Lex

That’s the last 16 there, some cracking matches. Sinner v Alcaraz the stand out in the first section, two future superstars. A 20 year old against a 19 year old for the right to face (surely) Novak in the last 8. Norrie has found himself in a nice little spot in the draw. One of him, Paul, Goffin or Tiafoe will be in the semi, and he’s the highest ranked and highest seeded of them, no reason it can’t be him. An all Aus quarter final looks likely in the third section, Kyrgios v De Minaur would be a cracker if they both can past their respective unseeded opponents. Hard to see Rafa not making the semi in the final section. If he stays fit and firing, none of those other three players will cause him much problems. I’ll go for a semi line up of: Novak v Norrie Rafa v Kyrgios And Novak to beat Nick in the final…

Oh yeah hitting a live ball at an opponent is fair game and is the best shot in a lot of situations, particularly in doubles. Much more tricky to return a volley hit right at you than hit within your wing span. In the mixed doubles in particular you’ll often see the guy smack a close range volley right at the lady. Nasty, but effective.

Ridiculous drop shot to win it there, what a match. Kyrgios has so much natural talent, if he had the head for it he’d be a multiple major winner already. If he can keep it together for the next week (unlikely), he’s more than capable of winning the whole thing.

Wait, you don’t think Ukraine is going to become a member of the EU, do you?[emoji28] Suggest googling North Macedonia and the EU for an example of the way the bloc treats candidate countries. They’ve been a candidate since 2005, and they’re still not in the club, even after they changed their name to keep the Greeks happy. Turkey have been a candidate since 2004 and they’re nowhere near joining. The platitudes of bureaucrats like Van Leyden is to try and distract from the fact their purchasing of Russian gas is funding Vlad’s war machine. Ukraine is at the back of the queue.

Lot of easy wins today. Straight set wins for Djokovic, Sinner, Paul, Norrie and Alcaraz. Delighted Norrie got his first weeker major monkey off his back, and his last 16 tie against Tommy Paul looks very winnable. He’s ranked above him, after all

Watching Sinner take a two set lead on the old clogger Isner there. John thumped down a 136mph serve in the tie break - his fastest of the match. The 20 year old smacked it back at him, won the point and then won the tie break. He's a cracking young player, can see him going far and winning majors.

Ooft.

There's championship teams in England interested in him. Aberdeen and Hearts are interested in signing him in the same way we are. Nice to ask, but we don't have any realistic chance.

That was the sixth seed she just beat there. Sara Sorribes Tomo or Harmony Tan in round three. She'll fancy herself against either of them.

Great win against a tough opponent, and well deserved. First ever time in a grand slam third round, she's got a great chance of getting to the second week now. Go on Katie

Love these stories, heard so many of them. Reminds me of the Only An Excuse sketch with the tartan army foot soldier voting no in the privacy of the polling booth. She’s lied to you once before, think she’s telling the truth this time? I suspect this poll is Brit Nat propaganda, but interesting none the less.

Yeah Isner too good in the end. He surely wont be troubling the second week though, never mind the business end of the tournament. Expect Sinner to mop him up no problem next round. Sore one for Murray, this was a kind draw and he couldn’t take it to a fifth set. Back to the hard court for Andy now, he’ll surely be at the US Open. Beyond that… who knows.

Isner not even running for what looked like a makeabke drop shot in Murray’s service game there. Big clogger saving his energy to serve it out.

Seems like it. In the olden days whenever Murray drew the 6’6+ big serving guys like Isner, Karlovic, or Cillic to a lesser extent you knew he was going to beat them. His returning has always been superb and those big guys don’t have much else going for them. He needs to find that kind of form again in the next 20 minutes, or I suspect this will be his last ever match at Wimbledon.