6 hours ago
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At 30-all, Majchrzak swats a backhand wide, handing over break point, and Khachanov plays a fine rally, sending his man chasing from corner to corner, in the process opening an angle for a backhand winner down the line. He lets it go … and gives it too much! No matter: he soon forces another opportunity, converts, and leads 2-1.
Majchrzak holds comfortable for 1-0, then Khachanov does likewise, and that’s good see. Both men know what a chance this is for them – the winner meets Fritz or Thompson in the last eight, and it’s not too much to say they might never get such a goods one again.
And off go! Oh, and by the way, I’m also watching a men’s doubles match – Arevalo and Pavic, seeded one, are playing Nouza and Rikl.
Our players are out and knocking up.
Our first match, then. Khachanov has a good power game, but not much feel – his hands are hard, which makes him a hard-court specialist. Majchrzak, meanwhile, is a victim of the system: he took a drink that turned out to be contaminate and didn’t have the money to get proper legal assistance so took the strict liability and a year’s ban. Shortly afterwards, Jannik Sinner failed a doping test in similar but slightly less blameless circumstances, and accepted a three-month ban that entailed him missing almost nothing.
As a player, Majchrzak is solid – he’s fit and makes a lot of balls, with no massive strengths or weaknesses. He’s more of a clay-courter than a grass specialist, but the cosmos owes him one and, Coach Calv assures me, he’s a good lad, so.
Also going on:
Preamble
Good morrow one and all and welcome to Wimbledon 2025 – day seven!
Anyone remember the 2002 World Cup? Allow me to refresh your memories, given it appears it was, in fact, quite some time ago. Anyhow, we had terrific group stages with shocks all over the show, problem being that when we got into the knockouts, we missed those whose elimination we’d thrilled to earlier on. Well, we’re kind of there now … and yet we’re still set up for another banger of a day.
On the men’s side of things, though, it almost doesn’t matter, so slim do the chances seem of players outside of Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz – who plays Andrey Rublev this evening – failing to comprise three of the last four and both final slots. Nevertheless, though, others will be sensing opportunity. Taylor Fritz, seeded five, will fancy himself to see off Jordan Thompson; Cam Norrie knows a fourth-round tie with Nicolas Jarry is pretty decent state of affairs; and Karen Khachanov could scarcely ask for more than a match against Kamil Majchrzak – on the way back following the misery of a contaminated supplement and accordant doping ban – to make the last eight.
In the women’s competition, meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka will have been cackling at the carnage – while sailing into the last 16 without losing a set. There’s not much about Elise Mertens’ game that suggests another shock is likely today, but having lozzed Elina Svitolina in Friday, she’ll be feeling herself.
Otherwise, the surging Sonay Kartal meets Anastasia Pvlyuchenkova, with the winner facing what’ll feel like a winnable quarter-final too – Linda Noskova meets Amanda Anisimova, so disappointing in the final at Queen’s, to decide who that’ll be. Add to that Solana Sierra – the 21-year-old qualifier having the time of her life – against the 37-year-old Laura Siegmund, who binned Madison Keys in round three – and it’ll be no surprise to once again read the words women’s tennis is the most unpredictable sport in the world. Let’s get involved!
Play: 11am BST No 2 Court, 1pm BST No 1 Court, 1.30pm BST Centre Court
