Wimbledon 2015: Talking points from Day 5

Serena Williams celebrates her win over Heather Watson in the third round

Serena Williams proves her worth in epic

If you had any doubts about Serena Williams’ big match aptitude during this year’s Wimbledon, you were in no doubt after this extraordinary epic tussle between Britain’s number one Heather Watson and 15,000 strong Brits.

Not only was Watson playing way beyond her normal base level on the WTA tour, but the crowd turned into the biggest external hurdle Serena might ever have come across.

At times the atmosphere in Centre Court reached heights akin to the 2013 Wimbledon final when Andy Murray finally ended that great hoodoo of British sport. This was a third round match in women’s singles! When Britain embraces a fellow sportsmen, there are very few atmospheres in the world that can match it. For a player in enemy territory like Williams was, it was inevitable that she would struggle at points.

Heather Watson congratulates Serena Williams after the latter’s win on Friday

Almost reduced to tears and seemingly bewildered by the crescendo of noise swelling behind Watson as she served for the second set, Williams looked in danger of being crushed under the weight of a nation routing for their plucky underdog. After going down a double break at the start of the third, Williams had to plunge down to the deepest depths of her warrior spirit in order to conjure up an even higher level of play.

The unforced errors dried up, the shrieks got louder and the winners starting to fly off the racket once more. Eventually Watson – like almost every woman on tour – couldn’t stand up to the relentless power being sent down her way and cracked. This was a Williams win rather than a Watson loss or choke.

The crowd were behind Heather Watson in the third round

For the past three years, pundits and fans have virtually handed the title to Williams before a serve has been struck only to be left a gasp after seeing her lose in the third and fourth rounds. Serena knows that too and maybe is starting to feel the pressure of not just trying to win her first Wimbledon in three years but also trying to win her second ‘Serena Slam’. Whatever the case, yesterday showed just how much she wants to hold that famous dish next Saturday.

The spanner in the works though could come on Monday in the first Williams sister Wimbledon derby for six years. Venus has walked through her three matches so far and arguably has looked in better mental shape than her little sister. After her physically and mentally gruelling match, will Serena have enough left in the tank to hold off the charge of the veteran grass court specialist?

Is Kyrgios tennis’ new rockstar?

Nick Kyrgios celebrates his win over Milos Raonic

Whether you love him or you can’t stand him, Nick Kyrgios is quickly becoming unmissable when he steps onto court. For no matter what the result may be, you are guaranteed to see fireworks. You just have no idea whether they will come from the Australian’s racket or from his antics.

The spectators on Court 2 yesterday got both. On the one hand, the Australian produced some barnstorming tennis to beat No.7 seed Milos Raonic in five sets. It was another performance that suggests that this youngster can go all the way to the top on the big stage. But it wouldn’t be a Nick Kyrgios match without some controversy.

Let’s go through a list of ‘quirks’ he made during this match. Electing to receive a Raonic serve next to a line judge, blowing a kiss at a man in the crowd wearing a Batman t-shirt, attempting a hotdog drop shot whilst 40-0 up, numerous expletive chunters under his breath and bouncing his racket so hard in anger it actually flew into the crowd. It’s no wonder some of the media have called him a “tool.” Is Kyrgios concerned about those who disapprove of his on-court antics? Not one iota. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to shake your head in disapproval.

The last person to display such an obvious ‘attitude’ was his countryman Bernard Tomic. Still a youngster himself, Tomic seems to have found his place in the game as a ‘midseeder’ between No. 20-40 in the world. From what we’ve seen, Kyrgios has the talent and the power to climb higher than that level, but a growing accumulation of influential members of the tennis fraternity think this isn’t a good thing.

Then again many people find Liam Gallagher, Axel Rose or Kanye West insufferable whilst others worship the ground they perform on. With his zigzag blonde highlights, humongous ear studs and cocky swagger, Kyrgios is the tennis equivalent of an upstart rock star with an ego.

A rock star that possesses a piledriver of a serve, a forehand that can cut through the court like a rifle and an increasingly mature game brain. In other words, the raw tools that can turn Kyrgios into an undercard draw into the main event player tennis will need once Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray step aside are there in abundance.

Is Dimitrov overhyped?

Grigor Dimitrov has been disappointing so far this season

Whilst the first poster boy of the early 10’s generation was being dumped out by the exuberant Australian, the other was slipping to an understated loss on Centre Court. Grigor Dimitrov, last year’s semi-finalist was dumped out in straight sets by Richard Gasquet in a rather tepid match which seemed a complete paradox to the Bulgarian’s bombastic shot making 12 months ago.

This was supposed to be the year that Dimitrov made the breakthrough to the elite that for so many years, tennis aficionados expected to arrive sooner or later. After a defeat here in the third round, Dimitrov will slip to provisionally No.16 in the world and that could decrease even further should players below go on lengthy runs.

Compared to his age equivalent in Raonic who has made solid steady progress this year, Dimitrov has been a major disappointment in 2015. His best result came right back at the start of the season with a semi-final loss to Roger Federer in Brisbane.

Now it might be time to ask whether Dimitrov is ever going to be consistent enough to establish himself as a top 10 player. When Federer and Nadal begin to significantly wane, he might end up there by default but he still probably won’t be the force that many predicted ‘Baby Fed’ would grow up to be.

Parallels have already been drawn to the man that beat him earlier today. A player with undeniable skill and shot making ability but lacking the crucial mental aptitudes that are needed if you want to win Majors. Maybe Dimitrov will end up beating someone like Noah Ruben in seven years’ time.