Rune the survivor

Third round matches at Wimbledon provide certain players with the chance to move into the last 16 for the first time, a significant achievement at any of the four Grand Slams.

Holger Rune found himself 8-5 down in a first-to-ten shootout with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina only to rattle off the last five points to survive 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(8), collapsing on to the No.3 Court turf in relief.

Jiri Lehecka, who has former men’s finalist Tomas Berdych on his team here in London, also made it into the last 16 for the first time when he outlasted American Tommy Paul 6-2 in the fifth.

In the ladies’ singles Ekaterina Alexandrova was the first player into the fourth round on Day 6, wrapping up victory over Dalma Galfi 6-0, 6-4 in less than an hour.

Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2 to become another player into new territory.

Marathon woman

Ons Jabeur has put so much effort into her Wimbledon career that in a different part of London she would have been handed a foil blanket and rewarded with a shiny medal.

Going into her third round meeting with Bianca Andreescu on Saturday, the Championships Match Insights Team (an IBM/AELTC partnership) confirmed the Tunisian had run a staggering 40,847 metres on these lawns since her 2017 debut.

She clocked up enough on Centre Court during her third round contest to take her over the magic number of 42,195m - the equivalent of a 26.2-mile marathon.

Thanks Kim

Christopher Eubanks goes from strength to strength, and after beating Aussie Christopher O'Connell on Saturday can start preparing for a fourth round meeting with Stefanos Tstsipas on Monday.

After an inauspicious start to his grass season in Surbiton, Stuttgart and Halle, Eubanks went on to win his first ATP title in Mallorca, a turnaround that came after he reached out to former women’s No.1 Kim Clijsters.

The American sent messages to the Belgian complaining about the difficulties of grass court tennis and Clijsters offered advice.

“Try to do some little footwork drills,” she wrote. “Even play some mini tennis games… stay low, use your slice,” she urged.

One month later and the 27-year-old is into the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time.

“She's a big, big contributing factor to, I think, some of the success, just keeping my mind fresh and keeping me up in spirits when I wasn’t,” the American said this week.

Wrong turn

If Nicolas Jarry was trying to disguise his lack of Centre Court experience when he walked on to court with Carlos Alcaraz, he blew it as soon as the doors opened.

As Alcaraz turned left, Jarry took a right and marched in completely the wrong direction.

Just the tickets

Former world No.3 Elina Svitolina had to change her weekend plans after she won her third round match on Friday.

The popular Ukrainian is back on Sunday to play Victoria Azarenka and in a post on Instagram explained that she had originally planned to be watching Harry Styles in Vienna on Saturday.

“Someone want to go?” she wrote. “I have two tickets!”

Last man standing

To his Australian compatriots, Christopher O'Connell was a "shag on a rock" on Day 6. Don't be alarmed... Down Under, "shag" is another word for a cormorant, a bird that likes to sun itself on lone craggy outcrops.

"Shag on a rock" is an Australian metaphor for a person out on their own, hence its application to O'Connell, the last Australian remaining in either the men's or the women's singles before his defeat to Eubanks.

Coaching clinic

Famous doubles twins Bob and Mike Bryan were spotted across the road from the All England Club on Saturday lending a hand at a kids coaching clinic in Wimbledon Park.

The superstar Americans - three-time men’s doubles champions in SW19 - were part of an LTA and All England Club initiative 'Middle Saturday Opened Up'.

The free community coaching event gives youngsters the chance to try tennis just a couple of hundred metres from Centre Court.

New this year:

See the draw like never before, with interactive Path to the Final view of the draw by clicking a player's name on the draws page

See the projected Path to the Final of every player in the Gentlemen’s and Ladies' singles draws with IBM Likely to Play

View how favourable or difficult a player's draw is, with IBM AI Draw