A day of upsets 👋

Day 4 of Wimbledon, and if the rain wasn’t falling, than the seeds were. Thursday, saw a number of top players heading back to their hotels to pack their bags. While their lower ranked conquers were probably scrambling to book a few more extra days in theirs.

What was the biggest upset of the day?
Brit Liam Broady stunned no.4 seed and Roland Garros runner-up Casper Ruud on centre court. Ranked 142 in the world, he apparently told his mum, “chill out” I got this before the match. And he did. Winning 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Who else was on the chopping block?
Two top Americans. 9th seeded American Taylor Fritz fell to Mikael Ymer, after the Swede finished off a gutsy two sets to love down comeback to defeat the Netflix star 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. And Ben Shelton, who has a promising game for grass, lost to Serb Laslo Djere 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3.

What about the women’s side?
Not even the women’s seeds were safe, with 10th seed Barbora Krejčíková out after retiring one set down and 4-love down, 12th seed Veronika Kudermentova was also ousted by Czech Markéta Vondroušová 6-3, 6-3, 16th seed Karolína Muchová is gone too, 17th seed Jelena Ostapenko gone, 28th Elise Mertens gone. It’s like a midweek sale, every seed has to go!

Let’s hope day 5 doesn’t go the same way for Wimbledon watchers and the remaining top players.

Stopped by the clock ⏰

Sir Andy Murray was two sets to one up against 5th seed and Greek lover-boy Stefanos Tsitsipas when Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew halted the Brit’s momentum sending the players and crowds running home like Cinderella.

It was tipped as the match of the day, and definitely was living up to that status, with the first two sets going to tiebreakers before Murray was able to get the break in the 3rd taking it 6-4.

Tsitsipas booed
The Greek didn’t do much to speed play up with the curfew looming, taking one of his a lengthy toilet breaks (most probably taking time to write love messages to Badosa while ignoring his dad’s texts) at the end of the third set. The crowd made it well known they weren’t happy for keeping them waiting with a chorus of boo’s and jeers on his return to court.

The booing was back, when the umpire finally called a stop to play citing Wimbledon’s curfew rule.

Why does Wimbledon curfew?
The 11pm curfew rule has been in place since 2009 and the introduction of the centre court roof. The decision was part of obtaining planning permission for the roof with the local council.

In an official statement from Wimbledon in 2018, they said: “The 11pm curfew is a Planning Condition applied to balance the consideration of the local residents with the scale of an international tennis event that takes place in a residential area. The challenge of transport connectivity and getting visitors home safely is also a key consideration.”

Is there any exception to the curfew?
Yup. The curfew has was pushed slightly back in 2012 by a whole 2 minutes when Andy Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis with the clock striking 11:02pm. Murray was just one game from victory when the clock struck 11pm.

No chance: Wawrinka vs Djokovic 😅🚽

The match-up of the day brings together a long-lasting rivalry between Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic. For many, when we think of Djokovic rivalries we think Federer and Nadal, but that other Swiss guy, Wawrinka, has been one of Djokovic’s biggest challenges in the past years.

6 legendary Grand Slam matches: While this is their maiden Grand Slam match on grass together, both men have played out some epic matches at the other Slams.

• 2013 Australian Open R16, Djokovic d Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10

• 2013 US Open SF, Djokovic d Wawrinka 2-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

• 2014 Australian Open QF, Wawrinka d Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7

• 2015 Australian Open SF, Djokovic d Wawrinka 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

• 2015 Roland Garros F, Wawrinka d Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

• 2016 US Open F, Wawrinka d Djokovic 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3

Djokovic joked in an interview that if it wasn’t for the Swiss, he would have 25 Grand Slam already!

But Wawrinka, hasn’t been the man he was in 2016, struggling with injuries and age. So while pumped to be playing Novak at Wimbledon, the former world no.3 (now no.88) doesn’t rate his chances well of breaking Novak’s 30 match win streak at Wimbledon. When asked he replied: “Hopefully I can make a competitive match, but if you will look at recent results, I don't really stand a chance."

Reporter: “Hey Stan, how do you rate your chances against Djokovic?” Stan…

Minis 🎾⏰

Sex dream? Paula Badosa reveals a little too much about her relationship with Stefanos Tsitsipas 🤮

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie players through with De Minaur, O’Connell and Kubler fighting through the men’s draw. Oi, Oi, Oi. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

Who the f%$* is Liam Broady? Here’s five things to get to know the Ruud party ruiner a little better. 🤷‍♀️

Roger Federer speaks about Nadal’s injuries and retirement; hoping that he will go out on his own terms ✊

Novak Djokovic reflects on Wawrinka rivalry and pays tribute to the last Swiss man he will put in retirement 🫶

Tennis film to screen at Venice film festival. Italian director’s movie, ‘Challengers’ tells the story of a love triangle on court 📽️

Mark ‘hardest name in tennis to spell’ Philippoussis spills the reasons why Tsitsipas dropped him from his coaching box 😭

Another record for Djokovic? At 36 years old, the Serb could become the oldest Grand Slam winner. But to him “you’re only as old as you feel” 👴

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