Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🍓
Today’s tennis mood: Still buzzing over the Ferytale and ready for some great match-ups today.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
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🎾 On tap: It’s (mostly) quarterfinals action at Wimbledon today, and there are some exciting matches. Jessie vs. Coco. Sinner vs. Struffy. And there’s a leftover 4th round match between Jiri Lehecka and Alexander Zverev that ran up against curfew last night. For what it’s worth, if you can’t finish three matches on Centre Court, it just might be time to reconsider the 1:30 pm start time. On top of all that, we’ve got quarterfinals and semifinals action for women’s, men’s, and mixed doubles, too.
🎾 The Ferytale continues: A few days ago, wild card Arthur Fery was the last Brit standing in singles. Now, he’s a Wimbledon quarterfinalist after defeating Grigor Dimitrov in a gutsy five-set performance that was quintessential British grass court tennis. From the start, Fery played to win, and he played within himself. It was as if to say, “I’ll play my game, and if it’s not good enough, he’s the better player deserving of the win.” That’s the kind of thing coaches say, but players rarely live by. Somehow, on Centre Court, with a nation watching him, Arthur Fery did just that.
What he said: “What I experienced today, I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life,” Fery said after the match. “Who knows, maybe I will never get to experience that ever again. It’s the first time I’m playing on this stage. That might be the first and last time — but hopefully not.”
Next: Fery will face Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
🎾 One to watch: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Novak Djokovic (Quarterfinals - Wimbledon):
The record: The record between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic is tied at 1-1. But those matches occurred in 2022, when both players were in very different stages of their careers.
On the line: At the very least, Auger-Aliassime wants to live up to his seeding — the first time he’s been a top four seed at a major. That would mean winning this match to book a spot in the semifinals. Meanwhile, despite his comments to the contrary, Djokovic wants the title to make tennis history. Losing in the quarters isn’t part of the game plan.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 76% of you wanted Taylor Fritz to defeat Alexander Bublik. Fritz won 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
