A disastrous day for UK tennis… Raducanu OUT Draper OUT Gill OUT Basing OUT Stojsavljevic OUT Dart OUT Dudeney OUT Norrie OUT Tarvet OUT Xu OUT Klugman OUT Jones OUT. Not one Brit advanced to second round on day one.
Sure Osaka can wear her fashion show costumes before every Grand Slam match but will she ever wear the black George Floyd mask again? Or was that just a well-timed publicity stunt for attention? By the way, where is Osaka’s phantom baby? (It’s not at Wimbledon.)
Osaka is sitting in Taylor Townsend’s box for her match vs Iga Swiatek, next to her is the singer Bad Bunny
Fun facts: 30 years ago at the 1996 Gentlemen’s final match, a naked woman sprinted across the court, catching the attention of finalists Richard Krajicek and MaliVai Washington, who paused to observe the streaker with amusement. The woman was later identified as Melissa Johnson, a 23-year-old student from London who was employed at a nearby cafe. As a result of her actions, Melissa was temporarily held at the Wimbledon police station until the final concluded, after which she was released without any additional consequences. Insiders have told me Johnson was hired by one of the tabloids, as one of the photographers was ready for the staged incident and photographed it for his newspaper.
Novak Djokovic on meeting Leo Messi: “I met Messi at a restaurant in the United States. He asked me for advice about tennis. I told him: ‘Please don’t ask me that. I won’t give you any information. You dominated football and now you want to dominate tennis. No, no, play football. When I retire, then you can play tennis.’ He laughed and told me: ‘I’m lucky that football is played with the feet and not with the hands.’ “But the truth is I’m lucky Leo isn’t a tennis player, otherwise I wouldn’t win any titles. He’s the best football player of all time. I love watching him.”
Viktoria Azarenka has apparently retired without telling anyone.
John McEnroe said yesterday on the broadcast that Carlos Alcaraz started the ear point gesture asking fans for applause after a thrilling point but that’s not true, Djokovic actually popularized it first.
Serena Williams says she’s not concerned with having the record for the most Grand Slam titles in history (Margaret Court has 24 to her 23): “Those times are over for me. I had my opportunity and I’m very happy with where I am.”
Michael Zheng has now won two career ATP matches – both at Grand Slams vs Sebastian Korda in five sets at AO and vs. Cameron Norrie yesterday at Wimbledon also in five sets. The 22 year old is ranked 143. Tennis observer Dan C. Weil, a former founder of this site, stated that he believes Zheng will eventually surpass Learner Tien in the rankings.
Zheng vs Norrie on Court 2 Photo by Richard Pagliaro.
Michael Zheng · Novak Djokovic · Wimbledon
