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Three Points

🎾 A conspiracy?: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was relatively composed but decidedly unhappy when an electronic line calling system failure cost her a game at a critical stage of her match against Sonay Kartal on Sunday. Serving at 4-4, her ad, Kartal hit a backhand that was clearly out, but no call came until the automated “Stop! Stop!” came over the speakers.

  • What happened next: After the chair umpire communicated with other officials, it became clear that the ELC was not working, and the chair umpire said the point should be replayed instead of using his judgment that the ball was out and award Pavlyuchenkova the point. Kartal won the replayed point and the game for a 5-4 lead. “Because she’s local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me,” Pavlyuchenkova fumed on the changeover.
  • What she said: “I expected a different decision. I just thought also the chair umpire could take the initiative,” Pavlyuchenkova said during press. “He also saw it out, he told me after the match. I thought he would do that (call it out), but he didn’t.”
  • ELC on the cheap: Wimbledon organizers have taken plenty of heat for booting line judges and instituting electronic line calling this year. Here’s one bit of proof they haven’t taken all the steps. Had this happened at the U.S. Open or the Australian Open, Pavlyuchenkova would have been able to request a video review to prove that Kartal’s backhand was out and won the game. But Wimbledon doesn’t have video review. This may change that.

🎾 Wrong focus: There are some players who handle the big moments well — and those who don’t. Put Nicolas Jarry in the second column. In his fourth-round loss on Sunday against Cameron Norrie, the Chilean seemed to let Norrie get under his skin on more than one occasion, perhaps costing him the five-set match.

  • The ball bounces: While Norrie was off the court after winning the second set, Jarry vented to the chair umpire for several minutes about the number of times Norrie bounces the ball between the first and second serves. “I just have to suck it because he does it always?” he quizzed the chair umpire. She replied that she can only do something if it’s intentional.
  • The handshake: Once the match was over, Jarry and Norrie argued at the net during a frosty handshake. Jarry continued to chirp at Norrie, reportedly letting Norrie know that he didn’t like how “vocal” he was during the match.
  • What he said: During his on-court interview, Norrie said: “He said I was a little bit vocal, and I think that’s my energy. I was pulling from my team, and then I just said ‘man, you competed so well and hung in there so well and it was an amazing competitive match.’”
  • Yes, but: This wouldn’t be the first time Norrie has been accused of attempting to get under the skin of his opponent and teetering into the realm of gamesmanship. Why aren’t players prepared for it by now?
  • Still: Does Jarry still not have a point? The time Norrie frequently took between serves seemed to defy the first serve clock. (And, may we note, Jarry took more than his share a few times, as well.) We here at Court Theory HQ still believe it’s time for a second serve clock.

🎾 Message received: Last week, Goran Ivanisevic blasted Stefanos Tsitsipas in an interview with SportsKlub, saying there are things he can’t fix for his charge. “The desire is there, but he does nothing to improve things. It’s all ‘I want it, I want it’ but I don’t see any progress,” Ivanisevic said. “He has to find a solution for his back issue. I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life!”

  • And another thing: “I told him not to play tennis right now. He needs to fix his back and get physically fit because, physically, he’s a disaster. I can’t understand how a player of his level can be so unfit. After that, he can think about playing tennis again.”
  • Yes, but: Those who followed the trajectory of Ivanisevic’s career may recall a very unserious Goran who was incredibly unfit, used to tank matches, disappeared from action for long periods without explanation, and really didn’t get it together until late in his tenure on the tour. Is he angry because he sees himself in Tsitsipas?

And, that’s game.

What They Said

I’m learning to be kinder to myself. That’s why today I was able to stay super positive, to fight until the end without saying a word.

-Andrey Rublev after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in four sets on Sunday.

Watch This!

🔥 Alex de Minaur vs. Novak Djokovic (4th round - Wimbledon): Watch this one because it’s a year in the making. Unfortunately, that quarterfinal match never got started because of a de Minaur injury. This year, both players have displayed similarly sharp grass court tennis, making their way to the round of 16 without dropping a set. Expect de Minaur to use his skiddy groundies to find his way to net. But his chances against a rock solid Djokovic will likely come down to how well he serves.

  • The record: Novak Djokovic leads the head-to-head record over Alex de Minaur, 3-1. One of those wins was the walkover at Wimbledon last year. They’ve never played on grass.
  • On the line: Djokovic has made it clear that Wimbledon is his best shot at winning another major and becoming the sole record holder for most majors by breaking the tie at 24 with Margaret Court. As for de Minaur, he’s made the quarterfinals of every major — and no further. He believes his moment to change that is now.

On The Radar

More tennis matches we’re monitoring today:

Wimbledon - WTA (Grass)

  • Mirra Andreeva vs. Emma Navarro (4th round)
  • Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic (4th round)
  • Iga Swiatek vs. Clara Tauson (4th round)
  • Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (4th round)

Wimbledon - ATP (Grass)

  • Jannik Sinner vs. Grigor Dimitrov (4th round)
  • Ben Shelton vs. Lorenzo Sonego (4th round)
  • Marin Cilic vs. Flavio Cobolli (4th round)

📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

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