Key events:
Looking at Sinner, it really is remarkable he can generate so much power given his chicken-style legs. But he gives it a serious whack – so far, his problems have come against players good enough to withstand that; before Alcaraz, he’d not beaten anyone in the top 10 in quite some time and he doesn’t (yet?) have the tools to vary his approach when Plan A isn’t working. Djokovic holds to love, while Maria narrowly avoids going down a double break, defending well to trail 3-4.
Djokovic and Sinner are out on Centre, and watching two matches simultaneously, rather than four, feels simultaneously tame and intense. Niemeier, meanwhile, holds again, through deuce again and leads Maria 4-2.
Maria finds her own forehand, boshing a winner for 15-0 and holding to love. She’ll feel more settled now, and after wining the final point of the game she looks up at her box as if to tell them she’s good. It might be too late for this set, but the match is developing into a contest.
She’s a proper powerhouse, is Niemeier, and she’s using her booming forehand to target Maria’s suss backhand; Maria is slicing almost everything, trying to deny Niemeier the opportunity to deploy her power, and it’s not really working. A double at 40-30 does hand her deuce, but she doesn’t get a sniff in the next two points. Maria 1-3 Niemeier
On 30-all, Maria – who’s not settled at all – slices a forehand long, but responds with a heavier serve down the T, and it’s too good for Niemeier. She can’t press home her first advantage, botching a lob under pressure when Niemeier charges to the net, then an ace is followed by a double. But she eventually closes out, securing her first game for 1-2.
A nervy service game from Niemeier that includes a double, but on 40-30 her footwork gets her forehand-side of the ball and means she can go line or cross; she picks the latter, dematerialising a winner that’ll have her feeling pretty good about life. She leads 2-0.
Immediately, Niemeier raises two break points, netting on the return to lose the first before Maria tamely dumps a squash-shot. Maria 0-1 Niemeier
And play!
The players are on court knocking up. We’ll be away shortly.
Niemeier, on the other hand, is at the start of her career and has power to burn. This is only her second Wimbledon, but she eliminated Anett Kontaveit, the number two seed, and being relatively unknown makes her tricky to gameplan for.
Getting us away we’ve Maria v Niemeier. Maria has ejected three seeds – Cirstea, Sakkari and Ostapenko – and is on the run of her life. Before Wimbledon, she’d never done better than round two of a major, but seeing her now, with her family – she’s a two-time mum – you can see she’s reached equilibrium, so even though she’s 34, it’s no surprise that she’s playing so well.
Kyrgios faces charge of assaulting ex-girlfriend
The 27-year-old Australian, who reached the quarter-finals on Monday, will appear in court in Canberra next month.
Preamble
Good afternoon and welcome Wimbledon 2022. Yes, the competition started last week and we’ve been enjoying our lives more ever since, but it’s today that we hit 88mph and see what Doc Emmet Brown called “some serious expletive”.
Previously, the second Tuesday meant women’s quarter-finals, but as of this year we’re getting two along with two men’s, then the same again tomorrow – a sensible adjustment that guarantees us two large helpings of lovely tennis.
And we waste no time at all in stuffing our faces with an absolutely jaw-convulsing dish of Novak Djokovic [1] v Jannik Sinner [10], who open proceedings on Centre. The former may be the top seed, but with Rafael Nadal halfway to a grand slam, he can’t sensibly claim to be the best player in the world … unless he can win here. And he’ll fancy himself to do just that, except Sinner is, as of Sunday, in the form of his life, taking Carlos Alcaraz apart with the might of his serving and returning. If he plays as well again, we’re looking at a potential classic.
And that’s not all! There’s no sport in the world less predictable and with more potential champions than women’s tennis, so picking which of Marie Bouzkova and Ons Jabeur [3], Tatjana Maria and Jule Niemeier will make the last four is an errand too foolish even for this blog – but all of them will know that this might just be the opportunity of their lives. On top of which, David Goffin v Cameron Norrie [9] will be a fascinating battle of spins, angles and intensity with all the potential to drag us the distance. Ooh yeah!
Play: 1pm BST on No1 Court, 1.30pm BST on Centre Court
