In between work and graduations I’ve managed to see a fair bit of Wimbledon over the last fortnight. It’s been a pretty good one, while following a pattern that the Slams have been in for the past three years: Alcaraz, Sinner or Djokovik (of which more later) for the mens, while chaos and upsets reign in the womens.

The Brits had a fair showing without the key hopes (Draper and Radecanu) looking like they could go particularly deep. Draper doesn’t appear like someone who plays effortlessly, shall we say, and after going deep in the French and Australians, plus some tour finals, he looked tired. Radecanu is still finding her way back, and in the first couple of rounds showed glimpses of her power. I think the top ten and a tour title are reasonable goals for her the next few years. Norrie and Kartal provided some early entertainment, and the sheer number of Brits in the first few rounds was encouraging.

The women’s draw saw seed after seed tumble, from Gauff and Rybakina to Sabalenka in the semis in which (let’s remember) Ansimova played out of her skin to create enough pressure to force Sabalenka’s jitters to emerge. » Continue Reading.