Chance to shine
From Red Square to Church Road, everything seems just dandy in England’s sporting firmament at the moment so hopes are soaring that the sun will today beat the showers at Wimbledon and shine on the nation’s current top Centre Court double act, Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund.
It was good to see Konta back with a smile on Monday, battling through a difficult opener against Natalia Vikhlyantseva but it was afterwards when she began enthusing about having just made her first pavlova that you began to hear faint echoes of last year’s run to the semi-finals where her victories were invariably followed by gleeful news of her baking triumphs.
Now, though, we should get a clearer idea of whether Jo, buoyed by her home comforts, is ready for another deep run when she tackles Dominika Cibulkova, exactly the sort of tigerish adversary she could have done with avoiding at this early stage.
What’s more, Cibulkova, the WTA season-ending champion just two years ago, seems particularly fiery at the moment. “There’s nothing positive about playing Johanna Konta in the second round,” she says - and the feeling’s mutual.
For Konta describes Cibulkova as one of the feistiest fighters on tour, a 5ft 3in tornado worthy of her many accomplishments. She also happens to thrive at Wimbledon. Indeed, the last time the Slovakian got to the quarter-finals here two years ago, she almost had to cancel her wedding in Bratislava because it clashed with the final.
If Konta wins, it may well become very tough very quickly. She is scheduled for a fourth round meeting with world No.1 Simona Halep, who took a bow in front of 20,000 fans in Bucharest at a homecoming celebration for her Roland-Garros triumph and can now look forward to entertaining 11,000 more on No.1 Court against China’s Saisai Zheng.
Edmund, the sole home gentlemen’s singles hope, should in theory afterwards have an easier time of it against American qualifier Bradley Klahn, one of the lowest-ranked players left in the draw at No.168, but the Californian left-hander, who’s served 52 aces in four games so far, is flying after a first round win over Yuichi Sugita, ranked 99 places ahead of him.
Britain’s No.1, seeking to reach the third round here for the first time in six attempts, appears to be delightfully unfazed about what he dismisses as a slightly-enhanced profile in our Andy’s absence. “I mean, it's not like I'm a big deal or anything like that,” he shrugs. Ah, early days, Kyle, early days…
A third Briton, 21-year-old prospect Katie Boulter, is also ready for a landmark day when she takes on No.18 seed Naomi Osaka, the 20-year-old American-based Japanese who’s one of the most outstanding prospects in the game. It might look the tallest order on No.2 Court but then Katie does support Leicester City.
Meanwhile, as Novak Djokovic awaits his gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free cake that Konta has promised to bake for him - and, really, could we even call that a cake? - he says he’s more interested in feasting on the Centre Court grass again, his old Championship-winning but doubtless groundsman-irritating ritual.
And why not? He seems to be rediscovering his mojo by the match as Horacio Zeballos, an Argentine clay court veteran who’s finally made it to the second round for the first time, may find out on No.2 Court.
Rematch for Nadal
Rafael Nadal, the No.2 seed, will have a rematch on Centre with Mikhail Kukushkin, who took him to four sets here in 2014. The Russian-born Kazakh, who beat Edmund in Eastbourne, believes he only became a top-50 player because of his wife Anastasia, who also happens to be his coach. When once asked if she had ever been approached to coach others, she responded with a loyal smile: “I’m not for sale.”
With five of the top eight ladies' seeds already out, champion Garbiñe Muguruza will tread carefully on No.2 Court against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck while the pick of the day looks the battle on No.1 Court between two popular survivors (and contenders) Juan Martin del Potro and Feliciano Lopez.
All hail to “Deliciano”, as Judy Murray always enjoys calling Lopez, after he broke Roger Federer’s record for competing in 66 successive Grand Slams. “I thought, 'Wow, I'm going to beat him at something’," the 36-year-old Spaniard marvelled.
Nick Kyrgios will also be back, again treating us to ne’er a dull moment on No.3 Court where he faces Robin Haase, a Dutchman memorably described by our favourite Australian maverick as “savvy, an old guy who knows how to win tennis matches.” Er, point of information here. The “old guy” is 31.
