WIMBLEDON TENNIS NEWS & RESULTS: MURRAY BEATS KARLOVIC, SERENA BEATS BIG SIS VENUS AND MORE

Written by: Global Chick on 6th July 2015

WIMBLEDON TENNIS NEWS & RESULTS: MURRAY BEATS KARLOVIC, SERENA BEATS BIG SIS VENUS AND MORE

A ball boy watches Andy Murray of Britain prepare to serve to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in their fourth round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Manic Monday and we’re all about the Ladies today – Global Chick’s Wimbledon Diary

With the bottom of the Ladies Singles draw pretty much ripped apart after Jelena Jankovic bounced defending champion Petra Kvitova out of the draw, and enough drama to keep a script-writer full of soap episodes, the scene was set for more surprises on Manic Monday.

The men have been largely fairly predictable, with the exception of the loss of Rafael Nadal, but the women have been anything but. A massive favourite for the title, Serena Williams had her first real test against home-grown Heather Watson, pushed to three sets for the first time this tournament.

Kvitova had all but romped through the first two rounds, but came a cropper to the glitter warrior princess Jelena Jankovic, and suddenly the bottom o the draw came alive.

Manic Monday is unique in that the All England Club bid to get all the fourth round matches dispatched in one day. That can make it a long day for all concerned, but then they are a Slam that manages to get all their round 1 matches done in two days (give or take).

It has not been a great week (and a bit) for the Czechs who last year occupied three spots in the last eight. This year it is the turn of the Americans, with Madison Keys, Serena Williams and Coco Vandeweghe into the quarter-finals.

Coco Vandeweghe of the USA in action against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during their third round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2015. EPA/GERRY PENNY

Vandeweghe knocked out French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova in one of the big shocks of the afternoon, despite asserting that she had not been on form at all. Well you could have fooled us!

She said: “I didn’t really feel that good. I thought it was one of my worst matches that I played the whole tournament so far. Serve was kind of in and out. I mean, it was there when I needed it, especially towards the end.”

But that was not the end of upset corner. We were kept waiting until right at the end of the women’s matches as Garbine Muguruza dialed into form against Caroline Wozniacki, who many felt was probably going to emerge out of this half of the draw as the most likely final opponent.

But there is something about the round of 16 that does not agree with the Dane. And it’s not as though the Spaniard has had great form this year on the surface, with just one win this year at Eastbourne. But she beat Angelique Kerber in the previous round in one of the best sets we had seen this tournament, and is now into her first Wimbledon quarter-final.

What of the other Americans? Well Madison Keys had to come from a set down against the last qualifier left in the draw, Olga Govortsova, and confessed that she needed to give herself a bit of a kick to get going.

“I had a little bit of a slow start but was able to kind of change it around and get some momentum back and played a really good third set. I think I was a little bit nervous. She was playing really well. I wasn’t playing as smart as I wanted and started playing my shots,” she said.

“So, you know, after I kind of sat down and gave myself a talking to, I kind of got myself back in control.”

Of course the big hype was all about Serena and Venus – but as the case can sometimes be, it was a pretty muted affair, both the match and the celebration afterwards even more so. Perhaps more poignantly, it felt that our chances of seeing these two champions again on the centre stage were running out, although Venus hoped not quite yet.

She said: “I think we’ve always dreamed, growing up, of playing at the highest level, playing each other. We’ve had the opportunity to play in a lot of big finals.

Playing before the later rounds is definitely not ideal. But, I mean, you have to play whoever you play that is in your draw.

“We’ve played a lot of years and we’ve tried to be entertaining. At some point we won’t be playing forever, but clearly we’re playing at a very high level now. So when that moment is over, it will be over. It’s not now.”

Serena added, in her press conference: “It’s been six years since we played each other. Like I said, I just really was enjoying the moment out there. It was such a great vibe, such a great situation to be in, when we were both so young and dreaming of coming to Wimbledon.

Venus Williams of the US serves to her sister Serena Williams in their fourth round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Serena Williams of the US returns to her sister Venus Williams in their fourth round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

“Not only did we fulfill our dreams, we both won it five times. That’s pretty amazing. I just had an opportunity to reflect on that.”

Almost quietly (well you know what I mean) Maria Sharapova came through the merest of wobbles against WTA Rising Star Zarina Diyas, who made a spirited start to their second set, to build up a 3-1 lead before she righted the ship to close out a 6-4 6-4 win. And who knows, in the midst of all the hype of today, perhaps a gentle advance into the quarter-finals is just what Sharapova needs.

· Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki still search for that elusive place in the quarter-finals – Jankovic fell to 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska while Wozniacki gave way to WTA Rising Star Garbine Muguruza

· Time Bacsinszky continues her dream year, notching up her second successive Grand Slam semi-final

· Victoria Azarenka gets another crack at Williams, after ending Swiss teen Belinda Bencic’s great run of form on the grass 6-2 6-3.

Topics: AELTC, Atp World Tour, global chick, Jelena Jankovic, London, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Tennis News, Venus Williams, Wimbledon Tennis, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

July 6, 2015 at 1:31 pm

-@Wimbledon #Tennis NEWS & RESULTS: @andy_murray BEATS @ivokarlovic, @serenawilliams BEATS BIG SIS #Venus AND MORE- http://t.co/dKVrrvyt9q
Sashadrc says:

July 6, 2015 at 2:40 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: WIMBLEDON TENNIS NEWS & RESULTS: MURRAY BEATS KARLOVIC, SERENA BEATS BIG SIS VENUS AND MORE http://t.co/nif1BbBQNp #tenn…
sfaith2010 says:

July 6, 2015 at 2:42 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: WIMBLEDON TENNIS NEWS & RESULTS: MURRAY BEATS KARLOVIC, SERENA BEATS BIG SIS VENUS AND MORE http://t.co/nif1BbBQNp #tenn…