For a nice change, the only drama on day five at SW19 involved what had spilled over from the postponed action from the previous evening. The debate over the playing surface re-emerged again after Grigor Dimitrov said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slipped so many times in one match; however he was much more admirable in defeat than his girlfriend, Maria Sharapova, as he was quick to point out that conditions were the same for him and his opponent. As mentioned in yesterday’s roundup, Dimitrov’s match was called off yesterday due to the deteriorating weather after he was trailing in the final, deciding set to the eventual winner – Grega Zemlja. Dimitrov won’t be too aggrieved though as Zemlja will now go on to face 2009 US Open Champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, as the last time these two individuals played Del Potro they were brushed aside quite comfortably.
French Open finalist, David Ferrer, showed that he’s developing a useful set of skills for the grass-court game in his relatively old-age as he brushed past fellow Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets. Ferrer has always acknowledge that his shortcomings on grass have always been down to his physique but he seems to have found his way round that challenge now as he mixed up his tactics a lot more and really pushed Agut throughout the encounter with a wide range of serves on display as well as some adept moves to the net to keep his opponent on his toes.
Roger Federer’s conqueror, Sergiy Stakhovsky, saw himself conquered after falling in four sets to the unseeded Austrian, Jurgen Melzer before another of the fan favourites, Jamaican-turned-German, Dustin Brown tumbled out of the competition in straight sets to Adrian Mannarino of France.
With results starting to follow the form guide it looks ever more likely that Andy Murray will be on his way to his second Wimbledon final and if he keeps playing as imperiously as he is at the moment then he should have plenty left in the tank to snatch the title after he continued his record so far this tournament of not dropping a set on his way to victory. Tommy Robredo was the Scot’s latest victim as he fell 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 against a man who, now more than ever it seems, has the hopes of the nation on his shoulders. 20th seed, Mikhail Youzhny, is now the highest seed left to potentially stand in Murray’s way of a final that’ll likely be with world number 1, Novak Djokovic, but British fans can take encouragement from the stats as Murray has been one of the most consistent performers in grand slams in recent times as he’s only failed to reach the semi-finals once since the 2012 US Open.
Laura Robson made sure of a Brit’s presence in the women’s singles as she breezed past Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-1 and has now secured her place in the third round to play world number 71, Marina Erakovic. The manner with which the 19-year-old came out on top in this encounter earned her some quite high-profile attention from Prime Minister, David Cameron, as well as a mention on Twitter from One Direction frontman, Harry Styles. Robson insists though that she didn’t get going today and that her performances have to and will improve as she bids to go deeper into Wimbledon but first has her sights set on reaching the tournament’s second week.
We’ll be covering every day of the Championship from here on in but for the extensive results and all the news from today’s action at Wimbledon be sure to head over to the official Wimbledon website!