Wear any colour you want, as long as it’s predominantly white

[Janik]

I don't know who the co-commentators are for the Medvedev - Goffin match but they are very good and adding to my enjoyment of what is a very entertaining match.

If it's not changed, the commentator is Roland McIntosh. His first ever match commentating for the BBC was famously Isner-Mahut. That Isner-Mahut. His co-commentator/expert summariser was Mark Cox on day 1 of that. This may be Cox again. Not sure. But it's definitely McIntosh on the main mic.

[Guy Profumo]

Christ almighty.

Kyrgios comes across as a right sulky twat, doesn't he?

[Janik]

Hopefully they'll stick Murray/Williams on BBC2, last night's doubles was most enjoyable, especially as both Murray and the Romanian chap had seemingly been paired with French exchange students.

Well, that depends. If Djokovic is in as much of a scrap with Hurkacz as the scores so far suggest (one set all, 7-5 6-7⁵), then that is going to take precedence.

Serena/Murray Court prediction - still marginally #2. However Halep smashing Azarenka (3&1) has opened Centre back up as a possibility. If Gauff rattles past Hercog (or, I suppose, the opposite though that is unlikely) then that will be the stage. Particularly if Goffin-Medvedev goes to five, as it is currently on course for (Medvedev 2-1 up but a break down in Set 4).

[Tony C]

I don't know who the co-commentators are for the Medvedev - Goffin match but they are very good and adding to my enjoyment of what is a very entertaining match.

[jwdd27]

Hopefully they'll stick Murray/Williams on BBC2, last night's doubles was most enjoyable, especially as both Murray and the Romanian chap had seemingly been paired with French exchange students.

[Janik]

I'm liking Ray's chances of seeing Serena/Murray at the moment. Two and three-quarter sets left of play on Court 2 at most (Medvedev-Goffin being a set all and early in the third), at least three on Centre and a break between matches (Halep has just won set one against Azarenka, Gauff-Hercog yet to start) and a minimum of four and a half on Court 1 and a bit of dead time as well (Djokovic leads Hurkacz by a set and 3-3, Auger-Aliassime vs Humbert to follow).

[Tony C]

Currently watching Medvedev-Goffin on iplayer and it's a terrific match.

[Tony C]

You could have been asking that for 15 years.

True, but it's apparently something that officials have recently been particularly advised to clamp down on.

[Janik]

This is not a day where a lot of matches stand out as particularly worthy. So we get the inclusion of what Jimski predicts will be an utter serve fest. I think that slightly undersells Milos Raonic, who could get into Reilly Opelka’s service games a decent amount. If he doesn’t, expect tie-breaks galore. And the reason for including it, if these are shared 2-2 we may get out first 12-all in the fifth decider in this match.

Huh. Not even close. First set was a break, but having won that Raonic then ran all over Opelka 6-2 6-1 in the next two. All done in 102 minutes. Opelka only won 58% of the points behind his first serve, and that despite bashing down 13 aces. The stats don't give a count for unreturned serves that the player gets a racquet to so are not aces. However, one would expect at least as many of these as aces, if not more. Raonic must have won pretty well every single point where he got the return into play.

On the Women's side, Ray has seen a shock already, Zhang beating Wozniacki. That means at least one non-seed in the QFs, either Zhang or the winner of Yastremska-/Golubic. And if Halep doesn't make the Semis one there also, Simo's opponents and potential future matches being Azarenka, Hercog/Gauff, Zhang/Yastremska/Golubic.

[Satchmo Distel]

When was the last Wimbledon where there wasn't seed carnage? It seems to be a feature of this surface.

[multipleman78]

My bold. He has admitted trying to hurt Nadal today by drilling him with the ball. If the guy was a showman it would be fine. But this isn't an act. He actually is a genuine pillock.

I know he is a pillock and an arsehole but i like him anyway. When i play at fives i hate those types of whiny, berating the ref for the whole match, the World is against me types but as it doesn't affect me, i enjoy watching Kyrgios put himself, the umpire and his opponent through mental torture. That match was electric and it is because he was engaged in the battle.

If it was Tennys Sandgren at the net i would happily watch Kyrgios smash him with every passing shot and hopefully a few would ping off his bollocks for good measure.

[Janik]

Thanks Janik, I was wondering if there was any chance of seeing Serena/Murray there and was going to ask about it but convinced myself I was reaching. Fingers crossed and thanks for the overview in general, looking forward to a good day.

No, you are not reaching. There is genuine hope. But I don't want to oversell it. It is very circumstances dependent, and a 1 in 3 chance at best as Centre/#1 will be prioritised over #2.

[Janik]

Day 5 picks

Men's
Djokovic [1] vs Hurkacz - 2nd on #1
Auger-Aliassime [19] vs Humbert - 3rd on #1
Medvedev [11] vs Goffin [21] - 3rd on #2
Opelka vs Raonic [15] - 1st on #12

This is the second slam in a row where Novak Djokovic and Hubert Hurkacz have met. They also clashed in R1 of Paris. That was trailed as an interesting match as it was thought the Pole, who is held to be a talented individual, might give Djoker a bit of a challenge. As it turned out he didn’t really, winning just eight games (4,2,2). He will probably win more here given his big serve, but enough to take a set? High unlikely.
The last step for Felix Auger-Aliassime before a much anticipated clash with the Djokerman is confirmed is another young gun in the form of Ugo Humbert. The Frenchman nearly didn’t get this far as he trailed Gael Monfils by two sets in R1 but Monfils’ body then played up, Humbert eventually getting a retirement in the fifth set. A solid victory in R2 brings him here and another match where he is cast as patsy as the crowd cheers on his opponent (he was on the other side of the net vs A.Murray in R1 of the Men’s Doubles). Both players are very raw in terms of Slam experience, this is Humbert’s fourth event, first R3 and only seventh match compared to Auger-Aliassime’s even barer second slam and third match. The Canadian has more other relevant experience though, and should ease through.
Match of the day on the Men’s side from a Tennis perspective looks to me like the one that pits Daniil Medvedev against David Goffin. They also met at the same stage in this year’s Aussie Open, a match that Medvedev won in three sets. Goffin has been in good form recently, playing well in Paris and making the Final in Halle, and picked up an impressively comprehensive win against Jeremy Chardy in R2. Medvedev has also been in decent form (SF at Queens) and this looks to me as a toss-up who wins it. See above for the likely contrast in styles, but in the end I think Medvedev’s steadiness wins out. Hope I’m wrong, though...
This is not a day where a lot of matches stand out as particularly worthy. So we get the inclusion of what Jimski predicts will be an utter serve fest. I think that slightly undersells Milos Raonic, who could get into Reilly Opelka’s service games a decent amount. If he doesn’t, expect tie-breaks galore. And the reason for including it, if these are shared 2-2 we may get out first 12-all in the fifth decider in this match.


Women's
Svitolina [8] vs Sakkari [31] - 1st on #3
Hsieh [28] vs Pliskova [3] - 1st on #2
Halep [7] vs Azarenka - 2nd on Centre
Wozniacki [14] vs Zhang - 1st on #2

Elina Svitolina coped an undoubted break when Magarita Gasparyan retired hurt when nearly in touching distance of victory in R2. Svitolina possibly considers that karmic for her, as luck has mostly been absent for her in Slams. For a player who has spent long periods in the top 5, her best ever showing of QFs is poor and for someone whose game works decently on grass a best evert at Wimbledon of R4 is equally underwhelming. The Ukranian has been below her best in regular play during 2019 to date (no titles compared to four by this point of 2017 and three prior to Wimbledon in 2018), but all that would be forgotten is she makes an impact here. Playing Sakkari, who is a strong player but not a grass courter, might be another step towards making that happen.
You couldn’t ask for a greater contrast in styles than between Hsieh Su-wei and Karolina Pliskova. The tall Czech is immensely and makes very good use of that, blasting down serves and leaning through groundstrokes. Her fitness and movement have improved this year, but she remains at heart a power player. Hsieh is anything but that. In fact, power players tears of frustration? Nectar to her. What Pliskova most wants is rhythm, and that is precisely what Hsieh will attempt to deny her. Pliskova has to impose her will on the match, hit through the ball confidently and keep the unforced error count low. Do that and she comes through, any flicker of doubt and that could swiftly escalate into an all-consuming fire that burns her out of the competition in week one yet again. Their two previous meetings have both been inordinately close, Pliskova winning in Miami 2018 7-4 in a deciding set breaker, Hsieh taking a third set 7-5 in Dubai earlier this season.
In amongst a bunch of quite mundane looking matches on paper, one sparkles like a diamond – the meeting of Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka. For two player who are both Slam champions and former World No.1s, these two have meant on surprisingly few occasions (just 4 times) until one steps back and thinks about it. And then you realise that despite the general overlap, it’s almost never been the case that both were at the top at the same time. Halep broke through into the top rank in 2014, which was when Azarenka started to suffer from injuries that saw her drop away from the player who had made all four hardcourt Slam Finals played in 2012 and 2013 (won 2, lost 2). Since then Azarenka has only had one spell when the old Vika appeared to be back, early 2016, and that was followed by pregnancy and the subsequent custody battle. Early 2016 corresponded to a period when Halep was out of sorts with herself, seemingly making excuses for poor defeats. And of course, neither is in totally scintillating form at the moment. It would be nice of this one against each other on the grand stage is where they play their way back in. It should be a tough and drawn out battle with lots of baseline hitting and extended rallies. If it does go like that though, one has to favour Halep. She is the steadier and these days the stronger mentally. She ought to win, probably in two.
Last but not least we come to Caroline Wozniacki vs Zhang Shuai. Both of these players have had their troubles in slams over the years. For Wozniacki it was a case of repeatedly falling short and not matching her often World No. 1 status. For Zhang it was even worse – 14 entries and 14 R1 exits. Both put those demons behind them in Australia, Zhang finally getting that first win in 2016 (against Halep no less) and going on a tear to make the QFs (l to Konta). Wozniacki also succeeded in Oz by beating Halep, in her case winning the 2018 Final. Both have faded away from those peaks since, but this is an opportunity to return as their part of the draw is rather open. Stylistically they are both pretty damn similar, defensive baseline counter-punchers. It will really come down to whoever executes best. In which case I go for the Dane.

[Ray de Galles]

That goes rather too far, I feel. The serving delays don't seem all that beneficial really. He wins with or without them. As does Djokovic, another who has delayed serve interminably with his ball bouncing at times in his career.


My bold. He has admitted trying to hurt Nadal today by drilling him with the ball. If the guy was a showman it would be fine. But this isn't an act. He actually is a genuine pillock.


Wozniacki vs Zhang should be a decent match, a 3/5 one. And it's a huge chance for both players. Wozniacki is one of two seeds left in her quarter of the draw.
Khachanov vs Bautista Agut should involve lots of good shot making. Bautista Agut is an all-court player, more so than Khachanov, but the Russian has the big serve.
The best of the batch is the last one, though. David Goffin is great to watch as whilst he hits the ball extremely well for his frame, his lack of inches mean he doesn't possess overwhelming power so has to do things differently. And Medvedev is somewhat the same. The rallies could be quite long and varied in their content.
Possibly the most notable thing about that schedule though is it only has three matches on it despite an 11:00am start. Court 2 invariably has four matches planned. Why might that be? Well, Wimbledon need to find a court for S.Williams/A.Murray vs Gurachi/Mies, which is listed on the schedule as Court TBA not before 5:30pm. For security and crowd control reasons, that match can basically only go on to a court with full reserved seating as the crush and lines to get a seat anywhere else would be so big as to be dangerous. There are only three courts with no free-for-all seating:- Centre, #1, #2. With two Women's and one Men's match on Centre things there could be over early and that would be the ideal stage from the tournament's perspective. However if that isn't over early, I think there is a high chance that Serena/Muzza end up on Court 2. Basically don't leave the grounds and scan your ticket for charity resale until it's clear where that match will be played!


Oh, and Tomic fined 100% of his prize money for his pathetic 'efforts' against Tsonga in R1.

Thanks Janik, I was wondering if there was any chance of seeing Serena/Murray there and was going to ask about it but convinced myself I was reaching. Fingers crossed and thanks for the overview in general, looking forward to a good day.

[Janik]

Actual R3 Draws

Gentleman's Singles

Novak Djokovic Srb [1] vs Hubert Hurkacz Pol
Felix Auger-Aliassime Can [19] vs Ugo Humbert Fra
Daniil Medvedev Rus [11] vs David Goffin Bel [21]
Fernando Verdasco Esp vs Thomas Fabbiano Ita

Kevin Anderson RSA [4] vs Guido Pella Arg [26]
Reilly Opelka USA vs Milos Raonic Can [15]
Karen Khachanov Rus [10] vs Roberto Bautista Agut Esp [23]
Benoit Paire Fra [28] vs Jiri Vesely Cze


Sam Querrey USA vs John Millman Aus
Tennys Sandgren USA vs Fabio Fognini Ita [12]
Joao Sousa Por vs Daniel Evans GBr
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga Fra vs Rafael Nadal Esp [3]

Kei Nishikori Jpn [8] vs Steve Johnson USA
Jan-Lennard Struff Ger [33] vs Mikhail Kukushkin Kaz
Matteo Berrettini Ita [17] vs Diego Schwartzman Arg [24]
Lucas Pouille Fra [27] vs Roger Federer Sui [2]


Ladies Singles

Ashleigh Barty [1] vs Harriet Dart GBr [WC]
Alison Riske USA vs Belinda Bencic Sui [13]
Serena Williams USA [11] vs Julia Goerges Ger [18]
Carla Suarez Navarro Esp [30] vs Lauren Davis USA [LL]

Kiki Bertens Ned [4] vs Barbora Strycova Cze
Elise Mertens Bel [21] vs Wang Qiang Chn [15]
Sloane Stephens USA [9] vs Johanna Konta GBr [19]
Magda Linette Pol vs Petra Kvitova Cze [6]


Elina Svitolina Ukr [8] vs Maria Sakkari Gre [31]
Petra Martic Cro [24] vs Danielle Collins USA
Karolina Muchova Cze vs Anett Kontaveit Est [20]
Hsieh Su-wei Tpe [28] vs Karolina Pliskova Cze [3]

Simona Halep Rou [7] vs Victoria Azarenka Blr
Polona Hercog Slo vs Cory Gauff USA [Q]
Caroline Wozniacki Den [14] vs Zhang Shuai Chn
Dayana Yastremska Ukr vs Vikorija Golubic Sui


The biggest carnage has been in section 3 of the men's draw. But even with that, there are still lots of good names left there.

[Janik]

British results from R2 singles and R1 doubles

Harriet Dart [WC] bt Beatriz Haddad Maia [Q] 2-1
#19 Jo Konta bt Katerina Siniakova 2-0
Heather Watson l to #20 Anett Kontaveit 0-2

Way to go Harriet! Konta also played very well.


#30 Kyle Edmund l to Fernando Verdasco 2-3 (from two sets to love and 3-0 up)
Dan Evans by #18 Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-0
cameron Norrie l to #8 Kei Nishikori 0-3
Jay Clarke l to #2 Roger Federer 0-3 (and it wasn't even on Centre!)

Evo is genuinely the best British grass court player at the moment. The right one is through to R3.


Grey/Silva GBr [WC] l to Cirstea/Voskoboeva 0-2
Dart/Dunne GBr [WC] l to [9] Hc.Chan/L.Chan –0-2
Christie/Swan [WC] l to Minnen/Van Uytvanck [Alt] 0-2
Minella/Watson l to [16] Atawo/L.Kichenok 1-2
Bains/N.Broady [WC] l to [2] Krejcikova/Siniakova 0-2

One little note on these - I knew Christie/Swan's conquerors, Minnen/Van Uytvanck, were a couple. I hadn't realised they were the first out gay pair to play Wimbledon.


L.Broady/Clayton [WC] l to [11] Mahut/Roger-Vasselin 0-3
Evans/Glasspool [WC] l to Mayer/Sousa 1-3
Munar/Norrie bt [15] Inglot/Krajicek 3-2
[10] J.Murray/N.Skupski lead Dodig/Polasek 2-1 overnight
Hoyt/Johnson [WC] l to Monroe/M.Zverev [Alt] 0-3
Herbert/A.Murray [PR] bt Copil/Humbert 3-1
[12] Ram/Salisbury bt Albot/Jazirin 3-0
K.Skupski/Smith bt Clarke/Ward [WC] 3-0
Bambridge/O’Mara l to [3] Klaasen/Venus 0-3
Draper/Jubb [WC] l to [2] Cabal/Farah 0-3

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Well, my page 1 predictions have been predictably trashed in short order. Kyrgios failed to beat Nadal, and Anisimova went out before she even faced any of the other 3 seeds in her eighth of the draw who I'd predicted her to beat to the QF spot. And Kerber out. All that remains possible of my predictions is a final place for Pliskova and a men's final of Djokovic v Federer, hardly a money-saving hedge. Happy to report that I didn't back any of my hunches with cash.

[Jon]

Kyrgios tends to polarise opinion but put me down as a fan. He is electrifying to watch, good or bad. There are enough sportsmen who have perfect PR and act appropriately. As long as he isn't hurting anyone then i am all for a bit of antagonism between players. What he said about Vekic was crossing the line but underarm serves, tweeners and silly antics are all fine by me.

100% agree. First time I'd seen Krygios today. I warmed to him straight away. Shame he lost.

[Janik]

That goes rather too far, I feel. The serving delays don't seem all that beneficial really. He wins with or without them. As does Djokovic, another who has delayed serve interminably with his ball bouncing at times in his career.

Kyrgios tends to polarise opinion but put me down as a fan. He is electrifying to watch, good or bad. There are enough sportsmen who have perfect PR and act appropriately. As long as he isn't hurting anyone then i am all for a bit of antagonism between players. What he said about Vekic was crossing the line but underarm serves, tweeners and silly antics are all fine by me.

My bold. He has admitted trying to hurt Nadal today by drilling him with the ball. If the guy was a showman it would be fine. But this isn't an act. He actually is a genuine pillock.

So I have tickets for Court No. 2 tomorrow, what do we think of :

No.2 COURT - SHOW COURT - 11:00 START

1 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [14] 113 vs Shuai Zhang (CHN) 119

2 Karen Khachanov (RUS) [10] 49 vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [23] 56

3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [11] 17 vs David Goffin (BEL) [21] 24

Wozniacki vs Zhang should be a decent match, a 3/5 one. And it's a huge chance for both players. Wozniacki is one of two seeds left in her quarter of the draw.
Khachanov vs Bautista Agut should involve lots of good shot making. Bautista Agut is an all-court player, more so than Khachanov, but the Russian has the big serve.
The best of the batch is the last one, though. David Goffin is great to watch as whilst he hits the ball extremely well for his frame, his lack of inches mean he doesn't possess overwhelming power so has to do things differently. And Medvedev is somewhat the same. The rallies could be quite long and varied in their content.
Possibly the most notable thing about that schedule though is it only has three matches on it despite an 11:00am start. Court 2 invariably has four matches planned. Why might that be? Well, Wimbledon need to find a court for S.Williams/A.Murray vs Gurachi/Mies, which is listed on the schedule as Court TBA not before 5:30pm. For security and crowd control reasons, that match can basically only go on to a court with full reserved seating as the crush and lines to get a seat anywhere else would be so big as to be dangerous. There are only three courts with no free-for-all seating:- Centre, #1, #2. With two Women's and one Men's match on Centre things there could be over early and that would be the ideal stage from the tournament's perspective. However if that isn't over early, I think there is a high chance that Serena/Muzza end up on Court 2. Basically don't leave the grounds and scan your ticket for charity resale until it's clear where that match will be played!


Oh, and Tomic fined 100% of his prize money for his pathetic 'efforts' against Tsonga in R1.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

• How is Nadal getting away with time violations while serving?

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  San Bernardhinault
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  Today, 19:05
  You could have been asking that for 15 years.

Quite. Someone ought to do a Brian Clough on Nadal. "All those trophies, you can throw them in the bin. Cos you won them all by breaking the rules giving yourself an unfair time advantage". It's bloody infuriating what he gets away with. Gutted that Krygios lost today.

[Ray de Galles]

So I have tickets for Court No. 2 tomorrow, what do we think of :

No.2 COURT - SHOW COURT - 11:00 START

1 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [14] 113 vs Shuai Zhang (CHN) 119

2 Karen Khachanov (RUS) [10] 49 vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [23] 56

3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [11] 17 vs David Goffin (BEL) [21] 24

[Jimski]

Most of my watching today btw was Fognini's match. I love watching him play. For a top tenner, he's very under-rated, and he uses angles that many players never even think about. Tends to make life difficult for himself though, and so it proved today - a real marathon.

[Jimski]

Match to miss tomorrow: Opelka v Raonic. Anyone wanting anything approaching actual tennis, look away. It'll basically be unreturnable serves for a few hours, won't it?

[Satchmo Distel]

What's the plan for this Murray doubles? Roof? Live on BBC 1?

[Jimski]

Ugh.