Literary heights
While some athletes don't read at all, not even their own ghostwritten autobiographies, Andrea Petkovic writes essays about Philip Roth.
"I have always had a thing for what David Foster Wallace called 'the great male narcissists', such as Norman Mailer and Saul Bellow. Philip Roth, however, is my favourite," the German observed in the pages of Racquet magazine.
In lockdown, Petkovic also started her own online book club, and published her first book in German, with the title translating as 'Between Fame and Honour Lies the Night'. It's far from being a conventional autobiography as Petkovic wrote it herself, and some of it is fictionalised.
Petkovic, a former top-10 player, steps out of the literary salon on Thursday when she meets Roland-Garros champion, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, for a spot in the last 32.
A pair of Cocos
You have a choice of Cocos to watch on Day 4. Or you could just watch both as they play their respective second-round matches. There's Coco Gauff, the American teenager, who plays Russia's Elena Vesnina, while Coco Vandeweghe, also representing the United States, faces Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. Vandeweghe's grandmother, a former Miss America, gave her some Coco Chanel perfume when she was born.
Hopes of a double
In modern times, Queen's Club champions don't often become Wimbledon champions in the same summer. Since Rafael Nadal did the London grass court double in 2008, the only other player to have won both titles in the same summer is Andy Murray, who did it twice, in 2013 and 2016. Matteo Berrettini, who took the title at Queen's the week before last, will be hoping to add his name to that short list. The Italian plays 'lucky loser' Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, in the second round.
Now that the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, are no longer on the scene, the most celebrated identical twins in tennis are the Pliskovas.
Just like the Bryans, they aren't completely identical with one right-handed twin and one lefty - Karolina is the right-handed Pliskova while Kristyna uses her left. As a former world No.1 and US Open finalist, Karolina is the best known of the twins, and is currently ranked No. 13.
But Kristyna is a very good player in her own right. Currently ranked No.46, she is not far off her career high of 44, and plays Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, with a chance to equal her best result at Wimbledon of making the last 32.
Sam Querrey gets mentioned a fair bit at the All England Club. That's because it was the American who defeated Murray in the 2017 quarter-final on a day when it was very apparent how much the Briton's hip injury was affecting his movement and enjoyment.
Murray would go on to have an operation and has returned to the singles court this summer with a metal hip. Querrey has already had some impact on this summer's Championships as he beat Pablo Carreño Busta, the No.11 seed from Spain, in straight sets in the opening round. He now plays Australia's James Duckworth.
