Wimbledon Championships 2017: Manic Monday awaits Wimbledon

Andy Murray and Jo Konta maintained a glorious Wimbledon for their country by cementing places in both the men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals for British players for the first time in 44 years.

Murray, who came through his seemingly mandatory annual Wimbledon scare at dusk against Fabio Fognini on Friday night, faces another unpredictable opponent in Benoit Paire second on Centre Court on Monday. “I’m so focused on what I do, I don’t care if I played on 13, 1, 5”, she said, then acknowledged: “I was expecting another court”.

“I was happy that I was able to get enough returns in that final game”. “She’s a tough opponent and a great champion”.

The world No. 1 will face Sam Querrey for a semifinal spot.

A wobble saw him concede a third break of the match to draw level on three games apiece, but again Paire couldn’t hold on to his lead-this time at 4-3-and lost three successive games as the second set went to his foe.

“There have been years when there have been more marquee women players than men players”.

Lendl agreed that it had been hard for the world No 1 to get into a rhythm, especially given the unconventional games of Bublik and Brown, but insisted: “Andy is hitting it better and cleaner every practice now and getting his timing back and rhythm back”.

The extent of the challenge facing the club was highlighted last week by the Daily Telegraph. The 24th-seeded American defeated Kevin Anderson 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3.

The match came down to the slimmest of margins, with Konta losing just five points on serve and Garcia six – but the last of those was a match point, and the French player snatched at a forehand and found the net.

‘Also I’m going to try to be aggressive and keep the points short.

However, Richard Lewis, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said Monday he checked out the Centre Court grass a day earlier, and it was as good as he’d ever seen it. Konta carries herself with the poise and confidence of a prospective champion and, in a women’s draw that could scarcely be more open, now finds herself three matches away from having the Venus Rosewater Dish to show for it.

There is needle ahead of Konta’s quarter-final on Tuesday against Romanian Halep, who is clearly still irritated by the British No 1 leaving the court in tears when the two met in the Fed Cup in Constanta last April.

For all three, the quick finishes could end up proving particularly beneficial.

“I think I play better with every match, also like at the French”, Ostapenko said. He may not look right between the points, but the match is played during the point – and during the point, you didn’t see any problem.

For Paire, the main positive, as well as a first fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon, was finishing the tournament free of fines. The match ended with Murray victorious over the Frenchman with a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 that took Murray two hours and 21 minutes to finish.

Talking to The Mirror, he added: “There have been a lot of close matches and I’ve just managed to get through, but I’ve no idea exactly why that is”.