What amusing scamps they are in the Referee’s Office. Did they not hear Daniil Medvedev on Monday after his first round win on No.1 Court, his absolute favourite place in all Wimbledon?
“I practised on the Centre Court before the tournament,” he said, before declaring firmly: “But for the moment I want to play on No.1.”
Yet here he was, obliged instead to play his second round match against Alexandre Muller on the greatest stage in tennis. Tsk. It’s proper hardship, that is.
By rights Muller should have been the one all at sea, ranked 102 and playing only for the second time on Centre Court. But under the closed roof, Medvedev’s dislike of this arena took hold again.
Instead of capitalising on the Frenchman’s evident early nerves, Medvedev let him get comfortable. Frustrated, the No.5 seed got so caught up in remonstrating with his player box that he actually sat down believing the first set tie-break to be over when it wasn’t.
Twice he came within a point of a two-set deficit, before coming through 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5.
“I’m always happy to play on the Centre Court,” said Medvedev improbably. “But I’m more happy when I win on it. That was a very tough, physical match and it was difficult to stay in touch with him. I should have played much better but it’s OK – now there’s another round to do much better.”
Having never been beyond the second round in any Grand Slam, Muller (“Lamull” to his mates) was facing a tall order here. The only common ground he shared with Medvedev was that each lost to Carlos Alcaraz here last year, in the second round and semi-final respectively.
But Muller was up for it. After all, he is a devotee of the French ratings topper Koh-Lanta. Contestants are marooned in a challenging location, where they must undertake physical challenges to earn immunity from elimination – uncannily like playing on Centre Court, in fact, albeit without the Royal Box and the fluffy towels.
Muller, cap jauntily reversed, leaked four early break points but Medvedev failed to pounce. Confounded by Muller’s forehand, he could not dictate play. The Frenchman began to relax in the knowledge that this was already a big improvement on the double-bagel drubbing he received in their only previous encounter, in the distant days of 2016 on the Challenger Circuit.
Having fended off a set point at 4-5, he executed a beautiful backhand volley to push into the breaker. Medvedev’s lips pursed dangerously before three successive errors left him gesticulating wildly at his player box.
With the tie-break score at 3-6, he huffed off to his chair in the apparent belief that the set was already gone, taking several seconds to twig his mistake. One rally later it was official, leaving Medvedev crosser than ever.
Loving life, Muller eased away to 3-0 in the second. Medvedev levelled but Muller was running him ragged. Twice the Frenchman had a point at 5-4 for a two-set lead. But Medvedev survived, and came back from 0-3 in the breaker to avert a crisis.
Yet still Muller wouldn’t go away, pulling back a 1-4 deficit in the third set. But abruptly his energy flagged, and with the set gone, the physio was summoned to attend to Muller’s upper left leg in a medical timeout.
He didn’t seem too hindered, and he stayed with Medvedev throughout the fourth set – until he delivered a double fault. Finally the No.5 seed’s toil was rewarded.
