If you’re a British tennis fan then you found yourselves in quite unfamiliar circumstances this morning – two British stars into the second week of Wimbledon for the first time in 15 years – so naturally you’ll have been quite upbeat about the action that lay ahead. What you were treated too though was another dose of the chaos that has come hand in hand with this year’s tournament at SW19.
Let’s start though with the biggest shock of the day’s action: Serena Williams out of the competition before the quarter-finals. The woman that has been the favourite for almost every tournament she’s stepped into this season was knocked out in three sets by Sabine Lisicki. The defending champion was looking to extend her current winning streak to 35 matches before the German had other ideas and stunned the American powerhouse in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 upset. After being swept aside in the first set, Serena took the second set by storm before going on a nine-game win streak to equal the score and eventually take a 4-2 lead in the decider. The German’s spirit was not to be stifled though as she fought back in dramatic fashion to steal the set and the match from right under the world number 1’s nose. Lisicki will now meet Kaia Kanepi in the last-eight to do battle for a place at the tournament semi-finals.
Yes folks, I did say Kaia Kanepi, the very same one that played and unfortunately overcame British female hopeful, Laura Robson, earlier in the day in straight sets. However Robson will rue missed opportunities as what was a very close encounter could easily have gone either way had the Brit taken more of her opportunities. The big-serving Estonian was erratic at times and had Robson not taken so long in the first set to find her rhythm it may’ve been a different story. The 19-year-old British star will still move into the world’s top 30 as a result if her efforts and one must admit that to have a woman at such a young age making such big strides is a real plus point for women’s tennis here in Britain in the years to come.
The real plus point of British tennis over the last few years however has been Andy Murray and he continued to show why today as he despatched of Russian 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. Murray was pushed harder than he’d previously been in this year’s tournament as he was forced into a tiebreaker with what had been considered the biggest obstacle between Murray and the Wimbledon final but still came through the match with his record of not dropping a set in 2013’s Wimbledon as he cantered to a 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 victory. Spain’s Fernando Verdasco is Murray’s next obstacle although the form guide dictates that Verdasco won’t be much of an obstacle to get round as Murray has won 8 of their 9 previous encounters; however the way this year’s tournament has been going, who’d go with the form guide?!
Novak Djokovic had less of an easy ride against a man who he’d previously hailed as being in the form of his life, Tommy Haas. Djokovic won 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 but found himself behind in the second set before having to move up a few gears to keep his straight-sets victory streak alive. Tomas Berdych awaits him in the quarter-finals after the Czech star battled past Bernard Tomic in four sets. Tomic and Berdych were almost inseparable in the first two sets but Berdych’s experience came into play from there on in as Tomic crumbled at key moments and gifted the match to his opponent.
David Ferrer also scrambled into the next stage with a four set victory over Croatian Ivan Dodig on Court Two; Ferrer will now face Del Potro in the next stage.
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!