Big stories from SW19
AGELESS FED STILL IN FRAME GARBINE’S ALARMED
JOHANNA KONTA is Wimbledon’s dream girl – and she is aiming to depose Serena Williams as the best in the women’s game.
The 26- year- old star is edging closer to fulfilling the expectations of a nation by becoming the first British woman to win Wimbledon for 40 years since Virginia Wade triumphed in 1977.
She’s spent most of her offcourt time at SW19 this year dampening the hype at every opportunity after being tipped as the potential champion in Williams’ absence with the American s e v e n - t i me THE prize fund at Wimbledon this year is £31.6million – up £3.5m from 2016. And the men’s and ladies’ singles winners will pocket £2.2m each, £200,000 more than Andy Murray and Serena Williams won last year. IT’S the year of the golden oldie at Wimbledon – and the most-decorated one of them all is still the man to beat.
Yes, Roger Federer joined six other ageing swingers in the last 16 with yet another example of his complete mastery of this surface, these Championships and his opponents.
He might be 35 years old – and potentially the only man of his vintage capable of wearing a white bandana while maintaining his selfrespect – but he is looking as dangerous as ever.
Mischa Zverev was the latest to try his arm and was blown away in 109 minutes 7-6 6-4 6-4.
Federer’s passage to the second week meant that seven players over the age of 30 have now made it through – for the first time in the open era.
But Messrs Murray, Nadal, Djokovic, Muller, Anderson and Berdych will all be looking over their shoulders at the ace who is still in this pack.
The seven-time champ said: “It’s important to get through the first week with a good feeling and I think I have done that.
“The first round was a walkover and didn’t give me much information. But it saved me energy and that may be crucial energy going into the second week. I’m happy to relax for a day and come back strong.” FORMER world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki staged a dramatic recovery to clinch a place in the fourth round. The 26-year-old, seeded fifth, was in danger of becoming the latest high-profile casualty at a set and a break down against Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit. But the Dane (left), who has never been beyond round four at the All England Club, fought back to take the second set on a tie-break before eventually securing a 3-6 7-6 6-2 win. GARBINE MUGURUZA, beaten finalist two years ago, has a bone to pick with her landlords after her cooking caused a stir.
The Spaniard, 23, was cooking steak at her rented house when the smoke alarm went off leaving her puzzled by its location.
After moving into Round Four following a straight sets victory over Sorana Cirstea she said: “I love red meat and I cook a lot of steaks. There was so much smoke but the alarm was right under where you cook.
“I thought, ‘Why put a fire alarm there?’ It went off for 20 minutes.
“We didn’t know what to do. I was scared. I thought the firefighters were going to come out because of some steak.” AMERICAN world No.46 Alison Riske loves England so much she wants to move. But she told friends she’d need to win Wimbledon to afford a home in these parts. The average house price with an SW19 postcode is £838,406. So £550,000 for reaching the semis would at least be a big deposit.