Nadal brings the heat
As Rafael Nadal once said, "sunshine is energy, sunshine is life". And the toastier it is at Wimbledon on Manic Monday, the better it will be for the Majorcan, as sunnier conditions should mean the ball bounces higher off the grass, giving him greater opportunity to swing with his forehand and load tennis balls with topspin and menace. Nadal is yet to a drop a set, and on Monday he plays Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. Victory for Nadal would take the 2008 and 2010 champion into his first Wimbledon quarter-final for seven years, and then we can start to seriously think about whether he can win this for a third time.
A mother guaranteed to make quarter-finals
While Serena Williams is the only former champion left in the ladies' singles, she is not the only mum still in contention. Her fourth round opponent, Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, is also a mother of one. While Williams is attempting to win the Venus Rosewater Dish for the eighth time, which would put her level with Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 majors, Rodina has never previously run this deep into a Grand Slam. Williams is undefeated in her last 17 matches at the All England Club, after winning the 2015 and 2016 titles, and missing the 2017 Championships while pregnant.
A new first for Federer
Going into the second week of Wimbledon, Roger Federer has used the SABR, or Sneak Attack By Roger, more often than he has fended off break points on his own serve. Only once has the defending champion returned serve from just behind the service line - an ultra-aggressive strategy that is as exhilarating for Federer as it is for his fanbase - but for the time ever he has reached the fourth round without facing a single break point.
Contrast with his fourth round opponent, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who has so far had 28 break points against him at The Championships, of which he saved 14, so exactly half. While Federer has a perfect record in his 41 service games of the first week, Mannarino won 47 of his 61, a success rate of 77 per cent. Naturally, this being Federer, there are other numbers to consider, including how he has won his last 29 sets on these lawns, which isn't far off his record of 34 in a row.
Isner on his longest run
So far, John Isner has spent a mere seven-and-a-half hours on court at The Championships, spread over three appearances, and some years that isn't even enough time to win a first round match. Naturally, the American is still best known at Wimbledon for his part in the longest match in history, for needing more than 11 hours to defeat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the first round in 2010. But now Isner has distinguished himself by doing something even more admirable: reaching the second week of The Championships for the first time. Isner plays Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the quarter-finals.
New territory for Pliskova
While Karolina Pliskova is the highest remaining seed in the ladies' singles, and has a mighty serve that ought to help her on the grass, the Czech hardly has much past experience of going deep into The Championships. Until this summer, she had never previously gone beyond the second round. The No.7 seed meets Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the fourth round.
