a really difficult one, but again one where I’m the complete underdog, and I can just enjoy playing in my home slam and just keep having fun and trying to stay an extra day.”

There will be more fun when Raducanu partners Andy Murray in the mixed doubles, an offer she received by text message on Tuesday evening.

“For me, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Raducanu. “I think some things are bigger than just tennis. I think some things are a once-in-a-lifetime memory that you’re going to have for the rest of your life. To play at Wimbledon with Andy Murray, those things don’t come by.  

“At the end of my life, at the end of my career when I’m like 70 years old, I know I’m going to have that memory of playing Wimbledon with Andy Murray on a home slam.”  

The British pair will play their opener against Marcelo Arévalo of El Salvador and China’s Shuai Zhang later this week. 

The post Raducanu storms past Mertens at Wimbledon appeared first on Love Game Tennis.