Wimbledon diary: Roger Federer in the Royal Box and Sonay Kartal picks a tattoo
The Duchess of Edinburgh, Michael and Carole Middleton – parents of the Princess of Wales – and King Frederik X of Denmark joined Federer to take in the round-four action from the Royal Box.
Cricketers Joe Root and Sir James Anderson and comedians Michael McIntyre and Sir Lenny Henry were other notable Centre Court guests.
***Nick Kyrgios will be commentating at Wimbledon after all.
The controversial Australian, who worked for the BBC in 2024 but was not selected for this year's Championships, has been announced as a co-commentator for TNT Sport's coverage of the men's and women's finals.
Former British number one Dan Evans will also offer insight and analysis as part of the team.
TNT Sports insists it is not looking to compete with the BBC but offer subscribers an 'alternative viewing experience'.
***
Sonay Kartal has settled on a tattoo design to commemorate her memorable run to the Wimbledon fourth round.
A post shared by Sonay Kartal (@sonay__kartal)
But the 23-year-old Briton, who was beaten by Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday, gave no inkling as to what the skin art will feature.
Kartal already has 14 tattoos and was repeatedly asked about plans to add to her collection.
'Tattoo design has been chosen… Who wants to do the ink?,' she posted on her Instagram story.
***
Jack Draper is already turning his thoughts to the rest of the season after his second-round exit – and the British number one has a lucrative date in his diary.
By elevating himself into the world's top six, Draper has earned an invite to the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia in October.
The inaugural edition last year saw Jannik Sinner emerge victorious, earning himself six million US dollars (approximately £4.4m) – the biggest prize in tennis history – while each of the six participants received 1.5m dollars (approximately £1.1m).
Draper will be joined by Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.
'I mean this is probably the first time he is watching me where I have won the match! The last couple of times I lost, so it's good to break the curse.' – Djokovic on playing in front of Federer.
British interest in the singles draws rests solely on the shoulders of Cameron Norrie.
The world number 61 faces back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz in a mouthwatering match up on Centre Court.
Norrie is seeking to reach the semi-finals in SW19 for a second time after taking a set off seven-time champion Djokovic in a last-four loss in 2022.
Alcaraz is the heavy favourite but did not look infallible during the opening week, dropping four sets across his four matches.
Sunny with highs of 25C on Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
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BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Who would have expected that?' - Swiatek triumphs on grass
"Who would have expected that?"Iga Swiatek was not on many people's radar to win Wimbledon - including her two-year reign as world number one - ended by Aryna Sabalenka last year - was underpinned by dominance on the clay and consistency on the hard 24-year-old became known as the 'Queen of Clay' after winning four French Open titles in five years, while she also won the US Open in she now leaves Wimbledon as the champion, thanks to an astonishing 6-0 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday's only was this Swiatek's first Wimbledon title, it was her first Tour-level title on grass, having previously won the girls' competition at this triumph, one many thought she was not capable of on a surface not necessarily suited to her game, feels extra sweet."This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no one expected that," Swiatek said."It wasn't a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.""It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself." Finding more peace What makes victory even more surprising is Swiatek has been nowhere near her dominant best over the past did not reach a final for a year after her 2024 French Open triumph, slipping to eighth in the world - her lowest ranking since March 2022 - as a were a mixture of reasons - on and off the court - as to why Swiatek's level has in the Olympics semi-finals in Paris last summer was a bitter blow, with Swiatek saying she cried for "six hours" November, it was announced Swiatek had tested positive for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample. She was subsequently given a one-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the result was caused by contamination. But one person who did call Swiatek's remarkable Wimbledon win was former Grand Slam semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic- albeit, as she said herself, "for irrational reasons".During Swiatek's semi-final match against Jasmine Paolini at grass-court tournament Bad Homburg, Petkovic spotted a large bird circling above Swiatek for around 10 the players changed ends, the bird followed Swiatek to the other side of the court, which Petkovic took as an omen."I said there and then she's going to win Wimbledon," Petkovic told BBC Radio 5 Live. "For most of this year you could sense pressure and tension when she stepped on court."In Bad Homburg you could see that was gone." More time to prepare on grass Before this year, Swiatek had only reached the second week of Wimbledon once, in a quarter-final run in a shock third-round defeat by Yulia Putintseva last year, Swiatek said she had not given herself enough time to mentally recover from her French Open win a few weeks lost to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros semi-finals this year, Swiatek went to Mallorca for a week's training on grass before returning to competitive action in Bad reached the final at the WTA 500 event, where a defeat by Jessica Pegula left her in tears, but it was an indication that her level on the surface had improved."I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more [this year]," said Swiatek."I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball. "Also, [we worked] on fast hands because obviously it's important here not to stop the movement, even though the ball sometimes is fast." 'Forgiving herself' a bit more Swiatek replaced long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette late last year, and it has taken time for the tweaks she was making to bed in."When you make a big change and hire a new coach, it takes a while to see the changes," said Petkovic."You feel you're progressing and you're expecting to see results right away. But it doesn't happen right away."Swiatek's serve is an area which Fissette has focused Pole won 79% of her first-serve points at Wimbledon - the joint-second highest in the women's the Wimbledon final, Swiatek said her serving was the best it has been in the entire grass-court swing, and Petkovic agrees."I think she got a bit hectic at the start of the season. Now something is different and she has a bit more patience with herself," Petkovic said."I think she's also forgiving herself a bit more if she makes a few unforced errors on the grass."
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Iga Swiatek fires back at her doubters by winning maiden Wimbledon title
Iga Swiatek believes her historic Wimbledon title is the perfect response to her critics. The Pole crushed first-time grand slam finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in less than an hour on Centre Court, making it the most one-sided final for 114 years. Not since 1911, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers beat Dora Boothby, had a Wimbledon title been decided by such a scoreline, while the only other instance at a grand slam came in the French Open in 1988 when Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva. Swiatek had slipped to eighth in the world rankings after a disappointing clay season by her extremely lofty standards, with the 24-year-old failing to win the French Open for the first time since 2021. 'We as public people and as athletes, we can't really react to everything what's going on,' said Swiatek, who served a one-month doping ban at the end of last season after taking contaminated medication. 'We've got to focus on ourselves. Obviously sometimes it's easier to do that, sometimes it's harder. For sure, the past months, how the media sometimes describe me – and I've got to say, unfortunately, Polish media, how they treated me and my team, it wasn't really pleasant. 'I hope they will just leave me alone and let me do my job because obviously you can see that we know what we are doing, and I have the best people around me. 'I have already proved a lot. I know people want more and more, but it's my own process and my own life and my own career.' Swiatek maintained her unblemished record in grand slam finals, making it six titles and becoming the first Polish player, male or female, to win a Wimbledon singles trophy. By adding the grass-court title to her four French Open crowns and one US Open trophy she has also now won slams on all the surfaces. She had never previously been beyond the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and she said: 'It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself. 'I think the fact that it's on grass, for sure it makes it more special, I would say, and more unexpected. So it feels like the emotions are bigger because, at Roland Garros, I know I can play well, and I know I can show it every year. Here, I wasn't sure of that. I also needed to prove that to myself.' Anisimova's comeback has been one of the stories of the fortnight, with the former teenage prodigy having stepped away from tennis for eight months in 2023 for mental health reasons. She came into the final off the back of a semi-final victory over Aryna Sabalenka but from the start appeared paralysed by nerves. Anisimova's serve deserted her and there were many more errors than winners off the ground. The crowd, who had paid more than £300 each per ticket, willed the American to find a foothold in the contest but Swiatek was utterly ruthless. Another treat for the Pole was receiving the trophy from the Princess of Wales. 'On court she just congratulated (me),' said Swiatek. 'She told me some nice stuff about the performance. Later on, I don't remember really because I was too overwhelmed. 'I didn't want to do any faux pas. I wanted to behave well. Overall the process of getting the trophy from Her Royal Highness was something surreal. Since I'm a kid, honestly I'm a big fan of the Royal family. It was amazing.'
Reuters
14 minutes ago
- Reuters
Swiatek revels in special Wimbledon triumph after hitting Grand Slam six
LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Iga Swiatek bulldozed her way to a maiden Wimbledon title on Saturday to take her Grand Slam tally to six and although the Pole preferred not to rank her wins, she said her latest one felt a little more special than the others. The 24-year-old has won four Suzanne Lenglen Cups in the last six editions of the French Open to establish herself as the 'Queen of Clay' and conquered the hardcourts of the U.S. Open in 2022, but the grasscourts of Wimbledon have always proved slippery. Having crossed the quarter-final hurdle for the first time this year, she brutally dismantled Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in the final to confirm herself as a versatile virtuoso of the women's game. "I don't know. I think the fact that it's on grass, it makes it more special, I would say, and more unexpected. It feels like the emotions are bigger, because in Roland Garros I know I can play well, and I know I can show it every year," Swiatek said. "Here, I wasn't sure of that. I needed to prove that to myself. I'm not going to rank them, because I just have so much respect for the other tournaments. I worked really hard to win all the other Grand Slams. "So there's no point choosing between them. But this one and the U.S. Open feel, I don't know, better because no one expected that. It wasn't a relief. It was more of good tennis and working to make it happen without baggage on your shoulders." Swiatek reached her first grasscourt final last month at Bad Homburg before her triumphant fortnight at the All England Club and said she was a little surprised with her level on the sport's fastest surface after the French Open. "Well, 'shocked' would be too big of a word. For sure I was surprised with the consistency," Swiatek said. "I knew I can do it before, but I don't think I ever served so well throughout the whole three weeks even. Bad Homburg was also a good tournament in terms of that. It was always more up and down. "I was just using the good feelings I had on the court. It felt great. I know in my mind I can be focused. I'm not going to waste points and let them go for free. But my level of tennis helped me to keep that on a constant level." While Anisimova appeared to have frozen under pressure, Swiatek said she relied on her experience to get through. "Finals sometimes are a bit ugly because there's so much stress. I used the experience from before," she added. "Today I just wanted to enjoy the time that I had on Centre Court and enjoy the last hours of me playing well on grass. Who knows if it's going to happen again. I just focused on that and I really had fun," she added with a smile. "Obviously I was stressed, as anybody would be. But I wanted to just do my job, and that's it."
