It was good news for tennis fans as the rains stayed away from the lawns of SW19 for the 2nd consecutive day, with players taking to court on Middle Sunday at Wimbledon. Day 7 saw quality tennis action both in the men’s and women’s draws with the last of round of 32 fixtures being played.
In the men’s draw, we probably witnessed the match of the tournament so far when Australian Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took on American John Isner. In a match that went the distance Tsonga eventually prevail 19-17 in the deciding 5th set. Isner has been known for his endurance in matches and nobody can forget the epic counter he had against Nicholas Mahut in 2010.
This time around, 2 sets up Isner, looked set to prevail before Tsonga came storming back to take the next 3 sets and eventually the match, 6-7 3-6 7-6 6-2 19-17. Tsonga showed the heart of a champion and it will be interesting to see what effect this match has on the rest of his campaign.
In other fixtures, Australian hotshot Nick Kyrgios will take on Andy Murray today, having beaten Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in his previous match.
Day 7 also saw 32 seed Lucas Pouille of France knock out Juan Martin Del Potro. After his victory against Stan Wawrinka, many expected Del Potro to probably go a long way in the tournament.
But the Argentine, returning from injury, ran out of steam losing in 4 hard fought sets – 7-6 6-7 5-7 1-6.
The women’s draw saw defending champion Serena Williams produce a vintage display in the process steam rolling her German opponent Annika Beck in straight sets. Many questions were raised after Serena was almost knocked out in her previous match but the American world number 1 answered her critics with a dominant display winning 6-3 6-0.
In the upset of the day in the women’s draw number 6 seed Roberta Vinci lost her round of 32 match against American Vandeweghe in straight sets 6-3 6-4. The American number 22 seed looked in the mood and dominated from the start till the end in the process progessing to the round of 16.
Here’s a complete list of fixtures for day 8 of the championships-
Men’s singles fixtures-
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Women’s singles fixtures-
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Men’s doubles fixtures-
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Women’s doubles fixtures-
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Preview-
As we get down to the business end of the tournament both the men’s and women’s draw will see the round of 16 fixtures being played on day 8 of the championships.
In action on day 8 will be Britain’s number 1 and world number 2 Andy Murray. He will take on the controversial Australian 15th seed Nick Krygios in the round of 16. In what promises to be a hard fought affair Murray will be vary of the Australian’s record in the big matches. This will be the first major test for Murray at Wimbledon this year after he breezed through earlier rounds. With a second Wimbledon title firmly in his sights we expect the Brit to fight tooth and nail to go through.
Day 8 will see World number 3 Roger Federer play his 4th round match against Steve Johnson from the USA. The 7-time champion who has been in sublime form over the past 7 days will look to make quick progress to the latter stages of the tournament. With World number 1 Novak Djokovic knocked out the Swiss Master’s path to the record 8th Wimbledon just got a lot easier.
Also in action will be Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori when they face off against each other in the other high-profile round of 16 clash. With both the players ranked in the top 10 of the world rankings, it makes up for an interesting match. Nishikori has the lion’s share of victories when the two have met in the past. Cilic will look to improve on that 3-7 head to head record he has against his Japanese opponent.
Another high-profile clash will see Belgian 11th seed David Goffin take on the 6th seeded Canadian Milos Raonic. In a match which will see 2 young bright stars face off, we expect nothing but a hard fought contest.
In an all French affair 7th seed Richard Gasquet will take on the marathon man and 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Coming off the back of an epic 5 set battle against American John Isner it will be interesting to see if Tsonga still has gas left in his tank to get the better of his fellow country man Gasquet.
The Women’s draw will see defending champion and world number 1 Serena Williams take on veteran Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova the number 13 seed. After hard fought victories in the last 2 rounds the younger Williams sister will expect another battle from the Russian in her round of 16 match.
Day 8 will also see world number 4 Angelique Kerber play her 4th round match against her lesser known Japanese opponent Doi. Also in action will be the older Williams sister Venus who will take on the number 12 seed Carlos Suarez of Spain in her round of 16 match.
In probably the two best fixtures of the day Romanian 5th seed Simona Halep will take on 9th seed Madison Keys of the USA and the 3rd seeded Polish Agnieszka Radwanska taking on 18th seed Dominika Cibulkova. With their eyes firmly set on the title and favourable draws waiting for them if they progress both Radwanska and Halep will look to come out unscathed.
Fans across the world can tune into the following networks to catch all the action live on television:
ARQ (NOVA/CET 21)-CZECH REPUBLIC & SLOVAKIA
B92 (RTS)-SERBIA
BEIJING TV-CHINA
beIN SPORTS-FRANCE, MIDDLE EAST
CCTV5-CHINA
CTV/TSN-CANADA
ESPN-UNITED STATES
EUROSPORT-RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BALTICS, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, ESTONIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA
FOX-NETHERLANDS
FOX ASIA-PAN-ASIA
FOX SPORTS-AUSTRALIA
GLOBOSAT/ESPN-BRAZIL
HRT-CROATIA
I.K.O (SPORT KLUB)-BOSNIA, CROATIA, MACEDONIA, MONTENEGRO, SERBIA, SLOVENIA
JIANGSU TV-CHINA
KENTRON TV-ARMENIA
MOVISTAR+-SPAIN
NHK-JAPAN
SETANTA-REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
SEVEN-AUSTRALIA
SKY DEUTSCHLAND-GERMANY & AUSTRIA
SKY ITALIA -ITALY
SPORT TV-PORTUGAL
SPORTS CHANNEL-ISRAEL
SRG-SWITZERLAND
STAR INDIA-INDIA
SVT-SWEDEN
THE TENNIS CHANNEL-UNITED STATES
TV3 (VIASAT)-DENMARK
TVNZ-NEW ZEALAND
Fans can also catch the action on the internet via live streaming in websites www.wimbledon.com and www.starsports.com
All the action kicks off at 3.30pm IST.
