grand slams

Wimbledon 2018, Day 6: Match Points

4m read 06 Jul 2018 7y ago

LEARNING

For the second round in a row, 2016 runner-up Angelique Kerber faces the youngest player left in the draw. Having disposed of 18-year-old Claire Liu in three sets, the No.11 seed now faces 20-year-old Naomi Osaka

for the third time in the past year. The Japanese No.1 ended Kerber's US Open title defence 6-3, 6-1 in the first round at Flushing Meadows last year, but the German gained a double revenge in the subsequent Asian swing - 6-3, 6-4 in Tokyo and 6-2, 7-5 in Beijing.

Hsieh Su-Wei has notched up the first two Top 10 wins of her career in the past 13 months, both at different Slams: Johanna Konta at Roland Garros last year, and Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open in January. The 32-year-old, who regained a Top 50 ranking in May for the first time since 2013 and is seeking to become the first player from Chinese Taipei to reach the second week of Wimbledon, will seek to add a third at yet another major against World No.1 Simona Halep today. The pair have played once before - a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 win for the Romanian in the first round of Cincinnati in 2013.

No.15 seed Elise Mertens

has split her two previous encounters with Dominika Cibulkova, both last year. The Slovak beat Mertens 6-1, 6-3 in the New Haven semifinals - the Belgian's first ever Premier-level semifinal - but lost 7-6(4), 6-1 in the first round of Beijing.

Vitalia Diatchenko will seek to become the second qualifier in the second week following Evgeniya Rodina's defeat of Madison Keys

. The last time multiple qualifiers made week two at Wimbledon was 1999, when Alexandra Stevenson (semifinals), Jelena Dokic (quarterfinals) and Kim Clijsters (fourth round) were all still alive at this stage.

If Belinda Bencic

beats No.26 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, it would be the 21-year-old's fourth trip to the second week of a Slam - but first since 2016. As a teenager, the Swiss player won Premier titles in Eastbourne and Toronto and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, as well as the 2014 US Open quarterfinals, before suffering a series of injuries that saw her ranking dip to No.318 last September. Now back up to No.61, Bencic has scored two Top 10 victories this season - over Venus Williams at the Australian Open and in the first round this week.

The 2011 Wimbledon girls' champion Ashleigh Barty takes on the 2014 Roland Garros girls' champion Daria Kasatkina

for the first time today. Four other former junior Slam winners are also in action: (Roland Garros and Wimbledon 2013), Simona Halep (Roland Garros 2008), Daria Gavrilova (US Open 2010) and (Wimbledon 2014). (Australian Open 2010) is also still alive in the bottom half of the draw.

At least one new Wimbledon quarterfinalist is guaranteed between Alison Van Uytvanck, Anett Kontaveit, Ashleigh Barty and Daria Kasatkina

- none of whom have even reached the fourth round at SW19 before. Van Uytvanck and Kasatkina are the only two players in this section who have made the last eight at a major before, having been Roland Garros quarterfinalists in 2015 and last month respectively.

In the top half overall, only one former Wimbledon finalist remains - Angelique Kerber - and one further former semifinalist, Simona Halep. Dominika Cibulkova and Jelena Ostapenko

each have one SW19 quarterfinal to their name.

Erstwhile junior rivals Anett Kontaveit and Alison Van Uytvanck have played twice in the professional ranks. The Belgian won their first encounter 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Poitiers ITF $100,000 event in 2016, but Kontaveit captured their most recent tie in Miami qualifying last year 6-3, 6-2. Van Uytvanck also won their only junior match, in the final of a 2011 Grade 2 event in Siauliai, Lithuania 6-2 6-3.

Vitalia Diatchenko made her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros in 2009, saving eight match points to win her first main draw match 2-6, 6-2, 10-8 over Mathilde Johansson - but would only score one further victory at a major until this week, when she notched up her second career Top 30 win over Maria Sharapova in the first round. Diatchenko, who had not won any main draw match at WTA level between Baku in 2015 and Wimbledon 2018, now has the chance to reach the second week of a Slam for the first time against No.12 seed Jelena Ostapenko

TRENDING

Watching @serenawilliams close out a match with aces never gets old 👀📝

— Shelby Rogers (@Shelby_Rogers_) July 6, 2018

READING

Patrick Mouratoglou might be in the spotlight for being Serena Williams's coach these days - but the Frenchman has been molding the next generation of tennis champions, such as Roland Garros girls' winner Cori Gauff, for a while, reports Danielle Rossingh for Wimbledon.com.

Ons Jabeur

was a point away from becoming the first Arab woman to reach the third round of Wimbledon, but ultimately fell to - and she knows she has "to work on much, much more", reports Reem Abulleil for Sport360.com.

Evgeniya Rodina has flown under the radar for most of her career - until her upset of Madison Keys

in the third round. Her high IQ and competitive spirit makes her "your emblematic, underrated overachiever, having a gritty day at the office, tackling challenges and solving problems with no fanfare" - and as such, players like Rodina should get more due, writes Mert Ertunga at Mertov's Tennis Desk.

ORDER OF PLAY

For full Order of Play and to watch live streaming, visit Wimbledon's official site.

Alex Macpherson