Wimbledon 2021 just keeps on giving. What a day! Saturday was a pre-cursor to Manic Monday as there were six women’s third round matches on court at the same time. I understand why they spread them out across all the courts due to the iffy weather forecast but it’s a real shame. I’m pleased that this will be last year that there is no scheduled play on Middle Sunday because Manic Monday is just bonkers with so many great matches all clashing with each other and not all getting the attention that they deserve. Enough moaning… for now (😂)… let’s look back at another great day in Saturday’s diary from Wimby.
Day 6️⃣ Highlights
(19) Karolina Muchova d. (16) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-5 6-3
Karolina Muchova made it back-to-back second week showings at Wimbledon as she defeated the French Open finalist, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straights.
There’s no sugar coating the first set, that was a mess! There was a stoppage for rain after four games which can’t have helped either player. There were a lot of unforced errors, especially from Pavs. Both struggled on serve although both were returning each other’s second serves with real punch. Muchova needed two bites at the cherry to serve it out and did it the second time from *0-30, awaking from her somewhat passive slumber with two aggressive forays into the net.
Muchova drew away at the end, winning five of the last six games and increasingly using her variety with some gorgeous drop shots. It’s been a tough draw for Muchova and she’s managed the situation so well with such calmness. We haven’t seen Muchova’s best level yet but she’s into the second week and that’s all that matters.
On a sidenote, John Inverdale’s commentary on BBC for this match was unbearable. He didn’t let poor Sam Smith get a word in edgeways. He decided to start talking about men’s doubles during points at 4-4. Oh and apparently people don’t go to watch WTA players because very few of them have the x Factor. I had to mute after the first set 😂. Fingers crossed he won’t be on any more women’s matches because it’s tiresome. He’s a joke.
Emma Raducanu d. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 7-5
Oh. My. Goodness. Just thinking about the crowd reaction and noise at the end is giving me goosebumps. Raducanu produced another inspired display out on No.1 Court. The 18-year-old British wild card is playing her first Slam main draw and had never won a match at WTA level before this week! Now she’s into the second week.
Raducanu was absolutely peaking during periods of this match. The backhand is dreamy. I think the most impressive aspect was mentally because this wasn’t a walk in the park. Raducanu had to rally from 1-3 down in the first set. After losing three straight games in the second set, she had a great reset game at 3-3 to stay in the lead. And after missing five break points in a gripping game at 4-4, Raducanu just kept on chipping away with two convincing service holds. Even when Cirstea changed up her tactics and targetted the Raducanu forehand, it held up and then some.
The final point is one of most exciting match points i’ve seen in a while! What a match. What a moment. This tournament!
(14) Barbora Krejcikova d. Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6(1) 3-6 7-5
15 wins and counting. Krejcikova’s awesome run just keeps on going. I think the Rolly G champ was definitely there for the taking in this match as she had the doctor and physio out in the first set and seemed to be dealing with a stomach complaint. Sevastova lacked the decisiveness in the crux moments to capitalise.
The first set was pretty dire. Sevastova twice failed to serve out the set as Krejcikova eased through on the tiebreak. Sevastova held it together in the second and then the pair combined for a decent decider. Krejcikova was serving first and just had the mental edge, surely buoyed by all those wins in Paris. Krejcikova played smart, intelligent tennis in the third set, didn’t face a break point and was a perfect 14 out of 14 at the net.
Seriously, what an effort from Krejcikova. Second week of Wimby in her first main draw outing. Next up is the ultimate test against the world number one…
(1) Ash Barty d. Katerina Siniakova, 6-3 7-5
This was Barty’s best display of the tournament so far. Certainly not A-game but an improvement on round two. It was a tricky close with Barty needing two shots at serving out, just about fendng off a late surge from Siniakova. Barty finished justttt as England started!
Barty served well, especially the second serve, which is a good sign for the hip. The backhand slice was more effective and I just adore the slider! And Barty was winning many of the forehand-forehand exchanges. I’m still not entirely convinced by Ash. She’s working her way into the tournament and it’s whether she has enough time to hit top form.
Best of the rest 🎾
Ajla Tomljanovic reached the second week of Wimbledon for the first time in her career, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Jelena Ostapenko, 4-6 6-4 6-2. Pleasantly surprised at this result. There was some dramaaaa in the third set. Read on later for what happened…
The number 30 seed, Paula Badosa has made it back-to-back fourth rounds at the Slams! Badosa won five of the last six games to beat Magda Linette, 5-7 6-2 6-4. Super batting from Badosa although Linette did fold a tad when up 3-0 in the decider.
The number 20 seed, Coco Gauff is yet to drop a set, beating Kaja Juvan, 6-3 6-3
The number 25 seed, Angelique Kerber came from a set down in a lopsided three setter to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 2-6 6-0 6-1.
Best point 🎾
That match point!!!
Snap of the day 📸
Great final shot of Raducanu winning from Jimmie48.
Recommended media 📺
DRAMA ALERT! ⚠ Thanks to @tennis_gifs on Twitter for sharing the moment. Down 0-4 in the third set, Ostapenko took an off-court medical time-out for an abdominal injury. Tomljanovic was furious and claimed she was lying. The pair shared some heated words at the handshake. Omg the drama 😂.
Press highlights 📰
Neither Ostapenko and Tomljanovic backed down in press.
Day 7 watchlist 📺
Thoughts about Manic Monday matches will go up on the separate page here.
(20) Coco Gauff vs. (25) Angelique Kerber
(7) Iga Swiatek vs. (21) Ons Jabeur
(1) Ash Barty vs. (14) Barbora Krejcikova
(2) Aryna Sabalenka vs. (18) Elena Rybakina
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I understand your grief James regarding tennis commentators😒 Some of them are so annoying and I do wish that they would ‘ let the action do the talking ‘ and not yap so much especially about things unrelated to the tennis match being played….two of them had a discussion about the football earlier this week !
Did not know about the drama in the Ostapenko/Tomljanovic match ! Will have to watch the replay of that tomorrow. Could be interesting when they next play against each other😊
Still not convinced about Ash Barty but she did win.
Watched the Paula Badosa/Magda Linette match played in windy conditions. It was difficult to predict who was going to win for most of the match and I tend to agree with one of the commentators who said that Paula showed better mental strength towards the end because she is presently so used to winning…..that was her 20th victory from her last 24 matches.
Looking forward to some potentially good matches on Monday ( especially Jabeur v Swiatek ) and hoping the weather does not spoil things too much.
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I’m sorry for the rant about Inverdale 😂. As you can probably tell, I was in a mood about it! I’m just fed up of his subtle derogatory remarks towards the women’s game. On a positive note, i’m thankful for the likes of Tracy Austin, Chanda Rubin, Sam Smith, Jo Durie, Anne Keovathong and Andrew Cotter in commentary. Tracy and Sam were a dream on the Barty-Krejcikova match last night!
I’m slowly coming round to Barty. She was my pick for the title but I definitely wasn’t feeling confident in that after round two! I feel like she makes SFs from here but who knows going further. I saw bits of Badosa-Linette third set and Magda really seemed to lose her way. Agreed, Badosa a bit tougher mentally.
I can’t wait for Monday! Should be a great day and the matches have been spaced out nicely.
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I can still remember Inverdales’ ridiculous comment regarding Bartoli about 7 or 8 years ago. He did apologise afterwards but it was a stupid thing for him to say…..he blamed his hay fever for it🤔. Bit surprised that the BBC still employ him. I like Chris Bradnam a lot ( Chris and Anne Keovathong were my ideal commentating duo when tennis was on BT ) and I wish that they would use him instead of Inverdale and some others in the big matches. I also like Annabel Croft who has a better understanding of the game than many other tennis commentators imho.
Forgot to mention that I am also glad that Manic Monday will come to an end next year as it got ridiculous at times. It will also mean that I will not have that song ‘ Manic Monday ‘ by the Bangles going around in my head all day long whilst watching the tennis😒 Did not notice that the matches had been spaced out well tomorrow…that is great news😊
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Yeah, I don’t understand how he continues to be employed. There were a lot of matches up first yesterday so i’m hoping they were just desperate for commentators 😂. Can’t remember hearing him on many matches in the week. I don’t mind Chris Bradnam, he’s got a great chemistry with Jo Durie. They were good on Eurosport for the French Open. I never saw Anne during the BT days but really enjoyed her insights on the Amazon Prime coverage this year and this week too.
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Inverdale is an absolute embarrassment. He must have really powerful connections because he has very little in the way of knowledge of the game, he constantly gaffes, and spectators hate him.
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Wasn’t someone remarking the other day that Ostapenko was a changed woman? Haha!
I’m very excited for Kerber v Gauff and Barty v Krejcikova! I do think Angie and Ash will come out on top though, and I’m fairly confident that they will be the semi finalists on that side of the draw.
I personally think people are doubting Barty for no real reason. She’s done what she needed to do this week – no more, no less. It’s funny because I feel like people were expecting SO much from her in Australia, where I was sceptical that her nerves would hold up under that pressure. Now we’re in reverse!
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I really like your optimism with Barty this week, Andrew! I feel more confident after the way she closed Siniakova (eventually!) out in straights. I’d go Barty SFs from the top quarter too. I’m still keeping an eye on Muchova who is my pick for the semis from the second quarter.
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“Wasn’t someone remarking the other day that Ostapenko was a changed woman? Haha!”
I think that was probably me 🙂 If it does turn out that she was faking that injury, all I can say is that I’m disappointed in her.
Anyway, fingers crossed for Emma to come through her match with Ajla Tomljanovic this evening.
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I was more referring to the way she reacted to it. I’m not defending Alja for accusing her of lying. But Ostapenko was fairly horrible at the net, and her post match comments were downright disgraceful, in my opinion.
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😆 Ostapenko just can’t catch a break. I feel she just rubs some people the wrong way. Even if they met her off court in some zen garden on a retreat, at the foothills of that sacred mountain, the encounter will still turn hostile. Tomljanovic facing Raducanu next has me intrigued, especially for Raducanu and the possibilities.
I have to admit Samsonova was a blind spot for me before the grass court season, but the momentum she’s picked up since Berlin is solid. Just adds to my worries for Pliskova. These early losses have to…..well, hoping she goes deeper.
Barty seemed to me, to be feeling her way into the tournament. To be honest, I didn’t feel she is all hundred percent, but I may be wrong. Am I worried, not really. Does she even need all that here, given the way the draw has panned out, I don’t think so. Similarly Madison Keys is working herself through. This could be the ideal approach to peak at the opportune time. Funny, I wouldn’t have picked Kerber at the start of the grass season to be the last champ standing here, but here we are.
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Comments like “if I was playing at least 50% I would have beaten her” are why people dislike Ostapenko. I’ll never forget watching her and her mother calling Aga Radwanska a terrible player during the change of ends of a match. Maybe she’s a lovely person behind closed doors. But it just doesn’t seem that way…
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Yeah, I feel the same to be honest, not a fan. That 50% comment is not the first time she’s said something like that. I was surprised Ajla called her out like that in the match. I think it was timing of the MTO that got her and it certainly seemed suspect on the face of it.
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Well Alja lost an awful final a couple of years ago where she was winning and Yastremska took a suspicious MTO, so it’s totally understandable why she called Ostapenko out.
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Oh my god I forgot about that Yastremska final. OK I get it now 😂
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She does seem to have a prickly attitude( Ostapenko). I do find her a bit ‘precious’ sometimes. Their post match interviews was not any better. Poor sportsmanship.
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Neither were backing down in press 😂
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Samsonova came out of nowhere for me, didn’t see this one coming before Berlin! Wary for Keys as she’s the clear favourite in the next match but she’s playing some of her best tennis in a while and has a decent draw on paper. I’d love to see Madison have a deep run here.
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Thanks for mentioning the Ostapenko drama in a neutral way. I watched this match on TV. The BBC commentators, while they may have been right in thinking she was faking it, were too strongly opinionated on the subject, in my view. After all, there’s no evidence. Maybe she was, but it’s possible she wasn’t and that she had an injury. I’m a little bit biased though, as I’m a fan of hers. And as a fan am often disappointed by her seemingly frequent losses. In this match and in her previous match, as soon as she’s a set and a break up, she loses focus.
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I think it was the timing of the MTO that was most suspect. I noticed Ostapenko mentioned the injury on Instagram 😬. I was surprised at the result to be honest. I wasn’t convinced by Ostapenko pre-tournament but I thought she was the most likely quarter-finalist from her section after the narrow escape against Kasatkina.
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