Wimbledon 2015: Talking Points from Day 7

Serena Williams (L) and Venus Williams walk off the court after their match

Serena has got to get to the final the hard way

The most anticipated match of Manic Monday turned out to be somewhat of an anti-climax. A Williams sister matchup usually has either great drama or great tennis. Not both. Yesterday morning saw some great tennis from the pair, but almost nothing to entice the crowd to reach an atmosphere above respectful ambience. Serena broke to love in the first set, broke early in the second; game over.

In the end, the prospect of Venus being able to capitalise on a tired or physically drained Serena was slightly too much to ask for punters looking disrupt the narrative of the ‘Serena Slam’. However, time is still on their side as if Serena wants to reach the final, she has to do it the hard way.

First up is Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals. I’ve already spoken about the dangers of the Belarussian as a floater for Serena to deal with but a potential semi-final against Maria Sharapova is also on the cards. The Russian has reached her first Wimbledon quarter final in four years where she faces unseeded Coco Vandeweghe. A match which the Queen of Grunts should deal with ease.

Even though Serena’s head to head record against the Russian is by far away in favour of the American, Sharapova and Azarenka still represent the biggest Major performers left in the women’s draw. Should Williams make it to her eighth Wimbledon final, she would’ve have faced one of the toughest routes of any finalist this decade.

Ladies draw sees huge turnaround

The striking statistic from yesterday’s play was that every single quarter finalist from last year’s women’s draw had been knocked out in the fourth round or sooner.

Partly due to the fact that established stars such as Serena Williams, Sharapova, Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska were knocked out early in 2014 and have performed to expectation this year. The grass court wildcard Sabine Lisicki’s erratic style of play is always impossible to predict and unfortunately for the likeable German, this year was a miss.

What has been a disappointment this year is performances from the likes of Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova who were all knocked out by players who should usually be dealt with relatively comfortably whilst the plights of Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard have already been discussed. Discouraging performances from last year’s breakout stars have allowed a new generation to make their mark.

The great American hope Madison Keys has continued her rise in 2015 with her first quarter final at Wimbledon following a semi-final in Australia. She’s had a very favourable draw along the way which could hinder her big game aptitude but when she starts finding her range, Keys is a match for anyone in the world. Throughout the entire French Open, nobody from the women’s and the men’s draw had a higher average velocity from their groundstrokes than the 20-year-old. That just shows how hard and flat her standard rally shots are. Can the wily Radwanska stand up to them?

The youngster who could potentially face Keys in the semi-finals is the 21-year-old Garbine Muguruza. Originally pencilled in as a clay court specialist following two consecutive quarter final appearances in the French Open, Muguruza has defied the experts knocking out Angelique Kerber in a titanic match followed by Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

After establishing herself in the top 20, the youngster has moved into the top 15 following her Wimbledon exploits and could move above Venus Williams should she beat Timea Bacsinsky. That is far from certain however. The Swiss player is in the form of her live having reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros after a prolonged recovery from a career threatening injury.

The top half of the draw in the women’s is the domain of the now and the near future. With Kvitova, Halep and Wozniacki in the bottom half all gone, the time is now for a potential world beater to take their first step on the road to Major titles.

Djokovic is finely poised

Novak Djokovic

After a reasonably flat day without many headline grabbing results, Kevin Anderson stepped up to the plate to give the late night crowd on Court No1 something to latch onto. Thanks to some brilliant serving and miraculous volleys at the net, the South African found himself two sets up against Novak Djokovic.

After two hours of muddled footwork and twice falling foul of the tiebreak lottery against a big server, the Serbian eventually found his groove and levelled the match at two sets all. Bad light eventually stopped play at 9pm much to the chagrin of the crowd. Instead of moving the match to Centre Court under the roof, schedulers decided to delay the match until before the ladies quarter finals this afternoon.

Although the move to Centre Court would surely have helped Anderson’s serve cut through the court with a greater speed, with Djokovic having the match by the scruff of the neck, a day’s rest might suit the 29-year-old server better. Now the match is just a one set shootout but Anderson will have to break the Serb if he wants to reach his first Major quarter final – something he hasn’t managed in the four sets prior.

For the last six years, Djokovic has approached the sort of imperial aura that Roger Federer possessed throughout the 2000’s. Especially considering the form we’ve seen from the world No1 in the first half of 2015. He’s reached 24 straight quarter finals in Grand Slams, a record only surpassed by Federer and Jimmy Conners. Perhaps that is why when even two sets down, you still expected Djokovic to come through. A loss in the first four rounds for the Serb would arguably be one of the greatest Wimbledon surprises since the turn of the millennium.

Djokovic should still be considered the favourite going into the shootout given his returning prowess but if Anderson serves and strikes the ball as he did in the first two sets, anything is possible.