By Adam Shergold
PUBLISHED 22 00 EST 1 July 2013 UPDATED 06 56 EST 2 July 2013
The highlight of the British sporting summer The Championships at Wimbledon starts to focus on the business end of singles competition as the women's quarter finals take the spotlight at SW19.
The action gets underway at 1pm with two matches on Centre Court and two on Number One Court. On Centre we start with the highest remaining seed number four ranked Agnieska
Radwanska against the former French Open champion and sixth seed Li Na.
That's followed by the 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova against the Belgian 20th seed Kirsten Flipkens.
First up on Court One is Sabine Lisicki who so memorably defeated favourite Serena Williams yesterday against the conqueror of Laura Robson Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.
And after that the next great hope of American tennis Sloane Stephens takes on the former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli.
So stick with us for all the live scores game by game coverage of the British players updates from our team of reporters at courtside and the best photographic coverage from 11.30am.
12.51pm Andy Murray looked like he meant business as he trained on the practice courts this morning ahead of tomorrow's date with Fernando Verdasco. His warm up was watched by a bank of about 50 photographers and cameramen a very interested crowd of junior coaches at the courtside and of course legions of fans.
And according to Sportsmail's Stuart Fraser who was watching Murray was 'beasting' back the serves left handed training partner Johan Brunstrom was sending down.
Mike Dickson was also there and writes 'Been on Wimbledon s practice courts over at Aorangi Park. Andy Murray has finally found a left hander to practice with ahead of Verdasco match tomorrow it s Swedish doubles specialist Johan Brunstrom. No I hadn t heard of him either.'
Bring it on Andy Murray looks ready to make his Wimbledon dream come true as he took to the practice court this morning
12.48pm Absolutely everyone is enjoying the tennis whether it be in the grandstands of SW19 or on the sofa at home but what everyone surely wants to know is whether meerkats like tennis.
Well one zoo in Oxfordshire decided to find out and installed a big TV and Freesat box in their Meerkat enclosure renaming it 'Meerkat Mound' in honour of the famous 'Murray Mound'.
And as this video conclusively proves mammals are just as mad about tennis as humans...
12.42pm A couple of additions to today's Royal Box line up. From Neil Moxley 'Not sure what they do to qualify for a spot in the royal box it should be strictly come the entitled...but Ms Tess Daly and Vernon Kay are among the guests today....'
And what do you know here they are arriving at Wimbledon earlier...
Royal Box guests Tess Daly and Vernon Kay arrive at Wimbledon this morning
12.29am BRIT WATCH with Alex Kay 'It seems Greg Rusedski was a tad optimistic with his junior predictions. Luke Bambridge has just gone down 6 4 6 4 to Christian Garin. Now for Harriet Dart and Kyle Edmund to fly the Court No 4 flag.'
Defeated Britain's Luke Bambridge lost to Chile's Christian Garin 6 4 6 4 in the Boy's singles this morning
12.27pm TWITTER post by Sportsmail's Stuart Fraser 'Murray bringing in the left hander Johan Brunstrom for practice ahead of quarter final against lefty Verdasco tomorrow.'
12.24pm Alan Fraser is feeling a little bit well underwhelmed by the line up today which admittedly does look rather weak compared to the stellar cast we had yesterday. Hopefully the entertainment won't be lacking.
'The second Tuesday. A difficult day to get too excited about. Magic Monday has gone and we await Wonderful Wednesday when Andy Murray the key figure in four very good men s quarter finals should take another step towards his first Wimbledon title.
'The four women s quarter finals don t raise the pulse quite so much if at all. Without Serena and Laura it all looks a bit tame.'
12.21pm The Doubles competition carries on today but what about those already knocked out Alex Kay has the answer
'What do you do when your Wimbledon comes to an end In Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming's case you go and try a different sport. They are off for a round of golf today. Fleming plays off 10. Not quite scratch golfer Tim Henman but not bad at all.'
Anyone for golf Colin Fleming (left) and his Doubles partner Jonathan Marray are hitting the golf course today after being knocked out of Wimbledon yesterday
12.17pm Charlie Sale with news of a presenter who has found work thanks to Wimbledon
'Dan Lobb former professional tennis player who was ranked number 18 in Britain in 1997 and once beat Tim Henman has been out of the spotlight since unluckily losing his job as a presenter of ITV's Daytime breakfast show.
But Lobb which is a great name for any tennis involvement was chosen to do the red carpet interviews for the Women's Tennis Association's pre Wimbledon party.'
12.05pm After yesterday's surprise loss for Serena the eight remaining players in the women's draw believe all of a sudden that the title is theirs for the taking. But we appreciate that you may not be familiar with all of them so Laura Williamson has written a little preview of today's matches and contenders.
11.59am Priorities priorities... Ivan Speck again 'Football comes first. Men s quarter finalist Lukasz Kubot will be watched by his mother Dorota tomorrow. His father Janusz won t be there though.
'He is coach of Polish Second Division side KS Polkowice and has been told by the club s directors that he can t fly to London and forsake his pre season duties for the day.'
Yes I Can Can Poland's Lukasz Kubot celebrates in trademark style after his win over Adrian Mannarino yesterday
11.53am Perhaps Ivan Speck has seen a different forecast or is a glass half empty kind of man 'The Centre Court schedule is only two matches long today. With rain forecast that almost certainly gives Referee Andrew Jarrett the chance to switch the No.1 Court women s quarter finals across and under the roof.
'If it doesn t rain they will probably put John McEnroe s doubles match on to Centre. Which would you rather watch '
Ready for action Three time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe is due on court with his younger brother Patrick in the Senior Men's Invitation Doubles later on
11.47am The early exits from Wimbledon don't just dent professional pride but can also hit you hard in the wallet too. Charlie Sale again 'Roger Federer s early exit from Wimbledon has been a particular blow to his watch sponsors Rolex who signed him on a 10 year 10million contract in 2006 sport s most lucrative watch deal.
'Federer is so sponsorship savvy he made a habit of going into the Rolex hospitality suite on Centre Court after his matches.'
11.44am BRIT WATCH Of course it's not only the women's quarter finals today. The Doubles action continues apace on the outside courts and there's plenty of British interest to keep tabs on in the Boy's and Girl's singles.
Alex Kay writes 'Just chatted to a very pumped up Greg Rusedski who is looking after the British boys in the juniors. He predicted wins for Luke Bambridge Kyle Edmund and Jonny O'Mara today. Let's see if he's right.'
Well turned out Wimbledon umpires pose for a group photograph
Last minute preparations A groundsman paints the white lines and another uses a mop on the grass as a cleaner works in the Royal Box on Centre Court
11.38am CELEBRITY WATCH A low key Royal Box guest list today says Charlie Sale 'After all the sporting stars invited into the Royal Box for the first eight days of the tournament only a small turn out from sport today led by the new chairman of UK Sport Rod Carr and former Wimbledon champion Margaret Court who won the women's title in 1970.'
11.35am Hopefully these words from Charlie Sale don't jinx things for me today 'The All England Club's in house online operation for the championships has a team of reporters working at Wimbledon. Yet not one of them was allocated to cover defending champion Serena Williams shock fourth round defeat by Sabine Lisicki yesterday. Sportsmail Online's Wimbledon Live coverage is far more reliable.'
11.32am Today's WEATHER FORECAST comes courtesy of Jon McEvoy (and the Met Office)
'A dull cloudy start with even some light rain and drizzle around at first. Becoming largely dry by the end of the morning and then the afternoon will be dry and bright with cloud lifting and breaking to bring some spells of sunshine to the Championships.
'Light to moderate westerly winds and feeling quite pleasant in the afternoon sunshine with a maximum temperature of 20 Celsius (68F).'
Hooded Rufus the resident Wimbledon Harris Hawk wears the club colours as he performs his daily duties of scaring away pigeons that can distract the players (below)
11.30am Good morning and welcome to ladies' quarter final day at Wimbledon. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova may have fallen by the wayside but that has only served to open up the draw and we will see eight players today with real hopes of lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday.
The action gets underway at 1pm with two matches on Centre Court and two on Number One Court. On Centre we start with the highest remaining seed number four ranked Agnieska Radwanska against the former French Open champion and sixth seed Li Na. That's followed by the 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova against the Belgian 20th seed Kirsten Flipkens.
First up on Court One is Sabine Lisicki who so memorably defeated favourite Serena Williams yesterday against the conqueror of Laura Robson Estonia's Kaia Kanepi. And after that the next great hope of American tennis Sloane Stephens takes on the former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli.
Shock Sabine Lisicki surprised many to defeat Serena Williams in round four
WIMBLEDON EMOTICONS YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT THE IMAGES MEAN
Celebrity spotted
Loud grunting
Tantrum
Worthy of applause
The sun's out
Changing conditions
Turning overcast
It's raining
Treatment needed
Quick play
Brit of good news
Brit of bad news
A bagel 6 0 set
Shock result
Roof on Centre Court
Share or comment on this article Ronaldinho's controversial celebration Striker hits penalty behind him in Brazil Neymar presented to fans at Barcelona David Moyes arrives at Carrington Training Ground Scolari excited about the future after win against Spain Mo Farah INVESTIGATED for THIS Royal Box footage Arsenal players take part in Asia quiz Tyson Fury offers David Haye winner takes all deal See moment Vincent Kompany may have been racially abused Ronaldinho's flip flap A VERY happy Justin Rose brings the U.S. Open trophy back to... On pitch brawl between players from Argentinian club Arsenal... Bale drops hint he's ready to leave Spurs for Champions... Arsenal and Chelsea on red alert as Man United face up to... Emotional Paulinho breaks down in tears as Brazil star... EXCLUSIVE Offside rule change could cause chaos for new... A decade of Roman rule Chelsea's 72 buys under Abramovich... Arsenal sign Yaya... no not that one Wenger brings in... Luiz in demand as Pep plans to battle former club Barcelona... Let s get quizzical Watch Arsenal stars Pod Theo ... Williams Mills After breast cancer I just hoped my husband... Signing Rooney would make Arsenal fearsome again insists... Early start for Moyes as new Man United boss arrives at 8am... Spurs set to beat United and Madrid to 'new Modric'...
0 comments:
Post a Comment