As Novak Djokovic bids for more history, Wimbledon organisers will be keeping their fingers crossed that the focus remains on tennis.
Two coronavirus-dominated years were followed immediately by the fall-out from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Wimbledon going out on a limb by banning players from the country and its ally Belarus 12 months ago.
The threat of further sanctions from the tours and a lack of support from the rest of the grand slams led Wimbledon to reverse its position this year, and Russian and Belarusian players will be permitted to return provided they remain neutral and are not funded by the regimes.
Organisers will have followed with some trepidation events at the Australian Open and French Open this year.
A ban on Russian flags in Melbourne did not stop a pro-Vladimir Putin demonstration taking place on the steps of Rod Laver Arena, which Djokovic’s father was – unwittingly, the family insisted – caught up in.
At Roland Garros, meanwhile, high-profile matches between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players saw the likes of Elina Svitolina booed for refusing to shake hands with opponents, while Aryna Sabalenka twice declined to do press conferences after being pushed on her political beliefs.
Similar behaviour from the crowd in the more genteel setting of SW19 appears unlikely but the prospect of the Princess of Wales presenting a trophy to a Russian or Belarusian player is very real.
Sabalenka will be among the favourites to win the women’s title while Russian duo Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are both in the top 10 of the men’s rankings.
Another concern for organisers, meanwhile, will be the potential for environmental protesters to disrupt the tournament, with Wimbledon offering global exposure.
On the court, Djokovic will be heavily favoured to make it three straight slam victories having lost just twice at the All England Club in the last decade.
The Serbian, who has been overtaken again at the top of the rankings by Carlos Alcaraz, can equal Roger Federer’s men’s record tally of eight Wimbledon singles titles, while a 24th slam would draw him level with Margaret Court’s all-time mark, which has stood since 1975.
Having been struck down by cramp in their first slam meeting in Paris earlier this month, Alcaraz will be hoping for another shot at Djokovic, and he showed he is learning quickly on grass by claiming the title at Queen’s Club.
Last year’s finalist Nick Kyrgios has been hobbled by knee surgery this season and it is tough to think of realistic challengers to Djokovic.
Ten years on from his memorable victory over the Serbian to win his first Wimbledon title, it is stretching credulity to imagine Andy Murray could be in the mix again, but the Scot remains one of the few grass-court naturals and, if the draw is favourable, he will fully believe he can reach the second week at least.
British number one Cameron Norrie, meanwhile, will be hoping to emulate last year’s breakthrough run to the semi-finals.
The women’s draw is much more open, with former semi-finalist Sabalenka looking to overtake Iga Swiatek as world number one.
The Pole’s dominance on clay is not replicated on other surfaces, and defending champion Elena Rybakina should also be a strong contender having built impressively on her success.
New British number one Katie Boulter leads the domestic challenge in the absence of Emma Raducanu and is one of a number of home players who, draw permitting, is capable of causing upsets.
Madrid Open: Nadal roars to victory against De Minaur
Rafael Nadal delighted his home fans at the Madrid Open as he roared to an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
The Spaniard battled to a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory to earn his first win over a top-20 player in the world rankings since the ATP Finals back in 2022.
De Minaur had beaten Nadal last week in Barcelona, but the five-time Madrid champion was not to be denied this time in front of a crowd which included King Felipe VI along with football stars Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Jr.
Emerging triumphant from an epic 77-minute opening set proved decisive, with Nadal more comfortable in the second as De Minaur missed an opportunity to become the first player to beat him in consecutive weeks since Novak Djokovic achieved the feat way back in 2011.
Nadal will take on Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine dumped out Fances Tiafoe in three sets.
"I'm super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex and play over two hours," Nadal said, per the ATP Tour website.
"It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can't thank enough everybody here.
"It still needs time [until I am back to my best]. I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.
"But I really believe that tennis hasn't been an issue for the last two years. More the physical issues.
"If I am able to play weeks in a row and if I am able to play tennis, then I'm going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. But that's not the case yet, just step by step and let's see how I recover."
Elsewhere at the tournament, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, playing as the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, cruised to victory over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to start his campaign in style.
It took Sinner just 69 minutes to win 6-0 6-3 and improve to 26-2 in a remarkable 2024 season so far.
“I know Lorenzo quite well and we have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said.
“The mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Progress was harder to come by for Daniil Medvedev as he lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi, though the third seed eventually battled through 2-6 6-4 6-4 to book a third-round clash with American Sebastian Korda.
There was a surprise result, though, with Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro ending the fine recent form of Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Tsitsipas was 10-1 on clay this year going into the match, but the sixth seed crashed to a shock defeat just a week after Monteiro had lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Portugal, marking a rapid reversal of his fortunes.
“Every week you have a new opportunity," said Monteiro. “These past few weeks I wasn’t feeling really good on the court. I was trying to do well at Challengers but it didn’t work.
“I just kept up the hard work, day by day. Even when I was not feeling good and not winning matches, I kept believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.
"For sure one of the biggest wins of my career. I knew it was a really tough match and I tried to just believe in myself all the time."
Sunday’s matches will see Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz continue his campaign with a third-round clash against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Swiatek soars into Madrid Open last 16 after dropping just two games against Cirstea
Iga Swiatek stormed through to the Madrid Open last 16 following a dominant straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
The world number one dropped just two games as she inflicted a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 rout on her Romanian opponent in the Spanish capital.
Swiatek, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in last year's event, will play Sara Sorribes Tormo in the round of 16 after the Spaniard defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
The Pole is now 26-4 for the season, in which she has already triumphed at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open, as she eyes the ninth WTA 1000 singles title of her career.
Data debrief
Swiatek is through to her sixth round of 16 from seven main-draw appearances in WTA 1000 events on clay (85.7 per cent) - the highest percentage rate among players with at least five such appearances since the format's introduction in 2009.
The three-time French Open champion also boasts the best WTA match win rate of any player since 2000 on clay (87 per cent). Overall, only Chris Evert (94.5 per cent), Margaret Court (89.5 per cent) and Steffi Graf (89.2 per cent) boast a higher percentage in the Open Era.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
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