Footwork of the day
Jelena Ostapenko, the former Roland-Garros champion, will face Angelique Kerber, the No.11 seed, in the ladies’ singles semi-finals and the Centre Court crowd will be able to run the rule over her footwork.
Ostapenko, the No.12 seed, prepared for a tennis life on the clay, hard and grass courts of the world by taking ballroom dancing classes for seven years, with Samba her favourite. She said, “I did ballroom dancing from five to 12. I quit for some years, but now I'm doing it as a hobby. I think it helps a lot because you have to be very coordinated to do it, and also those small steps, which are very useful in tennis. When I'm home, I'm doing it a couple times a week.”
Stat of the day
Julia Goerges (pictured above, right) leads the ladies' championships with 44 aces – five ahead of Serena Williams, her semi-final opponent.
Injury update of the day
Former champion Andy Murray made his debut as a television pundit and revealed that he believes his hip injury will actually benefit from playing on hard courts in America, which has always been one of his favourite parts of the season.
Murray, the 2012 US Open champion, explained, “I felt better on the hard court as soon as I started because of the stability. I was a lot more confident and it freed up my hip. I feel it’s going to be positive.”
Murray will head to America in two weeks’ time to either base himself in Miami or get to Washington early to practise for the tournament. He is also tipping Novak Djokovic for the men’s title. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he wins it.”
British win of the day
Jack Draper is a talented young British player and son of former Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger, who has also been involved in administration roles in rugby league.
Draper junior was in scintillating form as he ousted Bulgarian No.7 seed Adrian Andreev 6-3, 6-0 on Court No.14 to reach the third round. Not only did Jack knock out a seed, Andreev is also the youngest player to have appeared in an ATP main draw event when, as a 16-year-old, he was given a wild card into the Sofia Open in his native Bulgaria earlier this year.
Cap of the day
Roger Federer has a new high-profile clothing deal following the end of his long-term relationship with Nike. His new Japanese backers will no doubt be interested to see the defending champion’s father supporting his son at courtside wearing a cap featuring the famous RF logo.
This, for now, still belongs to Nike. It may be that father Robert believes it is a lucky hat, in which case the “old” clothing sponsor could still be getting publicity from Federer’s camp for free! Given the brilliant form of his son, Robert would be well advised to keep wearing whatever he thinks is contributing towards yet another singles title.
Quote of the day
Daria Kasatkina: “Anybody can play when they have a good day, when they're happy to be on court. This is the point. You have to be able to compete even if you are dead and you don't want to be there.”
