Wimbledon's expansion plan heads to another sort of court
Wimbledon's major expansion plan includes adding an 8000-seat stadium with a retractable roof and 38 other grass courts at a former golf course across the street that would allow the All England Club to move its qualifying event and hold it on-site – as the other Grand Slam tournaments do – to boost attendance and revenue.
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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Starstruck Mirra Andreeva didn't realise she won match point at Wimbledon
Mirra Andreeva was the last person on Centre Court to realise she beat Emma Navarro, a result that made her the youngest woman in 18 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Andreeva was so focused on not thinking about the score — and avoiding looking at Roger Federer — that the 18-year-old Russian did not realise the fourth-round match was over when Navarro netted a forehand. So instead of celebrating a 6-2, 6-3 win, the seventh-seeded Andreeva calmly turned back to her baseline and started fiddling with her racket, seemingly getting ready for the next point. It wasn't until she noticed the reaction from the crowd — and coach Conchita Martinez — that it dawned on her she won. "Honestly, I just kept telling myself that I'm facing break points. I tried to tell myself that I'm not the one who is up on the score, I'm the one who is down," Andreeva said in an on-court interview. "In the end I completely forgot the score. I'm happy that I did it because I think that [otherwise] I would be three times more nervous on the match point." Andreeva became the youngest player since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 to reach the women's quarterfinals at the grass-court grand slam. The score was not the only thing Andreeva tried to ignore. She was also afraid to look up at the Royal Box, where eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer was sitting with his wife Mirka. "I really tried my best not to look over there in the box, because I knew that as soon as I would look there I would just completely lose my focus," she said, before addressing the couple directly. "Honestly, it means a lot to me that you came and watched my match. It's been one of my dreams to see you in real life. So when I saw both of you I got really, really nervous." The 10th-seeded Navarro had beaten defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in the previous round, ensuring there would be yet another first-time champion. It will be the ninth different women's champion in the past nine Wimbledons. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016. Andreeva will next face Belinda Bencic, who also reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal — 11 years after making her debut at the All England Club. Bencic beat 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 earlier on number one court. Bencic, who lost in the fourth round on three previous occasions, failed to convert five match points while serving at 5-3 in the second set. But on the sixth one, Alexandrova sent a forehand long. "For you guys it was entertaining," Bencic said about that marathon game at 5-3, where Alexandrova finally converted her fourth break point to stay in the match. "For me it was a big stress." Bencic's best result at a grand slam was reaching the semifinals at the 2019 US Open, where she also reached the quarters on two other occasions. The Tokyo Olympic champion, playing at Wimbledon for the ninth time, had not been into the last eight at any of the other three majors, until now. Bencic missed last year's grass court grand slam tournament while she was on maternity leave, having given birth to her first child — a daughter named Bella — in April 2024. She said travelling with a child on tour was still relatively easy, with Bella being so young, but that she was spending a lot more time taking pictures when she's at tournaments. "I'm juggling it like every mum does," Bencic said. "So, props to the mums." Also, 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova reached her first grand slam quarterfinal by beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5 on number two court. Samsonova has yet to drop a set this tournament and will face former world number one Iga Swiatek, who reached her second Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-1. AP
The Australian
2 hours ago
- The Australian
Tennis: Alex de Minaur wilts against Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon exit
Alex de Minaur lamented his inability to 'lift in the big moments' as he once again stumbled in the face of a top-10 combatant at Wimbledon, losing to Novak Djokovic and conceding he can't take the 'next step' until he finds his best when it matters most. The Australian No.1 took the first set in a canter against the eight-time champion, was steamrolled in the next two, but then had a break point to go 5-1 up and be one service game away from taking his 38-year-old opponent into a fifth set. While Djokovic 'lifted his level big time' with Roger Federer looking on from the centre court stands, de Minaur instead went the other way, losing five of the next eight games to fall in four sets and walk away knowing exactly where he let himself down with another grand slam moment not taken. 'He started going after it a little bit more and raised his level, which completely changed the momentum,' de Minaur said of Djokovic, who won 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. 'I'm frustrated I let that set slip away, but he's been pretty good in big moments for a very long time. Alex de Minaur lamented not being able to match Novak Djokovic in the big moments. Picture: Adrian Dennis / AFP 'In the bigger moments today I think my level dipped, and I didn't rise to the occasion as I needed to if I wanted to beat someone as good as him. 'There's positives (from the match) but where I am in my career I want more. I want to be on the other side of this match coming out on top because that's the next step in my career. 'If I'm going to make the next step, these are the types of matches that need to start going my way.' Even Djokovic conceded he had to 'hang tough' and wasn't happy with his display in front of Federer. Aged 38, he remains a chance to become the oldest grand slam singles champion in the Open era. 'It wasn't a great start for me, it was a great start for Alex de Minaur obviously. I kind of reset myself in the second set,' Djokovic said. 'I was very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one. 'It's probably the first time (Roger is) watching me and I've won the match. The last couple I lost, so good to break the curse.' Getting into a fifth set could have opened doors for de Minaur and it was hard to take any positives knowing he could have taken down one of the greatest of all time. 'The right thing to do, to tell myself, 'Hey, I was close, I probably should have been into a fifth set, and who knows what happens in that fifth set against Novak at Wimbledon and one of his best grand slams'. I should be telling myself that,' he said. Roger Federer watched Djokovic defeat de Minaur. Picture:'But right now … I won't see that side of things. It's still too early. It's a little bit more about, 'Yes, I lost to Novak, but I lost in the fourth round when I was hoping for more this week'.' It was also obvious to the Australian No.1 what he needs to improve on ahead of the US Open. 'I'm always going to put a lot of the pressure on my opponent, and I did that today,' he said. 'What I need to improve on is the serve. When (Djokovic) needed it, he really raised his serving. It felt like he was breezing through games. 'The serve needs to get me out of trouble, needs to help me in big moments, needs to step up if I want to win these matches.'
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Wimbledon apologises over embarrassing malfunction blunder
Wimbledon has made major changes to its Electronic Line Calling system and are confident there will be no further blunders. The tournament's much-maligned automatic line-calling system has come under fire after it malfunctioned at a pivotal moment, resulting in Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova being robbed of a crucial point on Sunday night (AEST). Serving for the game at 4-4 in the opening set of her round of 16 match against Sonay Kartal, the 34-year-old stopped after Kartal hit a ball clearly long. However, the ball wasn't called out. After several seconds, an automated voice was heard saying 'stop, stop'. Chair umpire Nico Helwerth quickly called for help from tournament organisers and eventually ruled that due to Hawk-Eye technology not correctly tracking the ball, the point had to be replayed, despite replays showing it was several centimetres out. You can watch the controversial moment in the player at the top of the page. Tournament officials were quick to apologise after the match. 'We have apologised to the players involved,' a statement from the All England club read. 'We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology. 'In this instance, there was a human error and as a consequence, we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes.' Wimbledon have now communicated its ELC system 'relies on the cameras and technology working in harmony with the operators and Review Officials'. Following a 'thorough review', the All England Club have 'removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking', The Sun reports. Though the source of the issue was a human mistake, tennis bosses say 'this error cannot now be repeated due to the system changes we have made'. German official Helwerth was not involved in any matches on Monday but the AELTC say he was simply 'having a rest day'. Hawk-Eye cameras have replaced line judges on all 18 courts for this year's Championships. CEO Sally Bolton said: 'In between matches, the system is deactivated, so it's not functioning when there isn't a match on court. 'So, there is a process in place for activating and deactivating the system, and the humans are the people that need to do the activating and deactivating. 'Why was it turned off mid-match? Well, I don't know. It was a mistake, obviously. 'It had been deactivated. We didn't need to put line judges back on the court again. We needed the system to be active. 'The chair umpire wasn't informed that the system had been deactivated in error. 'So I can be confident that our system is in the best shape it can possibly be at this stage.' Sunday's blunder proved a game-changing ruling with Pavlyuchenkova then going on to have her serve broken. The Russian was understandably irate at the changeover and accused organisers of favouring her British opponent. 'Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me,' she told the chair umpire. 'They stole the game from me. You stole the game from me'. In the end, Pavlyuchenkova regrouped to win the match 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, booking a place in the quarter-final. However, the disgruntled tennis star didn't let it go post-match teeing off on tournament officials. 'I just thought the chair umpire could take the initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it out, he told me after the match. I thought he would do that, but he didn't,' Pavlyuchenkova said. 'I think it's also difficult for him. He probably was scared to make such a big decision. But I think they should. That's what they're there for, sitting on the chair. 'Otherwise, I think, soon, let's just play without them. Right? Then we're gonna have everything automatic. 'I think we're losing a little bit of this charm of actually having human being ball boys. Like, during Covid, we didn't have ball boys. It becomes a bit weird and robot sort of oriented. 'They're very good at giving fines though and code violations. This, they don't miss. Every time, any little thing, they're just right there on it. I'd prefer they looked at the lines and called the errors, mistakes better.' Asked what she would have said if the point had ultimately cost her the match, the Russian quipped: 'I would just say that I hate Wimbledon and never come back here!' However, it is far from the only incident at Wimbledon and fans have called for change. 'The new line call tech at Wimbledon was always likely to raise some eyebrows, but having Pavlyuchenkova replay that game-winning point against Kartal is disgraceful,' one aggrieved fan wrote on X. 'Umpire not allowed to make a call when the tech has very clearly failed?! Pavlyuchenkova's game stolen.' 'Anastasia Pavyluchenkova is absolutely right in telling the chair umpire that. That is embarrassing for tennis. It's embarrassing for Wimbledon, the ball was clearly out and the tech failed,' another wrote. While a third added: 'Absolute shambles with the technology. That was miles out' Several players have also voiced that they feel they have also been wronged by the new line-technology. British star Emma Raducanu said she didn't trust it, while Jack Draper said he felt it wasn't 100 per cent accurate.
