The "blessing and the curse" of junior success
There is a thought-provoking piece in the Daily Telegraph on what Ashleigh Barty calls the “blessing and the curse” of doing well in the junior Wimbledon events. The paper states, “Twenty years ago, Federer, then an impetuous racket-smasher and AC/DC aficionado, provided a portent of what was to come by winning the junior title with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Irakli Labadze. Others have used the tournament as a springboard to bigger things, including Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and Aga Radwanska.
Yet plenty more have failed to make that same flight. A tip of the hat to those who recall the boys' winners from 2001-2003 (Roman Valent, Todd Reid and Florin Mergea) and a standing ovation to anyone who knows how they are passing their time these days. The New York Times last week tracked down the 2009 girls' champion, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, who is now training to become a police officer after being crushed by the weight of expectation fostered in her native Thailand.
The prize is in sight
The Kyodo News reports that while Kei Nishikori is battling injury to stay in the men’s singles his task is only going to get harder this week as they tell readers, “As he finds himself closing in on a coveted Grand Slam title, Kei Nishikori knows his challenge to reach the last four at Wimbledon will be met with resistance and predicts his opponent will be a 'big wall' to get past. Standing between him and the semi-finals will be former world No.1 and triple Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who leads their head-to-head 13-2.”
One of the main talking points in the media at The Championships has been the loss of all 10 ladies' seeds by the start of the second week but the Independent takes the view that those remaining have brought some order to things, adding, “The last remaining top-10 women's seed was gone shortly before Wimbledon's sun-baked punters had begun patiently queuing for their first Pimm's of the day. Karolina Pliskova has waited her entire career to reach the second week of Wimbledon but was out by Monday lunchtime, dispatched in straight sets by Kiki Bertens. Another ladies' singles match, another upset.”
The battle of the big servers
As Milos Raonic set up a last eight clash with fellow big server John Isner, Toronto's Globe and Mail lauds their countryman’s own world-class serve. It notes, "Milos Raonic is used to striking fear into opponents with a booming serve that routinely clocks in at more than 230 kilometres per hour. He worked that power to near perfection Monday, beating 23-year-old American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the fourth round at Wimbledon to advance to the quarter-finals for the third straight year. Raonic chalked up 37 aces in the match to just five for McDonald, who had no break points against the Canadian.”
'Motivated and angry' Ostapenko
Ohio’s Chronicle-Telegraph focuses on yet another Roger Federer masterclass, this time to beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets, reporting that: “They clapped and yelled when Federer’s drop volley capped a 16-minute tour de force of a first set in which he won 21 of the first 23 points. They eventually sent him back to the locker room with a standing ovation, acknowledging the talent displayed by Federer.”
The Times of India provides its readers with the motivation for Jelena Ostapenko’s surge into the last eight reporting, “she put out Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, winning 10 of the last 11 games to move into the Wimbledon quarter-final. The 21-year-old, who was trailing 2-5 in the first set, got her act together after she was handed a code violation for coaching at the start of the eighth game. 'That made me motivated and angry'."
