Wimbledon witnesses a changing of the guard with TWELVE first-time quarter-finalists across men’s and women’s singles… while injury robs fans of more Nick Kyrgios and Venus Williams doubles drama
- Fans are seeing many players go further than ever before at a Grand Slam
- Twelve of the quarter-finalists across men’s and women’s singles are first timers
- The likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are among stars bucking trend
Emma Raducanu’s fairytale dream at Wimbledon was brought to an end while Alexander Zverev suffered more heartache at the All England Club on a busy Manic Monday.
Sportsmail reflects upon the moments you might have missed amid all the drama….
Emma Raducanu’s fairytale dream at Wimbledon was brought to an end as she had to retire
FRENCH STAR’S RUDE RELATIVE
Former world doubles No 1 Kristina Mladenovic has received a £5,400 fine after an unsavoury incident involving a family member.
Tournament sources said the relative was abusive to staff while arranging travel back to the official hotel. The episode occurred after Mladenovic’s first-round exit from the women’s doubles last Thursday.
SALISBURY ON A ROLL
Britain’s Joe Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram are through to the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles after a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 win over Gonzalo Escobar and Ariel Behar.
Salisbury and Ram’s next match is a tough assignment against defending champions and No 3 seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah from Colombia.
Joe Salisbury (left) and doubles partner Rajeev Ram (right) are beginning to build momentum
JUNIOR BRITS LIGHTING UP SW19
The boys’ and girls’ singles events began on Monday with a lot of British interest.
In the girls’ event, the standout win was for 16-year-old wildcard Ranah Stoiber against No 9 seed Madison Sieg, 18, of the USA, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Swansea’s Mingge Xu, just 13, impressed by taking the second set 6-1 against 18-year-old No 4 seed Polina Kudermetova, but lost the decider.
A NEW WIMBLEDON GUARD
The sands are shifting at Wimbledon, as we are guaranteed to have 12 first-time quarter-finalists out of 16 between men and women.
Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz have not finished their fourth-round match yet due to rain on Monday night, but neither has reached the last eight before.
The only players bucking the trend are Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Angelique Kerber and Karolina Muchova.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is among the crop of first time quarter-finalists at Wimbledon this month
NICK AND VENUS DOUBLES DREAM DIES
As expected, Nick Kyrgios and Venus Williams have pulled out of the mixed doubles before their second-round match, due to the abdominal injury that saw Kyrgios retire from his third-round match in the singles on Saturday.
It is a pity for the tournament as the pair promised much entertainment and fan interest.
Kyrgios said he had ‘goosebumps’ at the thought of telling Venus he couldn’t continue.
TSONGA COULD CALL IT QUITS
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has hinted at retirement after his first-round singles loss by tweeting: ‘I don’t know if it was my last one here, but I enjoyed every moment in this wonderful place and I will have hundreds of great memories for the rest of my life.’
The Frenchman, 36, has had some epic matches, most notably beating Roger Federer from two sets down in 2011.
If this was Tsonga’s final visit to Wimbledon, he will be sorely missed.
French veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga refused to be drawn on if this was his final Wimbledon