Federer, Serena await ‘Manic Monday’

LONDON, JULY 8

Roger Federer and Serena Williams will be expected to maintain their flawless progress at Wimbledon as the title favourites head into the fourth round looking to survive the tournament’s giant-killing carnage tomorrow. Federer has been in imperious mood in pursuit of his ninth Wimbledon crown, while Williams is rounding into form just as the seven-time champion’s rivals have collapsed all around her.

The status quo has been challenged like never before in the women’s singles, with nine of the top-10 seeds crashing out before the Wimbledon last 16 for the first time in the Open area.

In the men’s draw, third seed Marin Cilic, fourth seed Alexander Zverev and sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov have all fallen. But it’s business was usual for Federer as the defending champion took his consecutive sets won at Wimbledon to 29 in a third round dismissal of Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Federer goes past Connors 

Federer’s 175th win from 200 career grasscourt matches saw him overtake Jimmy Connors as the most successful male player on the surface. Next, the Swiss star faces French Adrian Mannarino for a place in the quarterfinals. World No. 2 Federer, eyeing a 21st Grand Slam title, has won all five of his previous meetings with Mannarino. Although Federer is approaching peak form, he knows Rafael Nadal — yet to drop a set in his first three matches — and Novak Djokovic — playing his way back to his best this week —are lurking as potential final opponents. Nadal plays Czech Jiri Vesely, while Djokovic takes on world No. 40 Karen Khachanov.

Federer’s tie is one of 16 fourth round matches across the men’s and women’s events in a frenetic day of action at the All England Club. 

Williams clear favourite

With the draw opening up in her favour, Williams is widely expected to make history with a first Grand Slam title since the birth of her daughter Olympia in September last year. The 36-year-old faces Russian qualifier — and fellow mother — Evgeniya Rodina in the last-16. 

Karolina Pliskova, the seventh seed, is the only top-10 ranked player remaining, but she has never won a Major title. The Czech faces Dutch 20th seed Kiki Bertens, who stunned five-time Wimbledon winner Venus in the third round. — AFP

Djokovic blasts ‘whistling, coughing’ crowd

Novak Djokovic blasted Wimbledon’s Centre Court crowd, claiming fans “whistled and coughed” as he prepared to serve, insisting he deserves better treatment. The three-time champion described the sometimes febrile atmosphere on the famed arena yesterday as similar to that of a Davis Cup tie as he downed home favourite Kyle Edmund 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4. “I thought the crowd’s reaction was quite unnecessary. A couple of guys pretending they were coughing and whistling while I was bouncing the ball more or less to the end of the match at that end where I received the time violation,” said Djokovic. “Those are the things obviously that people don’t get to see or hear on the TV. I just think it’s not necessary. That’s what I didn’t like.” Djokovic responded by sarcastically blowing kisses to the crowd and cupping his ear as he unleashed the winning strokes that took him into a 44th last-16 appearance at the Grand Slams. “If you were in my position, you would probably understand,” he said. “I’m a human being like anybody else, I can feel the pressure as everybody else. My interaction with the crowd, I thought had good things and not that great things. I just reacted the way I thought it was fair, the way they reacted to me.”

Old-style lawns would have snagged Rafa: Laver

Australian great Rod Laver was as impressed as anyone while watching Rafael Nadal tear into the fourth round. Yet Laver says the marauding Spaniard would have feared grasscourt tennis in his day. Changes to the grass, the hardness of the courts and racket technology now mean you can win the title from the baseline. Laver said it was like watching a different sport. “I don’t think Rafa would have played very well on the grasscourts that we used to play on,” Laver said. “The ball kept lower and the bounce was uneven. You couldn’t hit topspin like he does when you can’t trust the bounce. We were scraping it out of the ground half the time. So no, I wouldn’t have thought Rafa could have played like he does then. Federer maybe could have done it, he could have adjusted himself.” — Reuters