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Saturday, July 3, 2021

W.6- New Brit in the Box

There's a long history of first week, home nation slam debutantes. Their stories don't always last into the *second* week, though, and the sudden star in question is almost never a Brit. Well, say hello to 18-year old Emma Raducanu.



Not receiving a wild card into the Wimbledon Ladies competition until fairly late in the game, world #338 Raducanu's gift from the AELTC appeared as if it'd be limited to simply making her slam debut -- in just her second tour-level MD -- and finally getting started on a high-level pro career. But then she won, knocking off Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko in straight sets (w/ a love 2nd) in the 1st Round. It was a good story. Nice goin', kid.

Well, then she won again, taking out former Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova (also in straight sets) a round after the Czech had upset #24-seed Anett Kontaveit, a finalist in Eastbourne the prior weekend. Last Brit Standing. Good for her! (And, umm, her game was looking pretty, pretty good, too.)

And then came today...



In the 3rd Round, Raducanu faced Romanian vet Sorana Cirstea, who'd just knocked off former #1 and #12-seed Vika Azarenka, then declared the atmosphere around the match the best she'd ever felt, calling the moment before the British crowd a season after playing in empty arenas due to the pandemic the best moment of her entire career. That was really kind of her.

But Raducanu wasn't there to thank Cirstea for the warm words she'd offered her countrymen and women. She was there to play, have fun, and see what might happen. As it turned out, quite a lot. Today, having the time of her life on Court 1, the teenager did things like this with Cirstea on the other side of the net...



Raducanu rallied from 3-1 down to run away with the 1st set at 6-3. Then, after racing to a 3-0 lead of her own in the 2nd, only to see Cirstea knot the score at 5-5, the Brit held and then had multiple chances to break the Romanian and win the match in just two sets. On her third MP, Raducanu won a wonderful final point to claim the match 6-3/7-5 and become the youngest British woman in the Open era to reach the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.



Suddenly Raducanu is the new and fresh face of British women's tennis, which hasn't really had one of those since Laura Robson's early promise (in 2013, she reached the second week at SW19 at age 19) was chased down by injuries. Through three rounds, *this* teenager has yet to lose a set, making her one of just six women in the Round of 16 who can say as much. Today Raducanu dropped just six points on her first serve.



Don't say it *too* loud, but this one might be a keeper.




=DAY 6 NOTES=
...on the day before what is scheduled to be the final traditional tennis-free Middle Sunday at the AELTC, the Wimbledon schedulers were obviously worried about the weather and the challenge of getting all the singles matches in, not wanting to be forced to wait until Monday to get the Round of 16 fields completed (setting up the usual everyone-plays-today opening to the second week of the fortnight). The result was an opening hours schedule that set up the possibility of six of the eight women's matches being played simultaneously across the grounds (aka what the we-dare-you-to-try-and-keep-up Roland Garros organizers appeared to be intent on doing virtually every day for much of the most recent tournament, seemingly just for sh*ts and giggles).

A 90-minute rain delay after around a half-hour of play on the outer courts only further clogged the schedule, further pushing those early contests into the later starting times of the show courts.

The rain delay seemed to help no one more than #25 Angelique Kerber. The 2018 champ had a hard time getting into the 1st set of her 3rd Rounder against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, her first match since the 3:19 win over Sara Sorribes Tormo that was the longest SW19 women's match since 2011 (Paszek/Schiavone, 3:43). The German trailed the Belarusian 5-1 when play was suspended. When she returned, Angie was right with the world once more.

Sasnovich finished off the 1st set, but then Kerber reeled off seven straight games and never looked back. She dropped just one game in the final two sets, winning 2-6/6-0/6-1 to reach her sixth career Round of 16 at Wimbledon (after being the First Seed Out at both the Australian and RG this year), lengthening her grass court winning streak to eight matches.



Kerber's win helped to set up what will likely be *the* marquee match-up of the women's 4th Round against #20 Coco Gauff, possibly on the same Centre Court where Gauff will have already played back-to-back singles matches. The 17-year old, whose only SW19 loss has come against Simona Halep (who won the title in '19) today handled 20-year old Kaja Juvan (whose only Wimbledon defeat had been a three-setter vs. Serena Williams), 6-3/6-3, to return to the Round of 16 at the All-England Club following her debut run there two years ago.



...#19 Karolina Muchova hasn't played often this season, but when she has she's generally produced. While she's had two walkovers and a combined time of about three months out due to injury, she's still posted up a pair of QF (Gippsland/Madrid) and her maiden slam SF (AO). Today she booked a return trip to the Wimbledon Round of 16, improving her season mark to 18-5 with a 7-5/6-3 win over #16-seeded RG runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Muchova has now reached the 4th Round in three of the last five majors (and that *doesn't* include her '19 QF at SW19).

The Czech's next opponent with be another rising young star, as #30 Paula Badosa has followed up her breakout success on clay with her first Wimbledon Round of 16 run. After Magda Linette broke the Spaniard to take the 1st set 7-5, Badosa raced to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd and took the set 6-2. She had to scurry back from 3-0 down in the deciding 3rd, though. Linette seemed to avert disaster when she saved a BP and staved off Badosa to hold for 4-3, but the Spaniard then held and got the needed break in game #9. Serving for the match, Badosa saw Linette save a MP with a forehand winner, but fire a shot long on MP #2 to end the 5-7/6-2/6-4 match.



...the most situationally-generated drama of the day didn't really come in the Raducanu/Cirstea match, but instead in the one that determined who'd meet the 18-year old in the Round of 16. That'd be the contest between Alona Ostapenko and Ajla Tomljanovic. And I do mean "contest," as by the time it was over both woman were contesting which of them was the most disrespectful and/or biggest liar of the two. Or something like that.

Things got off to the typical way an Ostapenko match might, with the Latvian being in-form and jumping out on top. She led the Aussie 4-2 when the early rain delay occurred. When play resumed, she took the 1st set 6-4 and opened with a break to start the 2nd. And that's when things stated to get interesting. Tomljanovic got the set back on serve, where it stayed for a bit. She held for a 5-4 lead after having fallen behind love/30.

In game #10, Ostapenko was cruising and held a GP for 5-5, only to double fault. Well, you know what happened next. A point later, a wide unforced error on the forehand side suddenly had the Latvian down BP/SP, then she failed to get Tomljanovic's return back over the net and -- poof! -- the match was tied. Ostapenko never really got herself "fixed" after that.

Tomljanovic took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd as Ostapenko's UE began to get the best of her, sending her game (and her) a bit off the rails. Again. Increasingly frustrated, and down love/40 on serve, Ostapenko started arguing with the chair umpire about one thing or another, at one point telling her "you don't know the rules" (ah, Putintseva would be proud). After that moment, she began firing forehands (and got the gift of a bad error from the Aussie) and got the game to deuce, only to throw in another loose backhand error of her own to give Tomljanovic a fourth BP. Tomljanovic put in a backhand winner to go up 4-0. And things got *really* interesting.

Suddenly, Ostapenko needed a medical time out. Well, Tomljanovic wasn't buying it for a second, and while Ostapenko sat on her chair rather than stay on the court to receive the Aussie's serve, Tomljanovic refused to sit down and argued with the umpire about granting Ostapenko's MTO request in a non-changeover situation. Tomljanvoic said that *she* hadn't been allowed to do that in one of her previous matches, but no one cared enough to back *her*. And, anyway, "you know she's lying," the Aussie said of Ostapenko (within earshot of her opponent), considering the crucial stage of the match and the Latvian's poor play, and that she'd shown *no* signs of having issues until, convienently, just then. Tomljanovic asked for and got a supervisor to come to the court.



Eventually, a physio arrived and took Ostapenko off court, against Tomljanovic's objections. The Latvian's mom/coach Jelena jumped from her seat and followed, though rules say that they can't have any off-court contact in such a situation. As the clock ticked down on the scoreboard for the time allowed for Ostapenko to be away, the countdown suddenly froze at :27 and her absense far exceeded the time limit without explanation.

Ostapenko finally returned and play resumed, and it looked like it might get ugly. Tomljanovic opened with an UE and DF, though she leveled things at 30-all. After saving a BP, she dropped serve to cut her double-break lead in half. She broke back and served for the match two games later, only to be broken at 15 as Ostapenko clung to life in the match. At 5-2, Ostapenko lost the first two points of her service game. She got the game to 30/30, but couldn't keep up her momentum. An error gave Tomljanovic a MP, quickly saved by the Lavtian with a big serve. But another missed forehand gave the Aussie another MP, and another Ostapenko error converted it as Tomljanovic won 4-6/6-4/6-2.

Then things got *especially* interesting, as everyone waited to see what would happen at the net... many likely with memories of the near-fight between Ostapenko and Naomi Broady in a testy encounter a few years ago (the one where the Latvian's tossed/slipped-from-her-hand racket hit a ball kid and the Brit argued vociferously that she should be defaulted).

While Tomljanovic took her time celebrating, Ostapenko set her racket down and then waited at the net. The two did clasp hands, and Ostapenko suggested the Aussie ask the physio whether she was faking or not. "I hope you feel better," Tomljanovic said with little sincerity, leading Ostapenko to fire back as her opponent walked away, calling Tomljanovic's behavior "terrible" and said that she showed "zero respect."



To her credit, Tomljanovic was clearly not going to get into a shouting match (unlike Broady), and the incident ended without blowing up into an INCIDENT. Still, just like that, one wonders if Ostapenko's grass court season will now be remembered for the fine form she showed while winning Eastbourne, or for this, which will likely dredge up some of the long-ago bad feelings from past opponents who chose to light into her from afar back during the whole Broady mess. Thankfully, one of the ringleaders of that hit squad attempt was Kiki Mladenovic, who seems to have since learned to not poke bears quite so publicly as in the past, and Ostapenko has played doubles with *so many* different partners over the last few years maybe there's a chance she's built up a big enough cedar chest of good will that she'll skate on this without social media comments making things worse.

Meanwhile, oh yeah... Tomljanovic is in the Round of 16 in a major for the first time since 2014, and for the first time as on official Australian. She was still "technically" representing Croatia when she reached the 4th Round in Paris in her only other second week slam run.



...while her fellow RG finalist Pavlyuchenkova fell by the wayside today, #14 Barbora Krejcikova keeps on chugging along. The Czech, seemingly not feeling well, often struggled today against Anastasija Sevastova. But Krejcikova seems to have "forgotten" how to lose, as she once again today found a way to grit out a victory even while not being at her best. With her game going up and down, the Czech stole the 1st set from the Latvian, battling back from being a break down on three different occasions and then walking off with a 7-1 TB win to take the match lead.

After Sevastova leveled things in the 2nd, the two women combined for eleven straight holds in the 3rd until Krejcikova got the crucial break of serve to end the match, winning 7-6(1)/3-6/7-5 to extend her winning streak to 15 matches.



Krejcikova's 4th Round match-up will feature the face off of a pair of Roland Garros champs, the Czech herself and #1 Ash Barty. The Aussie will likely not be fully satisfied with her performance today against Katerina Siniakova, for while her victory prevented a meeting of doubles partners for a berth in the singles QF the fact is that the world #1 squandered a double-break lead in the 2nd and had more UE than winners (16 vs. 15) in the set, forcing her to sweat out a tight late stage (5-5) before finally serving out the 6-3/7-5 win on her second attempt to reach her second straight Wimbledon Round of 16.

While the Czech duo won't get to play each other in singles, they *did* get a break in doubles today, receiving a walkover into the WD Round of 16 from Kalinsakya/Putintseva. Once again, Krejcikova is a member of the small group of players (at this slam it's just two, her and Gauff) alive in the second week in both women's singles and doubles.

Elsewhere, the all-Hordette pair of Veronika Kudermetova & Elena Vesnina downed Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Sania Mirza.

In MX, through, Mirza's tournament continued when she and Rohan Bopanna defeated British alternates Emily Webley-Smith & Aidan McHugh, 6-3/6-1, after the pair had entered the MD with a 1st Round bye after the withdrawal of top-seeded Kristina Mladenovic & Nicolas Mahut.

...while there won't be any matches at Wimbledon on Sunday, there *will* be a Backspin post, because of this (of course)...



Hey, I managed to cover the Hot Dog Eating Championship during a pandemic last summer, so surely the Middle Sunday *never* posed a threat.




*LADIES' SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #14 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
(WC) Emma Raducanu/GBR vs. Ajla Tomljanovic/AUS
#30 Paula Badosa/ESP vs. #19 Karolina Muchova/CZE
#20 Coco Gauff/USA vs. #25 Angelique Kerber/GER
#8 Karolina Pliskova/CZE vs. (WC) Liudmila Samsononva/RUS
#23 Madison Keys/USA vs. Viktorija Golubic/SUI
#7 Iga Swiatek/POL vs. #21 Ons Jabeur/TUN
#18 Elena Rybakina/KAZ vs. #2 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. #15 Kuzmova/Rus (SVK/NED)
#12 Gauff/McNally (USA/USA) vs. (PR) V.Kudermetova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)
Dolehide/Sanders (USA/AUS) vs. #13 N.Kichenok/Olaru (UKR/ROU)
(WC) Dart/Watson (GBR/GBR) vs. #7 Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE)
Krunic/Stojanovic (SRB/SRB) vs. #9 Fichman/Olmos (CAN/MEX)
#14 Muhammad/Pegula (USA/USA) vs. #3 Hsieh/Mertens (TPE/BEL)
#5 Aoyama/Shibahara (JPN/JPN) vs. #11 Siegemund/Zvonareva (GER/RUS)
#16 Bouzkova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) vs. Gracheva/Kalashnikova (RUS/GEO)

*MIXED DOUBLES ROUND OF 16*
(PR) Mirza/Bopanna (IND/IND) vs. #14 Klepac/Rojer (SLO/NED)
x/x vs. #7 Krawczyk/N.Skupski (USA/GBR)
x/x vs. x/x
x/x vs. x/x
(WC) Broady/Chardy (GBR/FRA) vs. #10 Jurak/Klaasen (CRO/RSA)
x/x vs. x/x
Mattek-Sands/Ram (USA/USA) vs. Peschke/Krawietz (CZE/GER)
#13 Carter/Gille (USA/BEL) vs. #2 Dabrowski/Pavic (CAN/CRO)






...RELATABLE IS GOOD ON DAY 6:




...TOO-TRUE ON DAY 6:







SW 19 Memories...


Tsvetana Pironkova reaches the 2010 semifinals





















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*WIMBLEDON "IT" WINNERS*
2006 Li Na, CHN
2007 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2008 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2009 Sabine Lisicki, GER
2010 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 Sabine Lisicki, GER
2012 [Alter Ego] "The Radwanska"
2013 [Upstart] Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
2014 [New Wheelchair Star] Yui Kamiji, JPN
2015 [Vandeweghe] CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
2016 [First WC Champ] Jiske Griffioen, NED
2017 [Next WC Great?] Diede de Groot, NED
2018 [GenPDQ Pole] Iga Swiatek, POL
2019 [Kid] Coco Gauff, USA
2021 [Teen Brit] Emma Raducanu, GBR

*GIRLS SINGLES SEEDS*
1. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, AND
2. Alex Eala, PHI
3. Diana Shnaider, RUS
4. Polina Kudermetova, RUS
5. Oceane Babel, FRA
6. Kristina Dmitruk, BLR
7. Alexandra Yepifanova, USA
8. Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE
9. Madison Sieg, USA
10. Elvina Kalieva, USA
11. Priska Madelyn Nugroho, INA
12. Dana Guzman, PER
13. Matilda Mutavdzic, GBR
14. Michaela Laki, GRE
15. Mara Guth, GER
16. Julia Garcia, MEX

*2021 WI WOMEN'S FINAL 16*
[by ranking]
#1 - Ash Barty
#4 - Aryna Sabalenka
#9 - Iga Swiatek
#13 - Karolina Pliskova
#17 - Barbora Krejcikova
#20 - Elena Rybakina
#22 - Karolina Muchova
#23 - Coco Gauff
#24 - Ons Jabeur
#27 - Madison Keys
#28 - Angelique Kerber
#33 - Paula Badosa
#65 - Liudmila Samsonova
#66 - Viktorija Golubic
#75 - Ajla Tomljanovic
#338 - Emma Raducanu
[by age]
33 - Kerber
29 - Ka.Pliskova
28 - Golubic, Tomljanovic
26 - Jabeur, Keys
25 - Barty, Krejcikova
24 - Muchova
23 - Badosa, Sabalenka
22 - Rybakina, Samsonova
20 - Swiatek
18 - Raducanu
17 - Gauff
[by nation]
3...CZE (Krejcikova, Muchova, Ka.Pliskova)
2...AUS (Barty, Tomljanovic)
2...USA (Gauff, Keys)
1...BLR (Sabalenka)
1...ESP (Badosa)
1...GBR (Raducanu)
1...GER (Kerber)
1...KAZ (Rybakina)
1...POL (Swiatek)
1...RUS (Samsonova)
1...SUI (Golubic)
1...TUN (Jabeur)
[by career slam Round-of-16's]
22 - Kerber
15 - Keys
13 - Ka.Pliskova
8 - Barty
6 - Swiatek
4 - Gauff
4 - Jabeur
4 - Muchova
3 - Badosa
3 - Krejcikova
3 - Sabalenka
2 - Rybakina
2 - Tomljanovic
1 - Golubic
1 - Raducanu
1 - Samsonova
[w/ consecutive slam Round of 16's]
4 - Swiatek
2 - Badosa
2 - Gauff
2 - Jabeur
2 - Krejcikova
2 - Rybakina
[w/ multiple career WI Round of 16's]
6 - Kerber
3 - Keys
3 - Ka.Pliskova
2 - Barty
2 - Gauff
2 - Muchova
[w/ consecutive WI Round of 16's]
3 - Ka.Pliskova
2 - Barty
2 - Gauff
2 - Muchova
[WTA career slam Round of 16's - active]
64...Serena Williams
50...Venus Williams
32...Svetlana Kuznetsova
25...Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters
22...Angelique Kerber
21...Petra Kvitova
19...Simona Halep
16...Carla Suarez-Navarro, Vera Zvonareva
15...Madison Keys, Garbine Muguruza
14...Sloane Stephens
12...Samantha Stosur, Elina Svitolina
11...Karolina Pliskova
[WTA slam Round of 16's since 2020 (of 6) - active]
5 - Swiatek
4 - Jabeur, Kenin
3 - Badosa, Barty, Gauff, Halep, Kerber
3 - Krejcikova, Kvitova, Mertens
3 - Muchova, Sakkari, S.Williams
2 - Azarenka, Bertens, Brady
2 - Kontaveit, Muguruza, Osaka
2 - Pavlyuchenkova, Rogers, Rybakina
2 - Sabalenka, Svitolina, Vondrousova
1 - 26 players
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - youngest]
17 - Coco Gauff (RG)
17 - Coco Gauff (WI)
18 - Marta Kostuk (RG)
18 - Emma Raducanu (WI)
19 - Iga Swiatek (AO)
20 - Iga Swiatek (RG)
20 - Iga Swiatek (WI)
21 - Elena Rybakina (RG)
21 - Marketa Vondrousova (AO)
21 - Marketa Vondrousova (RG)
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - oldest]
39 - Serena Williams (RG)
39 - Serena Williams (AO)
35 - Hsieh Su-wei (AO)
33 - Angelique Kerber (WI)
31 - Victoria Azarenka (RG)
31 - Sorana Cirstea (RG)
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - unseeded]
AO - (2) Hsieh, Pegula, Rogers
RG - (5) Cirstea, Kostyuk, Krejcikova, Stephens, Zidansek
WI - (4) Golubic, Raducanu (wc), Samsonova (wc), Tomljanovic
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - 1st-time GS 4th Rd.]
AO - (1) Jessica Pegula/USA
RG - (3) Marta Kostyuk/UKR, Elena Rybakina/KAZ, Tamara Zidansek/SLO
WI - (3) Viktorija Golubic/SUI, Emma Raducanu/GBR, Liudmila Samsonova/RUS
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - lowest-ranked]
#338 - Emma Raducanu (WI)
#85 - Tamara Zidansek (RG)
#81 - Marta Kostyuk (RG)
#75 - Ajla Tomljanovic (WI)
#71 - Hsieh Su-wei (AO)
#66 - Viktorija Golubic (WI)
#65 - Liudmila Samsonova (WI)
#61 - Jessica Pegula (AO)
#59 - Sloane Stephens (RG)
#57 - Shelby Rogers (AO(
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's]
3 - Iga Swiatek (AO/RG/WI)
2 - Paula Badosa (RG/WI)
2 - Ash Barty (AO/WI)
2 - Coco Gauff (RG/WI)
2 - Ons Jabeur (RG/WI)
2 - Barbora Krejcikova (RG/WI)
2 - Karolina Muchova (AO/WI)
2 - Elena Rybakina (RG/WI)
2 - Aryna Sabalenka (AO/WI)
2 - Marketa Vondrousova (AO/RG)
2 - Serena Williams (AO/RG)
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - by nation]
10 - USA (2 WI)
7 - CZE (3)
3 - AUS (2)
3 - BLR (1)
3 - ESP (1)
3 - POL (1)
2 - KAZ (1), ROU, RUS (1), TUN (1), UKR
1 - AO: BEL,CRO,JPN,TPE
1 - RG: GRE,SLO
1 - WI: GBR,GER,SUI
[2021 slam Rd. of 16's - by region]
19 (6 AO,5 RG,8 WI) - W.Europe/Scand. (BEL-CRO-CZE-ESP-GER-GBR-POL-SLO-SUI)
10 (4 AO,4 RG,2 WI) - North America/Atlantic (USA)
9 (3 AO,4 RG,2 WI) - Eastern Europe/Russia (BLR-ROU-RUS-UKR)
7 (3 AO,1 RG,3 WI) - Asia/Oceania (AUS-JPN-KAZ-TPE)
3 (0 AO,2 RG,1 WI) - Africa/Middle East/Mediterranean (GRE-TUN)
0 (0 AO,0 RG,0 WI) - South America (-)






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TOP QUALIFIER: Ana Konjuh/CRO
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #25 Angelique Kerber/GER
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3 - Lesley Pattinama Kerhkove/NED def. Jule Niemeier/GER 6-4/2-6/9-7 (saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #25 Angelique Kerber/GER def. Sara Sorribes Tormo/ESP 7-5/5-7/6-4 (3:19; wins on MP #2 1:20 after first MP)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Aryna Sabalenka/BLR (def. Niculescu - first official match at AELTC in 715 days)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Petra Kvitova/CZE (1st Rd.-Stephens)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove/NED, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL, Emma Raducanu/GBR
UPSET QUEENS: Czech Republic
REVELATION LADIES: South America
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Canada - 0-2 1st Rd. (#5 Andreescu, Fernandez), while Bouchard (injured) DNP
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Maria Camila Osorio Serrano/COL (3rd Rd.) (LL 2r: Ahn)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: In 4r: Raducanu, Samsonova
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Andrea Petkovic/GER, CoCo Vandeweghe/USA, Elena Vesnina/RUS (all 2nd Rd.)
LAST BRIT STANDING: Emma Raducanu (in 4th Rd.)
Ms./Miss OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "Teen Brit": Emma Raducanu/GBR
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: #6 Serena Williams, USA & #10 Petra Kvitova, CZE (both 1st Rd;. won 6 of last 11 Wimbledon; Williams ret. for second career 1r slam exit)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (early-round): Kristie Ahn/USA (already a lucky loser, also saved MP vs. Watson/GBR in 1st Rd.)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF LONDON (mid/late-round): Nominees: Kerber (2 con. slam First Seed Out; won 3:19 2r vs. Sorribes Tormo), Badosa (3r: down 3-0 vs. Linette in 3rd set)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
SPIRIT OF JANA (NOVOTNA) HONOREES: xx
RAD REMEMBRANCE DAY malevolent activity notes...
=June 26 official=
All quiet, but on 25th Ula Radwanska loses in final qualifying round and on 27th top-ranked Brit Konta w/d due to COVID quarantine
=Day 3 observed=
After two days of rain following a 715-day break since the last Wimbledon, the Day 3 schedule includes 39 women's (23 1r/16 2r) and 41 men's (27 1r/14 2r) singles matches. Slips and falls that led to back-to-back Centre Court retirements (including S.Williams) on Day 2 continued, and the day began with the unusual news that a pair of lucky losers -- Astra Sharma and Tsvetana Pironkova -- were being added to the draw three days into the event due to injuries (both former semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova and Astra Sharma lost, the latter after holding a 4-2 3rd set lead). In all, three Top 10 women's seeds (#4 Kenin, #5 Andreescu and #9 Bencic) were ousted, longtime Wimbledon "marathon" man John Isner *lost* a five-setter, and 41-year old five-time champ Venus Williams was defeated a day after her sister left the tournament due to injury (marking just the fourth time in their long slam history that neither reached the 3rd Round of a major, and the first time ever at Wimbledon, where Venus became the first Williams to make her debut 24 years ago).






All for Day 6. Hot dog coverage on Sunday. More Wimbledon on Monday.
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