Wimbledon diary: A royal visit for Serena, and a three-week Grand Slam?

A future queen will be in attendance to see if Serena Williams can restore her reign over women's tennis in the Wimbledon final.

Published : Jul 13, 2018 09:33 IST

Serena Williams is one match away from returning to her throne as the figurative Queen of Wimbledon.

Some literal royalty will be in attendance when she takes on Angelique Kerber in the final on Saturday, and it got her thinking about her standing at the All England Club.

After an incredible quarterfinal clash with Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro managed to recover enough to take to social media.

And would Julia Goerges like to be in a five-set epic like Del Potro and Nadal? It doesn't sound like it.

 

WIMBLEDON ROYALTY

Williams attended the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May, and the Duchess of Sussex, along with the Duchess of Cambridge, will be paying her fellow American a visit on Saturday.

An eighth Wimbledon singles title, which would equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 grand slams, is the task, and Williams light-heartedly suggested she deserves to be looked upon in a similar vein to her regal friends.

"If there was a Wimbledon royalty, I would like to believe I would be Wimbledon royalty because I've done pretty well here in the past. I am a member, so that kind of counts," she said.

 

DEL PORTO DRAINED

Del Porto and Nadal played out a Wimbledon classic on Wednesday.

A gruelling encounter lasting four hours and 47 minutes ended with the Spaniard triumphing 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and his opponent face down in the grass.

But there was no ill-feeling from Del Potro despite his Wimbledon departure, posting a photo 24 hours later of the duo sharing an exhausted embrace after their mammoth battle.

"This picture says it all. I just want to thank you for your love and support and big congrats to Rafa for the battle. See you next year, @Wimbledon," Del Potro wrote alongside the image on Instagram.

 

LOOK OUT BELOW

Wimbledon ball boys and ball girls work tirelessly through matches to ensure they go off without a hitch.

One on Court 14 got more than they bargained for when Gustavo Fernandez launched his racquet into the air after beating top seed Shingo Kunieda in the men's wheelchair singles.

It seemingly vanished into thin air, but the Argentine somehow had his equipment returned to him courtesy of a particularly diligent soul.

 

A MAJOR CHANGE?

Following her defeat to Williams, Goerges was asked if she would like to see women play best-of-five-set matches at Wimbledon, as it might have given her more of a chance to avoid defeat.

He response was a rather emphatic no.

Goerges said: "Well, if we would play everything best-of-five sets, I think the Grand Slam would last three weeks here. If we play men's doubles best-of-five sets, women's singles best-of-five sets, men's singles best-of-five sets, and bad weather, that's not a good combination, I think," said Goerges.

It would be good if you're in the strawberry or cream business, though...

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment