Berry nice, Aryna
A fridge full of acai berries, a head full of thoughts about what the next few days could bring.
We’re deep into the second week of Wimbledon, that part of a Grand Slam Fortnight that Aryna Sabalenka considers to be tough but also beautiful.
Sabalenka is Tara Djokovic’s new favourite tennis player. Not so much because of the way the world No.1 has been playing on the grass but because Novak Djokovic’s family popped round to Sabalenka’s rented house in Wimbledon village the other day and were offered some of those berries.
Tara, who is seven, has been asking her father if they could visit Sabalenka again. All those berries must be doing something for Sabalenka as if she beats American Amanda Anisimova on Thursday she will reach her first Wimbledon final. It would also be her third Grand Slam final of the season, after she was the runner-up at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros.
Actually, it would be even more significant for Sabalenka, who has been painting her nails Wimbledon green: she would be the first woman to appear in four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Serena Williams a decade ago.
There’s a strong story on both sides of the net as Anisimova is into the last four at the All England Club for the first time.
Sabalenka vs Anisimova is scheduled first on Centre Court
First-timers in last four
Whatever Iga Swiatek has been saying to the Slazenger balls this Fortnight – and it’s unclear whether she has been communicating to them in Polish, English or a mixture of the two – they have been listening to her.
Good things have been happening for Swiatek, who has gone further into The Championships than ever before with a run to the last four of the ladies’ singles, where she plays Belinda Bencic.
It’s been more than a year since Swiatek landed a title anywhere on any surface – you have to spool all the way back to last season’s Roland-Garros for the last occasion she lifted a trophy – so it’s going to be interesting to see whether she can win the Grand Slam where she has, so far, been the least successful.
Like Swiatek, Bencic is a very experienced tennis player but a rookie on the second Thursday of Wimbledon as a first time semi-finalist.
The Swiss, who gave birth to her daughter Bella last year, is potentially two matches away from becoming the first mother to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.
Bencic vs Swiatek is scheduled second on Centre Court
Salisbury's moment?
It now feels like a long time since Jack Draper, who had been considered the British player most likely to win a Wimbledon title this summer, went out of the second round of the gentlemen’s singles.
But there could be some British celebrations on Thursday if all goes well for Joe Salisbury on Centre Court. Salisbury and his Brazilian partner Luisa Stefani are in the mixed doubles final, where they play Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands and Katerina Siniakova of Czechia.
The mixed doubles final is scheduled third on Centre Court
Lucky 13th?
Carlos Alcaraz is undefeated in his last 23 matches, which is the longest winning streak of his career. He has also won his last 19 appearances on the Wimbledon grass.
But the Spaniard is not the only one who is bringing a lot of momentum and confidence to the business end of The Championships.
That’s now 12 victories in a row for the all-British gentlemen’s doubles pairing of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, after winning titles at the Queen’s Club and Eastbourne and making the semi-finals here.
Their latest win was the most dramatic, as they saved three match points to beat the defending champions, Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara.
If they can defeat Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos on Thursday, and then keep their run going in the final, they will be the first all-British champions since 1936.
Granollers/Zeballos vs Cash/Glasspool is scheduled second on No.1 Court
All to play for
While Rinky Hijikata won a match in the singles, before losing in the second round to eventual quarter-finalist Ben Shelton, it’s on the doubles court that he has been producing his best lawn tennis.
The Australian and his Dutch partner David Pel play the No.1 seeds, Marcelo Arevalo, of El Salvador, and Mate Pavic of Croatia, for a place in the final of the gentlemen’s doubles.
Arevalo/Pavic vs Hijikata/Pel is scheduled first on No.1 Court