Kebabs and chance encounters

In the strawberries-and-cream world of the All England Club, you can no longer ignore the kebabs. Kebabs play a much larger role in Wimbledon culture than you might have appreciated. 

When Carlos Alcaraz won the gentlemen’s singles title for the first time in 2023, he and his family were living above a kebab shop in the village of El Palmar near Murcia (they’re still in the same apartment but there’s now a sushi restaurant below instead).

Sonay Kartal, who is into the fourth round of the ladies’ singles for the first time, was helped by a coach from the Lawn Tennis Association who happened to eat at her father’s Turkish restaurant in Brighton when she was young – the coach and her dad got talking and Sonay was invited along to some training sessions.

With Emma Raducanu out of Wimbledon after losing to Aryna Sabalenka on Friday evening, Kartal is now the last British woman left in the draw.

In her retro, 1970s-style whites, Kartal plays Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with plans of doing something fresh and new: reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time. 

Kartal vs Pavlyuchenkova is scheduled for 1.30pm on Centre Court

What a loser

If you’re not familiar with tennis terminology, you might think that calling someone a ‘lucky loser’ to their face or in the workplace would be extremely impolite.

But that’s what Solana Sierra is and why she has ‘LL’ against her name on the draw sheet; she’s a loser because she was beaten in the final round of Qualifying and she’s lucky because another player withdrew with injury and the Argentine took her spot in the main draw.

Just to keep today’s culinary theme going, Sierra was eating in the players’ restaurant when she was informed she had 15 minutes to change, warm up and mentally prepare for her opening round match. 

This loser has done a lot of winning: Sierra has become the first lucky loser in the Open era to reach the fourth round of the ladies’ singles at Wimbledon.

This has been an emotional, “really crazy” few days for Sierra, who has gone from the anguish of not taking a match point in her final Qualifying match to the joy of this run at Wimbledon, where she faces Germany’s Laura Siegemund for a place in the quarter-finals.

Several times already on this trip, Sierra has needed to find herself some new accommodation, but she’s more than OK with that. You suspect she would happily camp on The Hill if it meant getting to be here this deep into The Championships. 

Sierra vs Siegemund is scheduled second on No.2 Court

Singled out

Are you a “random person” in the crowd? Well, get ready for Cameron Norrie looking right at you. 

Norrie, who is the last Briton left in the gentlemen’s singles, has been doing something this Fortnight that he noticed Andy Murray would often try at The Championships to give himself extra energy.

That is focusing on individuals in the crowd who are really getting into a match. 

The idea is that seeing the spectators going wild for lawn tennis will encourage a player to lift their game. And when the fans realise that they might just be helping, they are going to become even more animated.

All being well, the player and the chosen “random people” will feed off each other, creating a happy, excitable, high-energy loop. Who knows, that might just propel the Brit further into the Fortnight.

Norrie, whose best Grand Slam result was reaching the semi-finals in 2022, plays Nicolas Jarry, a qualifier from Chile, in the fourth round. 

Jarry vs Norrie is scheduled second on No.1 Court

On course for greatness

For now, Carlos Alcaraz and Sir Andy Murray are tied, in more ways than one.

They have played golf twice already this summer, with Murray winning the first match and the Spaniard taking the second, and they each have two Wimbledon gentlemen’s singles titles. 

If all goes well for Alcaraz over the next few days, he’s going to eclipse the British tennis knight on the golf course and on the Wimbledon grass.

Alcaraz, who goes into his fourth round encounter with Andrey Rublev on a winning streak of 17 matches on these lawns, is looking to lift the trophy for a third summer in succession.

Imagine that – you’re just 22 years old, and you might be about to out-perform a British Wimbledon legend. 

Alcaraz vs Rublev is scheduled third on Centre Court

Will to win

Marbles, card games or tennis? It doesn’t matter - Jordan Thompson brings the same attitude.

Even if he is playing a game of marbles or cards, Thompson says he shows his competitive side, so is it any wonder that he goes all out when he’s on the Wimbledon grass? 

The Australian isn’t in prime physical condition – he is wearing a back brace – but he’s still going to be “fighting my ass off for every point”.

It’s a combative approach that has carried Thompson into the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, where he plays American Taylor Fritz. 

Thompson vs Fritz is scheduled first on No.1 Court

Follow the official Wimbledon WhatsApp channel for the latest updates across the Grounds