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Wimbledon 2021: The story so far

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Roar Guru
4th July, 2021
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We are now at the halfway point of this year’s Wimbledon Championships and there is plenty to talk about as we enter the second week of the tournament.

This year’s Middle Sunday is the last in which there is no play, meaning from next year the men’s and women’s fourth round matches will start to be scheduled on what was traditionally a rest day for those who have managed to survive the first three rounds.

On the men’s draw, only two former champions in Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer remain, and there is every chance the two tennis warriors could fight it out once again in the championship match on Sunday night (AEST).

Djokovic, the defending champion from 2019, overcame a major scare in his first round match against British wildcard Jack Draper, dropping the first set 6-4 before proceeding to win in four sets.

He subsequently won his next two matches in straight sets to again advance to the last sixteen, where he will face his first seeded opponent in Cristian Garin, who is ranked 20th though seeded 17th due to the pre-tournament withdrawals of three players ranked above him.

That match will be first on Centre Court, with play starting at 10:30pm tonight (AEST).

The Djoker is just four wins away from equaling Federer and Rafael Nadal on a men’s joint-record 20 major men’s singles titles, and the possibility remains he may have to beat the former in the final to do so.

If Djokovic and Federer do meet in the championship match, then it promises to be a major final of historic proportions due to what is at stake for either player.

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Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic of Serbia.(Photo by TPN/Getty Images)

Not only would the Serb be aiming to join his contemporaries on 20 major men’s singles titles, Federer would be aiming for a record-breaking 21st Major title, which would take him one clear of Nadal, and a record-extending ninth at the All England Club.

The Swiss Maestro reached the fourth round of the tournament for a record 18th time, after defeating British 29th seed Cameron Norrie in four sets in the third round.

He will start favourite to defeat Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the fourth round, after which he could face second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.

Medvedev, who will become world number one if he reaches the final, and Djokovic doesn’t, had to come from behind in his third round match against Marin Cilic to advance to the second week at SW19 for the first time.

The Russian appeared down and out when he trailed 2017 finalist Marin Cilic by two sets to love, but demonstrated his mental fortitude to achieve two career firsts: winning a match from this deficit for the first time and also reaching the second week at Wimbledon.

Standing in the way of Medvedev and Federer is Polish 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz, who in his 13th major appearance is into the fourth round for the first time.

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But the Wimbledon dream is over for Andy Murray, who was beaten in straight sets by Denis Shapovalov, the result marking his worst performance at the All England Club since his debut in 2005.

On the women’s side of things, only one former champion remains and that is 25th seed Angelique Kerber, who cashed in on a section weakened by the first-round departure of Serena Williams to advance to the last sixteen.

The German came from a set down to defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the beneficiary of Williams’ injury-enforced retirement in the first round, in three sets to set up what promises to be a tantalising clash against American teen sensation Coco Gauff.

Gauff, for her part, defeated Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan in straight sets to match her 2019 result of reaching the last sixteen.

Women’s top seed Ashleigh Barty is one of two Aussies left remaining in the draw; after surviving a major scare against Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round, the Ipswich native proceeded to win her next two matches in straight sets to match her 2019 result of reaching the fourth round.

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If she beats reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first match on No.1 Court tonight (AEST), she could face compatriot and fellow stateswoman Ajla Tomljanovic in the quarter-finals.

Tomljanovic advanced to the last sixteen at SW19 for the first time after beating former French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko, in controversial circumstances on Saturday night (AEST).

The Croat-turned-Queenslander led 4-0 in the final set before Ostapenko took a medical time-out to treat an apparent abdominal injury.

Despite the Latvian being within her rights to take her time-out, Tomljanovic was so incensed that she told chair umpire Fiona Edwards: “You know she’s lying, right … we all know” while in the post-match press conference she slammed the 24-year-old for her “disgraceful behaviour”.

In the end, Tomljanovic won the final set 6-2, adding Ostapenko to a list of career scalps that includes another former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, as well as former world number one Jelena Jankovic, former world number two Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard.

It is also the first time she has reached the fourth round of a major since the 2014 French Open, where she defeated Schiavone and Radwanska before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro.

Next up for the 28-year-old is British wildcard Emma Raducanu, who is participating at a major for the first time and will have the support of the home crowd as she attempts to reach the quarter-finals on her Wimbledon debut.

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The other top-half fourth round match will pit rising stars Karolina Muchova, a quarter-finalist here in 2019, and Paula Badosa, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros last month, up against each other.

Of the eight women remaining in the bottom half of the draw, only Madison Keys has previously reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club, doing so in 2015; she is also one of three women, the others being Karolina Pliskova and Iga Swiatek, who have previously reached a major final.

This means that there will be three first-time quarter-finalists at Wimbledon, and a first-time finalist at the tournament.

Keys, Pliskova, Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will start favourites in their respective fourth round matches to reach the quarter-finals, though the latter two will face tricky clashes against opponents who have reached a major quarter-final elsewhere.

Swiatek is up against Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who reached the last eight at the Australian Open last year, while Sabalenka will attempt to reach her first major quarter-final against Elena Rybakina, who also reached the quarter-final stage at Roland Garros last month.

The stakes are highest in Sabalenka’s case, as she still has the chance to become world number one for the first time if she can go all the way, but only if Ashleigh Barty loses before the semi-finals.

These are some of the major subplots that should make for an intriguing second week of the tournament, starting with Manic Monday tonight (AEST).

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Matches to watch on Day 7
Centre Court – play starts at 10:30pm (AEST)
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [17] Cristian Garin (CHI)
[20] Coco Gauff (USA) vs [25] Angelique Kerber (GER)
[6] Roger Federer (SUI) vs [23] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)

No.1 Court – play starts at 10:00pm (AEST)
[1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) vs [14] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
[16] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs [4] Alexander Zverev (GER)
Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)

No.2 Court – play starts at 8:00pm (AEST)
[7] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs [21] Ons Jabeur (TUN)
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) vs [5] Andrey Rublev (RUS)
[14] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) vs [2] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)

No.3 Court – play starts at 8:00pm (AEST)
[18] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs [2] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
[10] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs [8] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)

For the full order of play for Day 7, please check the Wimbledon website.

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