At the quarter-final stage of the ladies' championships at this 133rd Wimbledon, we have an appetising mix. Among the last eight, we have one Briton (happily), a group of unseeded dreamers, two of whom are Czech mates, and the player who began the year at No.1. Oh yes, and the greatest player in history.
Take your pick from this engrossing quartet of matches. Top of the bill for those bound to turn Henman Hill into Konta Cliff once more will be Johanna Konta’s attempt to make the semi-finals for the second time in three years, against the veteran Czech, Barbora Strycova.
Twenty-four hours after beating Strycova’s more celebrated compatriot, Petra Kvitova, Konta, who has come back from a set down in two successive matches to defeat former Grand Slam champions, in theory shouldn’t feel too many qualms about being back on Centre Court facing an unseeded 33-year-old who has never got past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in 52 previous attempts.
Yet Strycova has been an inspiring elder stateswoman of the all-conquering Czech Fed Cup team down the years, loves a big stage and can look back on a battling victory over Konta in their sole meeting, in Tokyo in 2017.
She also sounds to be in a good place in what she shrugs may be her last appearance at the venue that brings her alive. “I appreciate stuff much more now. Every day, even if I have a day off, I walk around the court, look where I was playing when I was a junior and I'm proud of myself,” she smiles. “It's my 17th time here, and you just try to be happy.” Beware the liberated warrior.
Strycova also loves overseeing the new Czech breed, like 22-year-old Karolina Muchova, the youngest quarter-finalist here who outlasted Karolina Pliskova in the longest ladies’ match of The Championships, three hours 19 minutes on Monday.
She hopes she’s recovered sufficiently to give No.8 seed Elina Svitolina a test on No.1 Court. The Ukrainian, for whom London feels like a second home, has been honing her fighting spirit by thumping the pads in the boxing gym. Anthony Joshua is Svitolina’s favourite, so she knows all about the perils of being on the end of a sensational knockout.
This is the first time since the 32-seed rule was introduced in 2001 that half the quarter-finalists are unseeded. Another is Shuai Zhang, who can become only the second Chinese player after wild card Zheng Jie in 2008 to make the semi-finals. Simona Halep, though, fresh from ending Cori Gauff’s wonderful odyssey, is ready to play storybook spoilsport again on No.1 Court.
That Zhang is here at all, though, is down to her doubles partner, Australian Sam Stosur, who persuaded her over dinner four years ago not to quit the sport when she was plummeting down the rankings and about to quit. She repaid her mate by beating her in the US Open the following year.
Whisper it, but we also have Alison Riske, armed with a very fine grass court game and extremely dangerous, who has a perilous mission against Serena Williams on Centre Court which is going to make not just her day but that of her dad, Al, too.
Al is a retired US Secret Service and FBI man who, says Alison, was just like the fictional former agent Jack Byrnes from the film Meet the Parents. “Oh, my dad is Robert de Niro 100 per cent,” she once joked. “I grew up paranoid to this day about everything.”
Al would doubtless have enjoyed providing his girl with a confidential dossier on Williams as they prepare for their first meeting - remarkable, considering the two Americans have been on the circuit together for 15 years - but it’s not exactly a state secret that Serena is quite good, is it?
The pair have played doubles together but Riske’s career has been a journeywoman’s slog in comparison. “The greatest athlete I think that's ever been on the women's side,” Riske calls the seven-time champion, adding with Pittsburgh steel: “I’m ready for war.”
Suddenly, at 29 and about to get married next week to former player Stephen Amritraj, she sounds euphoric about life, having won four straight tough three set matches, earned the scalp of the world No.1 Ashleigh Barty and now feeling like “a natural” on the grass with her ‘Riske and reward’ daring. “I think I'm going to have to get married more often,” she laughs.
Finally, for our delectation, not just one glimpse of Williams on Centre Court but two, with the Andy Murray and Serena mixed doubles second round against France’s Fabrice Martin and American Raquel Atawo.
So who gets the top billing of those two? Serena says Andy’s name should take precedence, so they should be Mur-ena. Andy, ever the gentleman, says it’s Ser-Andy. Who’s arguing? It’s just a joy to see them together.