Most unpopular man in tennis

You won’t find his name on the draw sheet, on the Aorangi Park practice schedule or in gold, indelible letters on the honours board. But, for some players at the All England Club, it can feel as though he’s ultimately their opponent at Wimbledon: Father Time. 

When Andy Murray withdrew from the gentlemen’s singles because the 37-year-old hadn’t recovered from an operation to remove a spinal cyst, it felt like another victory for the most unpopular man in tennis.

And yet there are some members of Murray’s generation who are doing what they can to resist that career vandal for as long as possible; it’s worth celebrating that Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka (main picture), who is 39, has a second round match against Gael Monfils, a Frenchman who at the age of 37 is still one of the sport’s most exhilarating athletes. Monfils is in a particularly vintage part of the draw, as in the opening round he defeated countryman Adrian Mannarino, who is 36.

Novak Djokovic, who is 37 and who had a knee operation last month, is looking for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title, while Italian Fabio Fognini, who is the same age, is also through to the second round. But there won’t be an older match at the All England Club this summer than Wawrinka against Monfils. 

That winning feeling

Along with a new hair colour for the summer – honey blonde – Coco Gauff also has new status at Wimbledon this summer: a Grand Slam champion. For the first time, the American is playing in the ladies’ singles knowing what it feels like to go all the way through a Slam and end up with a trophy, having done so at the US Open last season. 

Those experiences in New York City could prove useful for Gauff here in London. It was five years ago, as a 15-year-old qualifier, that she defeated Venus Williams in her opening match and went on to make the fourth round, a run which sent London loco for Coco. She hasn’t improved on that since and said her opening round defeat on the grass last summer sent her into “a dark place”. Gauff plays Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni for a spot in the last 32

Italian showdown

In Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini, Italy has two men with the games to go very deep into the Fortnight, and possibly go on to win this title. The trouble is, they play each other in the second round. Sinner is the first Italian man to be the top seed at The Championships, while in 2021 Berrettini became the first Italian to appear in the gentlemen’s singles final. 

Surprise sister

One Andreeva sister is seeded at Wimbledon for the first time; the other is considerably lower down the tennis hierarchy as a ‘lucky loser’. But it’s the Andreeva you wouldn’t have expected who is still in the ladies’ singles, and who could be about to make the last 32. While Mirra Andreeva’s first Wimbledon as a seed wasn’t the happiest experience – the teenager lost in the opening round – her elder sister Erika made it through.

Beaten in the final round of Qualifying, Erika Andreeva was given space in the main draw when another player withdrew and she has made the most of that opportunity. If the 20-year-old can beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic, she will move into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. 

Ruud health

A single drop of shower water on his lips could have been the source of Casper Ruud’s parasite infection. Or, the Norwegian has pondered, it was possibly some fruit, vegetable or salad that he ate that had been washed in unclean water. Whatever it was, Ruud felt very unwell during his semi-final at Roland-Garros, and for a week or so after returning from Paris he was in bed and had no appetite.

So not the ideal Wimbledon preparations for Ruud, who has played in two Roland-Garros finals and one US Open final, and who is attempting to reach the third round at the All England Club for the first time. He meets Fognini.