2023-07-11 05:15:16
Carlos Alcaraz will play for the first time in his career in the Wimbledon quarter-finals after a very convincing victory over Matteo Berrettini, while Christopher Eubanks is indeed the sensation of this fortnight, where Holger Rune took advantage of the “scuttling” of Grigor Dimitrov and where a few banished from 2022, including Aryna Sabalenka, play the leading roles.
ALCARAZ ALWAYS PRESENT... No, no, Carlos Alcaraz does not crack! The Spaniard is well and truly at ease everywhere and the grass, in its 2020s design, is not far from being a surface cut out for him. The world No. 1 proved it by getting out of the potential trap set by Matteo Berrettini more easily than expected. Despite losing the first round, the winner of the last US Open did not fail. It was enough for him to then be more sharp on the important points, in particular on the many break points which presented themselves to him, to end up overtaking the 2021 finalist (3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3) . In this fortnight, Alcaraz does not give him much either. His upcoming clash against Holger Rune promises a lot. But we will not already present the Murcian as a potential opponent of Novak Djokovic on the way to the title. “For me, the only one who could have beaten Novak was Berrettini“, noted Nick Kyrgios on Twitter. It’s up to others to prove the Australian wrong.
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EUBANKS CREDIT… The 201 cm escogriffe has a chest, a nice arm and is awfully beautiful to see playing! We are talking here about Christopher Eubanks (ATP 43), undoubtedly the revelation of recent weeks, who exploded at the highest level at the age of 27. Not content with having already taken out Thiago Monteiro, Cameron Norrie and Christopher O’Connell, the American with the delicious one-handed backhand crumbled Stefanos Tsitsipas yesterday after a good match in 5 sets (3-6 7-6 3 -6 6-4 6-4). His winning forehand on the match point illustrates both his risk-taking and the quality of his game in this fortnight. At times he gives the impression of being touched by grace!
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THANKS WHO? THANK YOU KIM! The success experienced by Eubanks, who entered the Top-100 at the start of the spring, is as crazy as it is improbable, since by his own admission, he abhorred the grass just a month ago. After a defeat at the Surbiton Challenger, he had also sent an SMS to the former No 1 WTA Kim Clijsters, a friend, to tell him how much he hated this surface. The Belgian had told him to improve his footwork if he intended to achieve something there. Miraculous advice, it seems, since the native of Atalanta now moves as if he had a green thumb (or rather a foot, in this case). Didn’t he triumph in Majorca before joining Church Road? “I feel like I’m living a dream“, he let go before thinking of his quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev. From there to say that he can blow up Eubanks (sorry) …
A SMALL STAT… And this one is crazy enough to point out: Christopher Eubanks hit 247 game-winning shots on his way to the quarter-finals. This is the 2nd record in the open era over the first four laps since Wayne Ferreira’s 255 “winners” in 1992. That says a lot about what the American has been presenting for some time.
FOR DJOKO, THE WAY IS CLEAR… Started well on Sunday evening in front of Hubert Hurkacz before the interruption due to the curfew, Novak Djokovic certainly lost a round yesterday, but he did the most difficult by dominating the Pole in four sets (7-6 7-6 5-7 6-4), thanks in particular to the quality of his service, which often got him out of trouble as he struggled to return the missiles of “Hubi”. The rest should look like something else for the title holder, who will come up against an Andrey Rublev who has, on paper, nothing to worry about. In his post-match speech, the Serb was of course very cautious, but deep down he must know that the Russian’s arguments, even more on the grass, are weak. For the record, their only Grand Slam quarter-final dates back to the Australian Open and the ogre of Belgrade had made short work of his opponent (6-1 6-2 6-4). .. on a surface supposed to suit him better.
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SANTA CLAUS IS NAMED DIMITROV… Grigor Dimitrov may have regrets leaving London. Because last night the Bulgarian held his match against Holger Rune. He was even dictating the tempo, over the Dane, leading 6-3 4-2 and looking set to head into another quarter-final at Wimbledon. Then the mechanics jammed. He first revived his opponent by offering him his service game, as well as the tie-break. And when he started to suffer physically, he even gave him the next tie-break as a gift. Before cracking for good in the 6th game of the 4th round by drawing… two double-faults in a row. The experience, however, spoke for the 32-year-old. To believe that this is not enough.
RUNE GO FAST… He may not be the most valuable player of the rising generation, but he is strong, Rune! At only 20 years old, he is already in his 3rd Grand Slam quarter-final while he is only playing his 8th “major” tournament. Very, very solid! Note, however, that he never went further. Will Carlos Alcaraz in turn close the doors to the last four? “I’m not scared, but I’m excited“, answers the kid from Gentofte who will play the youngest quarter-final in the history of the open era against his contemporary.
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CURSED MONDAY… In its time, Wimbledon offered the wonderful “Manic Monday”, this crazy Monday which brought together all the round of 16. The tradition is unfortunately over and it apparently gave way yesterday to “Panic Monday”, since Church Road experienced two abandonments and even… a heart attack in the stands of Center Court. It was first Beatriz Haddad Maia who put the arrow. Injured in the back, the Brazilian had to stop – in tears – when she was led 4-1 by defending champion Elena Rybakina, who took the opportunity to save energy. Then it was Jiri Lehecka who said “stop”. The Czech, victim of blisters on one foot, could not do it against Daniil Medvedev (4-6 2-6), who reached the quarter-finals for the first time in his career on British grass. However, the Russian will have to move better than he did yesterday to hope to see further. Unless his service is enough?
ANDREEVA, NERVES IN BALL… Mirra Andreeva had one foot and four toes (not nine, as a colleague wrote a few years ago) in the quarterfinals, as she led 6-1 4-1 40/30 against Madison Keys. Then suddenly, the teenager who had played the boss all fortnight became a 16-year-old girl again. Her nerves tensed and the match turned, while the American had so far shown nothing transcendent. She even ended up using her left hand to win a point at 3-6 2-4! But was this actually the other turning point of the game? Still, Keys went on afterwards (3-6 7-6 6-2) to give himself the right to face Aryna Sabalenka.
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KVITOVA WAS ABSENT… An 8th final made “pschitt”; that between Petra Kvitova and Ons Jabeur (0-6 3-6). Because if the Czech was apparently physically present on the court, she was not on the other hand, neither mentally nor tennistically, thus offering a boulevard to the Tunisian, who was not asked to seize the opportunity to take advantage of a short health walk to continue his London route, after having had to fight Saturday against Bianca Andreescu.
THE BEAUTIFUL REVENGE… Unjustly banned from Wimbledon last year, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Roman Safiullin and Aryna Sabalenka are taking a scathing revenge this summer. They are indeed all four present in the quarter-finals. Stop or again?
Arnaud Cerutti – @arnaud_cerutti
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