Siegemund makes Keys the latest Wimbledon upset victim
Keys' exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by claiming the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 at a boisterous Centre Court at night.
No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men's field also has seen its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeds gone in the first round.
'At times, it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.'
Wimbledon might be the only Grand Slam event where Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January.
Keys' power pitted against Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund.
When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly.
'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said.
How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she'd never made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open.
'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.'
On Sunday, the German faces another participant no one could have predicted would be at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew.
Ben Shelton played for all of four points and about a minute, wrapping up his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata that was suspended Thursday night. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round by beating Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets. Other men's seeds advancing were No. 5 Taylor Fritz, No. 14 Andrey Rublev and No. 17 Karen Khachanov.
In the women's draw, four-time major title winner Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon ended in the third round for the third time, eliminated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 13 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. advanced to the fourth round, as did No. 24 Elise Mertens and No. 30 Linda Noskova.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will take on Danielle Collins at Centre Court — who could forget their testy exchange at the Paris Olympics? — while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champ Novak Djokovic also are involved in matches at the main stadium. Two American women will be in action at No. 1 Court: Hailey Baptiste faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, and No. 10 Emma Navarro plays defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Siegemund makes Keys the latest Wimbledon upset victim
This most unpredictable of Wimbledons delivered yet another surprise Friday when reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the No. 6 seed, was a lopsided loser in the third round, eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany. Keys' exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by claiming the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 at a boisterous Centre Court at night. No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men's field also has seen its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeds gone in the first round. 'At times, it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.' Wimbledon might be the only Grand Slam event where Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January. Keys' power pitted against Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund. When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly. 'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said. How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she'd never made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open. 'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.' On Sunday, the German faces another participant no one could have predicted would be at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew. Ben Shelton played for all of four points and about a minute, wrapping up his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata that was suspended Thursday night. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round by beating Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets. Other men's seeds advancing were No. 5 Taylor Fritz, No. 14 Andrey Rublev and No. 17 Karen Khachanov. In the women's draw, four-time major title winner Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon ended in the third round for the third time, eliminated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 13 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. advanced to the fourth round, as did No. 24 Elise Mertens and No. 30 Linda Noskova. Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will take on Danielle Collins at Centre Court — who could forget their testy exchange at the Paris Olympics? — while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champ Novak Djokovic also are involved in matches at the main stadium. Two American women will be in action at No. 1 Court: Hailey Baptiste faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, and No. 10 Emma Navarro plays defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Globe and Mail
12 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
At Wimbledon, the strawberries and cream deliver
One does one's best always to avoid cliches, but some are unavoidable. I've been to Wimbledon a half-dozen times. I haven't bought the famous towel. I haven't had someone take my picture in front of the Fred Perry statue. I don't wear a Panama hat. And I've never had strawberries and cream. 'Never?' says the lovely woman who runs PR for the food and beverage end of the tournament. Never. 'You're joking?' I am not. 'Well, we can get you some.' We're standing in front of the Strawberries and Cream kiosk, where at noon, the line is expanding exponentially. It's like it's growing people. We're waiting on Joe Furber, Wimbledon's food and drink operations manager. As he rolls up, she turns to him. Players wonder if Wimbledon's tennis balls are a factor in upsets 'He's never had the strawberries.' 'Really?' says Furber. Really. 'I can go back there and get you some right now,' he says. He does so in a tone that suggests I am not appreciating the level of strawberry emergency we're all in right now. No, I'll line up with the rest of the plebs (most of whom look like they could buy and sell me). In the course of a life on the edges of sport, you will eat many things, most of them terrible. At the Sochi Olympics, they served a 'hot dog' that was the only inedible example of sausage I've ever had, wrapped in a mysterious glutinous material so thin that it wasn't a crepe. I'm not sure what it was, but it was the only thing you could get at whatever event I was stuck at that day. It was horrendous. I had the borscht once, and it was so greasy you could've undercoated your car engine with it. After that, I gave in and started going to the one McDonald's they had on the grounds. It was the only place you could get a salad. It was rammed day and night. Still, some regional specialties demand trying. I've had bratwurst at the World Cup in Germany (overrated), biltong at the one in South Africa (dangerously addictive) and an egg sandwich at Lawson's during the Tokyo Olympics (transportive). On a list of iconic foodstuffs, I'd put pimento cheese at the Masters and Nathan's Famous hot dogs at a Yankees game on top. At the media spread in Augusta, they keep a fridge topped up all day with the tournament's signature sandwich. Hundreds of them. Dainty little things. They're free. Only shame prevents you from standing there eating two or three at a time. Still, I would never make one at home. It's a Masters thing. In the old Yankee Stadium, they had a hot dog stand inside the press box. The hot dogs were free, but should you choose not to tip the servers, light would begin to bend around your body in such a way that you became invisible. Those were the best hot dogs I've ever had. So much snap on the exterior, so much salty umami in the interior. A perfect hot dog, every time. How often do you have anything that's perfect? Aside from a mint julep at the Kentucky Derby, I believe strawberries and cream are the only sports food icon that eludes me. They raised the prices on them this year, which is what got me thinking of them. The Mirror described the increase as 'staggering.' They've gone up to £2.70 from £2.50. That's a difference of 37 cents. Tax included. These are some serious strawberries. They are all grown on a single farm 50 km from the All England Club. They begin harvesting them on the first day tournament. They will be in season for a few weeks, but they are at their best during the two weeks of the tennis. The strawberries you're served were picked that morning, beginning at sunrise, and start showing up on the grounds at 9 a.m. They open the kiosk at the same time as the gates, an hour later. Whatever isn't used that day is turned into a house jam. I waited 18 minutes to be served -- something I would not normally do. One of my rules for life is that the only things I (grudgingly) line up for are airport security and the checkout at Costco. The strawberries come in one of those cardboard boxes I associate with New Yorkers eating takeout Chinese in the movies. Your cream options are the real thing or a 'plant-based alternative,' which sounds ghastly. The spoons are somehow of made of seaweed, but not edible (I tried). You get exactly 10 strawberries of average size. The cream is unsweetened, thankfully. They pour it in front of you with flourish, like a dairy sommelier. How are they? I like strawberries the way we would all like a life partner -- tender, with a nice balance between sweet and tart. No point in playing it cool -- Wimbledon strawberries are bananas. They are the bee's knees. I went out later and bought a pint of a less refined variety at Tesco to prove to myself the difference, and it was vast. It's human nature to remember great food better than anything but than the most remarkable events. This must be some caveman remnant. You remember the way to the place where the berries were least poisonous. A food memory is inextricable from place and company. When your time is up and you run through a rack of flashbacks of your life, I would bet more than a few of them will be meals you had with the people you love. No one I loved was there just inside Gate 4, if you don't count the Australian film crew badgering people about how much they liked the strawberries. But having been set up so well by history, I won't forget them. One of the nice little things about Wimbledon is that they let you bring in your own food, but they really want you to try the strawberries. For a very reasonable price, they are offering you the chance to manufacture a memory. 'You're very welcome to bring your own,' said Furber, the food manager. 'But I guarantee you that ours are better.'
CTV News
16 hours ago
- CTV News
Red Bull's Christian Horner says Max Verstappen intends to stay despite Mercedes links
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands makes a pit stop during the first practice of the British Formula One Grand Prix in Silverstone, England, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) SILVERSTONE, England — Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said Max Verstappen intends to stay with the team for next year despite speculation about a move to Mercedes which would shake up Formula 1. Verstappen has repeatedly declined to say he's committed to Red Bull for 2026 following a suggestion last week from Mercedes' George that his team spoke with Verstappen. Russell doesn't have a contract for 2026. The four-time world champion has a contract through 2028 at Red Bull but there have been indications that a performance-related clause could allow him to exit earlier. The exact details are not public. 'The contracts between the drivers and the teams are always going to remain confidential. With any driver's contract there is an element of a performance mechanism, and of course that exists within Max's contract,' Horner said on Friday at the British Grand Prix. 'His intention is that he will be there and driving for us in 2026. It's inevitable that he's of huge interest to any other other team in the pit lane.' Horner suggested Russell 'probably triggered all this speculation' to strengthen his hand in talks with Mercedes. 'I think the most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team and that's very clear,' Horner added. Horner also said of Verstappen: 'He's made it quite clear that he would like to finish his career in a Red Bull car from start to finish. I think that's quite special and unique for him.' Russell said on Thursday he believed there was an 'exceptionally low' chance he'd have to leave Mercedes for 2026. Horner added that Yuki Tsunoda will get the rest of 2025 to show he deserves to keep a seat at Red Bull, but signaled he'd consider a range of options inside and outside the wider Red Bull organization, including Liam Lawson and his rookie Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar. Tsunoda was promoted to Verstappen's teammate in March after Lawson struggled in the first two races. 'Yuki has got until the end of the season to demonstrate that he's the guy to remain in the car,' Horner said. 'We have Isack also doing a good job and Liam finding his form as well. So within the Red Bull pool we have talent. Of course, you're also open to what is outside of that. We want to field the best lineup that we can for next year. We've gone outside of that pool in recent years. If we feel the necessity to do so, we wouldn't be afraid to do so again.' ___ James Ellingworth, The Associated Press
