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Giants of their eras: Roger Federer, Taylor Swift meet backstage in Zurich

  • Posted: Jul 10, 2024

Retirement is treating Roger Federer well, with the Swiss legend announcing himself as a ‘Swiftie’ after attending Taylor Swift’s concert on Tuesday night in Zurich.

The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings became the latest star to watch ‘The Eras Tour’ live at Stadion Letzigrund. Federer posted a selfie with Swift on Instagram at the event, where he was wearing several friendship bracelets.

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Last week Federer attended Wimbledon, where it has been a Cruel Summer of weather in west London. With a Blank Space in his diary, Federer then headed to Zurich to watch Swift perform.

In June, WTA star Iga Swiatek’s Wildest Dreams came true when she received a handwritten note from Swift after watching the pop star in Liverpool.

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Granollers/Zeballos continue impressive season, reach Wimbledon SFs

  • Posted: Jul 10, 2024

Top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Wednesday when they moved past Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4, 7-6(3).

The Spanish-Argentine duo is chasing its first major title together and have been impressive on the lawns in west London this fortnight. Granollers and Zeballos are yet to drop a set and were strong in the decisive moments against Krawietz and Puetz, saving all four break points they faced to advance after one hour and 32 minutes.

Earlier this season, Granollers and Zeballos won their sixth ATP Masters 1000 title as a team in Rome before they advanced to the semis at Roland Garros. Granollers and Zeballos, who lost Wimbledon finals in 2021 and 2023, will next face Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson after the Australians beat Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3.

Purcell won the Wimbledon doubles title with Matthew Ebden in 2022. Thompson had never been beyond the third round in the doubles event at the grass-court major before this year.

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Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten sprung a surprise when they defeated fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(10-7).

Heliovaara missed Wimbledon 12 months ago to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. The Finn and his British partner are now just two wins away from the title and will next meet Neal Skupski and Michael Venus after the ninth seeds overcame Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 7-6(1), 7-6(1). Skupski won the Wimbledon doubles crown in 2023 with Wesley Koolhof.

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De Minaur withdraws from Wimbledon, Djokovic advances to semi-finals

  • Posted: Jul 10, 2024

Alex de Minaur has withdrawn from Wimbledon prior to his quarter-final clash against Novak Djokovic due to injury.

The ninth-seeded Australian announced he was unable to compete against the seven-time champion Djokovic at a press conference. He had spoken of jarring his hip in the closing stages of his fourth-round victory against Arthur Fils, and he was unable to recover in time to take on the second-seeded Djokovic on Centre Court on Wednesday.

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Djokovic, the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, advances to a semi-final clash against 13th seed Taylor Fritz or 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti at the grass-court major, where he is bidding to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight men’s singles title.

By reaching the last four this year, the 37-year-old Serbian has equalled Federer’s record of 13 appearances in the Wimbledon men’s singles semi-finals.

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Through to Wimbledon SFs, Alcaraz's sporting day still not done

  • Posted: Jul 09, 2024

With the day’s business successfully taken care of following his four-set win over Tommy Paul in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz turned his attention to the second important sporting contest of his day: Spain’s semi-final clash against France at Euro 2024.

Arriving to his media conference a little after kickoff, Alcaraz was asked first up whether the game was on his mind at any stage of his 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over the American.

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“Honestly, at the beginning of the match I wasn’t thinking about it,” Alcaraz said. “Once I feel like I’m dominating the game, 5-1 in the fourth set, yeah, I thought about it (smiling). I thought a little bit I was on time. I wasn’t.

“After I finished, I did everything in a rush just to be in time to watch a bit of Spain.”

The 21-year-old, who is two matches away from completing the rare Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year, rallied from a set down to beat Paul, No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Alcaraz has conceded four sets so far this fortnight, having taken four sets to beat 16th-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the fourth round and five sets to run down American Frances Tiafoe in the third round.

During his recent Roland Garros title run, the 14-time tour-level titlist dropped just one set to reach the semi-finals. And last year at Wimbledon he conceded only two sets through the same stage. Winning under duress this fortnight seems to be making Alcaraz stronger.

“Well, we try just to find solutions. For me obviously it’s going to be really difficult to play my best tennis every match,” Alcaraz said. “I know that there are going to be some matches that I’m not going to find my best tennis even though I have to try to win it.

“I think that what the big three did along their career, they are not going to play [their] best tennis. Even like that, they are going to find their good tennis just to win those matches. That’s what I’m thinking.

“When I’m not playing my best tennis, I’m going to try to find solutions just to be a bit better, just to beat the opponent.”

Alcaraz next faces a rematch of last year’s semi-final against Daniil Medvedev, who took out top seed and World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in five sets Tuesday. The three-time major winner dropped just nine games against Medvedev in the same match last year, but the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion continues to grow in confidence on grass.

Alcaraz is expecting a tough battle.

“The most difficult thing about facing Daniil, or the most special thing about him, is he can reach every ball. Well, he is like a wall. Every ball bounces back,” Alcaraz said.

“I feel like I can hit an unbelievable shot, the ball is going to bounce back. Is difficult to play thinking about that.”

Tuesday ended well for Alcaraz, with Spain edging France 2-1 to advance to the final.

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