The old crowd pleaser Grigor Dimitrov has got it right, as ever. “We’re in the second week of Wimbledon. Let’s have fun!” this seemingly ageless entertainer booms.
Well, you can quite understand our favourite Bulgarian’s sentiment, even if you’re forced to wonder what exactly the ‘fun’ part is of having to play Jannik Sinner while the world No.1 is treating Wimbledon as his own personal demolition derby.
Sinner has reached today’s last-16 meeting with Dimitrov (main picture) having not dropped serve in 36 games and having conceded just 17 games in what’s been the most clinical start anyone’s ever enjoyed in the gentlemen’s singles.
He’s even eclipsed Roger Federer’s record of getting this far for the loss of 19 games, and though Jan Kodes also ceded 17 games in 1972, he did actually lose a set. The Carota Boy hasn’t given anyone a sniff of one.
His efficiency has been startling, sweeping all-comers so far in just five hours and 23 minutes on court, which is six minutes less than he spent in the entirety of that breathless Roland-Garros final won by Carlos Alcaraz.
“With all due respect, I don’t rate it as a ‘wow’ match,” sniffs Dimitrov of his fifth visit to the fourth round at Wimbledon. That’s because he’s too busy simply concentrating on keeping his body on the road after so many recent injury setbacks at the age of 34.
But he does accept he’s playing a ‘wow’ athlete, just as Alex de Minaur does before he takes on Novak Djokovic on Centre Court. “Novak has completed the game, right?” says the Australian.
Well, not quite. The latest little on-court bop that Nole delivered at the end of his masterclass against Miomir Kecmanovic – a tennis masterclass that is, not a dancing one – was followed by his declaration that he wants to keep “pumping it up” for an eighth Wimbledon triumph.
Is the ever-famished Djokovic hungrier to win today than the try, try and try again Aussie ‘Demon’? This time last year, De Minaur was flying when he picked up a hip injury in the throes of his fourth round win that kept him out of his subsequent quarter-final with Djokovic. He’s been starving for this moment for 12 months.
The big news in the ladies’ draw is we’re going to have a first-time champion for the eighth successive year, following the exits of Barbora Krejcikova and Elena Rybakina.
Opportunity knocks deafeningly. What a tale it would be if it’s an 18-year-old who next lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish. Mirra Andreeva is flying but now she’s up against No.10 seed Emma Navarro, who’s a single-minded roadblock of intensity in Andreeva’s way.
The Navarros are a stubborn lot. “I could never live with myself if I ever gave up. It’s just not in my nature. I don’t think it’s in any of my family members’ nature,” says Emma. Young Mirra has been warned.
Could Liudmila Samsonova be our latest Wimbledon record-breaker? The No.19 seed, who has a huge game, whistled down a serve timed at 128mph in her victory over Daria Kasatkina in the last round.
If she can up that just a notch, she’ll top the landmark 129mph delivery set by Venus Williams in 2008. Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who made waves here last year by becoming the first player to knock out a defending ladies’ champion – Marketa Vondrousova – in the first round for 30 years, is ready for the trial by fire.
Lorenzo Sonego will hopefully be ready for his too, presuming he’s stopped creaking after his remarkable five-set win over Brandon Nakashima in the last round, which at four minutes over five hours is the longest of the Championships so far.
Now he’s got to face Ben Shelton, the crash, bang American left-hander who’s yet to drop a set. In his second round match against Rinky Hijikata, the match had to be suspended because of darkness just as he was about to serve for victory.
When he returned next morning, the No.10 seed wrapped it up with three aces in 69 seconds. Bong! Big Ben’s sounding all the right notes here.
Lastly, has Iga Swiatek really found the secret to at last thriving on our lovely lawns? After moving sweetly into contention for her fourth round match against Danish riser Clara Tauson today, she revealed she’s being fuelled by the Polish version of that most Wimbledon of traditions: strawberries – with yoghurt and pasta…