Wimbledon wrap: Serena’s 300, Tsonga wins epic

The last time Wimbledon opened its gates to punters on the middle Sunday was back in 2004. Rain forced them to do it again this year, and the fans that flocked to the All England Club more than got their moneys worth on a busy, dramatic day at SW19.

The women’s action:
300… and counting. It would be great to tell tales of a Spartan-like struggle for Serena in capturing her 300th Grand Slam victory, but that would be a falsehood. Instead, the World No.1 breezed into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-0 walloping of Annika Beck.

“I had no idea, that’s awesome, right?” Serena said of her 300th win. “I think that is a lot of matches.”

If Serena cruised, her next opponent did anything but. Svetlana Kuznetsova came through an almighty battle against Sloane Stephens. Over the course of nearly 2 hours 30 minutes, Sveta and Sloane traded blows in front of an enraptured No.1 court. In they end, Kuznetsova came through 6-7(1) 6-2 8-6.

Elsewhere, Coco Vandeweghe walloped Roberta Vinci off the court 6-3 6-4; Pavlyuchenkova won the battle of the hard-to-spell names against Bacsinszky 6-3 6-3; Makarova downed Strycova; and Elena Vesnina finished Julia Boserup’s inspired run through the draw – the furthest she has ever reached in a Slam.

The men’s action:
Titanic. Epic. Incredible. They are all words that almost do justice to the extraordinary match between John Isner and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Isner, who is no stranger to lengthy confrontations at Wimbledon (it seems remiss to not mention his match against Mahut at this stage), let a two set lead slip as Tsonga triumphed 6-7(3) 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 19-17 in 4 hours 24 minutes.

In another match that was carried over from the Saturday, Nick Kyrgios got the better of grass court specialist Feli Lopez, winning 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4. Kyrgios, who goes on to face No.2 seed Andy Murray, is under no illusions about the size of the task he faces: “Now I’m pretty much playing the ultimate player on grass at the moment,” the Aussie said. “I definitely have the tools to do it, but he’s one of the best in the world and probably the favourite to win it.”

Elsewhere, Tomas Berdych continued to fly under the radar, downing Alex Zverev 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-1; Richard Gasquet marched past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 2-6 7-6(5) 6-2 6-3; and Jiri Vesely walloped Joao Sousa 6-2 6-2 7-5.

Ones to watch:
The second Monday is always a good day at Wimbledon, but in reality all eyes should be on Centre Court. Yes, Roger is first up and yes, Steve Johnson shouldn’t present too many problems. It’s the matches after that that will be interesting. On paper Serena shouldn’t struggle against Kuznetsova, but if Sveta is on she’s going to be a tricky opponent. Meanwhile, Murray v Kyrgios should be a fascinating tussle.

If you’re looking for potential upsets, Vesely is on fire this week and has a game that could trouble Berdych; Raonic will not be looking forward to taking on Goffin; and Cibulkova will fancy her chances against Radwanska.