Roger Federer races to Wimbledon milestone

Wimbledon 2017: Murray and Konta make it into the second week

8 July

British tennis stars Andy Murray and Johanna Konta are both safely through to the second week of Wimbledon, but their paths to the fourth round could not have been more different.

It was a very different story for Andy Murray who was put through the mill against erratic Italian Fabio Fognini. But he eventually prevailed after two hours and 39 minutes, winning 6-2 4-6 6-1 7-5 as the light faded on Centre Court.

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The two other remaining British hopes, Heather Watson and Aljaz Bedene were both beaten earlier in the day. Watson lost in three sets to Victoria Azarenka, while Bedene was bundled out by 16th seed Gilles Muller in straight sets.

After Konta's epic win over Donna Vekic earlier in the week, which finally brought her Centre Court acclaim, the British number one "needed a relaxing end to a draining week", says Jacon Steinberg of The Guardian. "Fortunately a swift workout with Maria Sakkari turned out to be as stressful as an all-inclusive trip to a luxury spa.

"There were times when Konta could have pulled up a sun bed during a composed win over a young Greek challenger whose impetuosity undermined her efforts to stop the sixth seed from becoming the first British woman to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since the forgotten Laura Robson in 2013."

Murray, on the other hand, probably needs a weekend of pampering after he "limped his way past an alternately inspired and listless Fabio Fognini", says Simon Briggs of the Daily Telegraph.

There were concerns over a hip injury before the tournament and he appeared to struggle at times on Centre Court.

"This was hardly the performance that Murray and his camp would have wanted," says Briggs. "From the back of the court, he had little to offer but line and length. And for a half-hour spell in the middle of the match, he found himself cast as the patsy in a show-stopping display from Fognini, a languid Italian who struts like a cockerel and has the hands of a magician."

Having won the first set with ease Murray was shredded in the second. Fognini then suffered an ankle injury in the third and appeared to be spent as Murray took the lead. Yet he roused himself again and the match appeared to be heading for a deciding set with Fognini leading 5-2 in the fourth. However, now it was Murray's turn to react and he saved five set points and won five games on the trot to win a rollercoaster of a match.

Johanna Konta now favourite to win Wimbledon

7 July

The Wimbledon stakes are now high for Johanna Konta after yet another top seed in the women's draw crashed out on Thursday, leaving the British player as a real contender for the title.

Third seed Karolina Pliskova lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, ranked 87th in the world

"Whisper it softly but, as another top seed fell from a ladies' draw bereft of a dominant figure, Johanna Konta was installed as the bookmakers' favourite," reports The Times.

"That may sound the parochial side of optimistic, given that the British number one has won three matches in six years at Wimbledon, but this is an atypical championship - 40 years of hurt and all that. Dust down that bunting."

Sixth seed Konta today faces Maria Sakkari, coached by Briton Mark Petchey, on Number One Court and still has plenty to do.

"The last thing Konta needs is a bit of extra pressure," says The Guardian. "Until this year, she had never been past the third round at Wimbledon."

Although Serena Williams is absent this year and the two previous favourites, Pliskova and Petra Kvitova, are both out, there are plenty of big players remaining in the draw.

Konta joins Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene and Heather Watson representing Britain today after Kyle Edmund failed in his bid to become the fifth Briton to make it into the third round.

He was beaten in straight sets by Gael Monfils, the French number 15 seed, who won 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-4.

Four Britons in the third round at Wimbledon - is it enough?

6 July

Four British players have made the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in 20 years, with two women into the last 32 for the first time since 1986.

World number one Andy Murray was the last to book his place in the next round yesterday, making short work of German Dustin Brown on Centre Court to win 6-3 6-2 6-2.

Earlier, Aljaz Bedene beat Damir Dzumhur in four sets while Johanna Konta and Heather Watson, British women's top two-ranked players, also triumphed.

Watson was hugely impressive as she overwhelmed 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova to triumph 6-0 6-4, but Konta had to dig a lot deeper during her epic 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 10-8 victory over Donna Vekic on Centre Court.

"It is the first time since Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs reached the same stage in 1986 that there have been two British women in round three," reports the BBC.

There were five Britons in the third round in 1997, adds the broadcaster, and there could be the same number again this year if Kyle Edmund beats Gael Monfils today.

Murray was delighted by the progress of the British players, but, reports Sky Sports, "feels celebrations should be tempered".

He said: "Why not try and get five, six players into the quarter-finals of slams? It's better to set the goal as high as possible and fall a little bit short than go, 'Yeah, we're delighted with five or six players in the second or third round of a slam.'

"It's not to say that getting to the third round isn't good, but some of the players, like Kyle and Heather and Jo, they're capable of doing more than that."

In his column for the BBC, Murray also lifted the lid on the pressures on British players at SW19.

"Pretty much all of the crowd want the Brits to win, and using that to your advantage and enjoying it and embracing it can really make the difference," he said.

"You can tell how much they want you to win because they live every point from the very first game, often groaning or sighing when you make a mistake. You need to try and block that out for sure, but then it's part of the Centre Court experience.

"Maybe the first few times it can be frustrating to hear that, or you can worry a little bit, but now I know exactly what to expect when I go out on that court."

Wimbledon 2017: Roger Federer calls for rule change

5 July

After two high-profile matches were abandoned during the second day's play at Wimbledon, Roger Federer has called on the All England Club to consider a change in the rules.

Both Federer, who faced Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, and Novak Djokovic, who was up against Martin Klizan, benefited when their opponents retired hurt. But "spectators who had queued for hours and paid at least £56 for a ticket were" left feeling "short-changed", says the London Evening Standard.

After his match, which lasted just 43 minutes, Federer blamed rules that grant first-round losers £35,000 in prize money - as long as they start the match.

"A player should not go on court if he knows he should not finish," he said. "I feel for the crowd. They're there to watch good tennis, proper tennis."

He suggested that Wimbledon should adopt rules introduced by the ATP Tour, which allow players to collect their prize money if they withdraw shortly before the event, when they can be replaced by a player who had missed the cut. The change has resulted in an increase in pre-match withdrawals and a reduction in retirements.

Djokovic said the two players who retired on Tuesday had "tried their best", but he supported Federer's proposal. "I'm sure that most of the players on the tour, if not all, feel that," he said. "Especially if you walk out on the Centre Court, there is a responsibility."

Critics of the ATP rule change "say that it is unethical to pay a player who doesn't compete, especially as the lucky loser's own pay-packet is then reduced by the same amount", reports the Daily Telegraph. "One alternative might be to offer compensation for travel expenses incurred by players who travel to an event in good faith, only to pick up or aggravate an injury before they are due to go on court."

A total of seven men and one woman retired from Wimbledon during this year's first round.

Wawrinka crashes out of Wimbledon on day one

4 June

There was drama on and off the court on the first day of Wimbledon, with US Open champion and world No 3 Stan Wawrinka the biggest name to fall. The Swiss lost in four sets to Russian Daniil Medvedev, the world No 49, who was making his Wimbledon debut.

There were no such upsets for the other top male seeds in action on day one of the 131st Championships with Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal cruising through with straight-set victories.

There was also a straightforward win for 10th seed Venus Williams in the first round of the women's singles, with the 37-year-old – playing her 20th Wimbledon – brushing aside Elise Mertens 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.

It was in the post-match interview that the drama unfolded when Williams spoke for the first time about the fatal car accident in which she was involved last month. The five-times Wimbledon champion was driving her Toyota Sequoia SUV when it collided with a vehicle driven by Linda Barson at a Florida intersection on 9 June. Mrs Barson's husband, 78-year-old Jerome, sustained injuries from which he never recovered. The police report concluded that Williams was responsible for the accident and, while she hasn't been charged, CNN reports that the victim's family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her.

That the incident has taken an emotional toll on the tennis star was evident during the press conference after her match. She began by declaring: "Tennis is still the love of my life. It gives me joy. Life, you can't prepare for everything. I prepared for a lot of matches, tried to get ready for whatever my opponent will throw at you, but you can't prepare for everything."

But when she was asked about the crash, she struggled to find a coherent response. "There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating and... I'm completely speechless. It's just yeah, I mean, I'm just...". Overcome with emotion, Williams was ushered out of the conference, returning briefly to answer a couple of questions about her victory.

Meanwhile one of Williams's rivals for the women's title, British No 1 Johanna Konta, beat Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-Wei in straight sets. Konta is the first British woman to be ranked in the top 10 at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984 and she showed few signs of nerves in despatching her opponent 6-2 6-2. "I feel well and after I hit yesterday I've been feeling pretty good," said Konta after her win. "I'm working very hard to be at my best level but just taking it one match at a time."

Roger Federer was at his ruthless best as he crushed a tearful Marin Cilic to claim an historic eighth Wimbledon title.

Federer showed no mercy against his out-of-sorts opponent as he raced to a 6-3 6-1 6-4 victory on Centre Court.

In the process, he eclipsed Pete Sampras and William Renshaw as the most decorated player in men’s singles history at Wimbledon - and also replaced Arthur Ashe as the oldest winner in the open era at just a month before his 36th birthday.

Cilic began the contest brightly but crumpled after being broken in the fifth game of the first set and twice had to call the trainer due to a foot problem.

Federer took full advantage of the Croat’s vulnerability in both mind and body as he claimed a 19th Grand Slam title before also shedding a tear as the enormity of what he had achieved sunk in.

The Swiss said: “I guess it is disbelief that I can achieve such heights. I was not sure if I was ever going to be here again in another final after last year. It is magical really.”

A much closer contest looked on the cards in the early stages of the first set as Federer was forced to save a break point in his second service game.

That proved a turning point, however, as Federer won seven of the next eight games to claim the first set at a canter and open up a 3-0 lead in the second.

Cilic was clearly distressed as he called the trainer for the first time and then had a medical time-out for treatment to his left foot having conceded the second set 6-1.

Federer was made to work harder in the third set as Cilic rallied but with the Croat’s movement clearly restricted and his serve – his most potent weapon en route to the final – failing him the Swiss was able to wrap up what had been an anti-climactic final in just one hour and 41 minutes.

“It was a memorable milestone for Roger Federer but it was not a memorable final,” says Simon Briggs of The Telegraph. “What we will remember is the despair of Marin Cilic, who came in carrying a damaged left foot and then seemed to accentuate the problem when he slipped and fell in the fifth game of the match.”