Wimbledon 2021: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, regular appearances on the sidelines, record number of newcomers to QF at SW19
Roger Federer reached his 58th Grand Slam quarterfinal on Monday. Novak Djokovic turns 50 years old. Federer leads among men and women in the Open era, Djokovic is fifth (and second among men). At Wimbledon, eight-time champion Federer reached the quarterfinals 18 times, and Djokovic-12 times.
Away from these two going about business as usual, there are 11 first-time Wimbledon quarterfinalists and that would tick to 12 irrespective of the outcome of the rain-delayed contest between Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz on Tuesday. Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka, Karolina Pliskova, Ashleigh Barty, Viktorija Golubic, Alja Tomljanovic are the first-timers on the women’s side and Matteo Berrettini, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Marton Fucsovics, Felix Auger-Aliassime among the men. The two women who have been in this position before are 2019 quarter-finalist Karolina Muchova and 2018 champion Angelique Kerber.
The previous record for first-time quarterfinalists stood at 10 in 2014 with Barbora Strycova, Eugenie Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarova, Grigor Dimitrov, Lucie Safarova, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Simona Halep and Stan Wawrinka going beyond the ‘Manic Monday’.
One of the first-timers, Auger-Aliassime, who held his nerve to beat Alexander Zverev in five sets, thanked the crowd for getting him to this stage. “I’m a normal guy from Montreal, Canada. And here I am. Court 1, packed, Wimbledon. Surely the best win of my life so far. Like nothing I’ve experienced before. Thank you so much for living this moment with me,” he said in the on-court interview.
For the Canadian, Wimbledon is a favourite. It suits his big-serve and flat game with methodical groundstrokes on both wings almost like a machine at work. And he’s glad to make the most of the opportunity.
Asked how we’re seeing a record first-time quarter-finalist at the All England Club, he said, “I mean, grass is always a little bit different than other surfaces. We don’t get to play a lot of matches in the year on grass. I just feel like players that feel good on this surface can have a breakthrough sometimes. Also you have the big champions — Novak and Roger — the most experienced that are still the favourite for the title that are going to be tough to beat because they have the experience of winning it so many times.”
“Also with Rafa (Nadal) and Domi (Thiem) missing, as well, sometimes it can open up a draw a little bit for some players. As players on the tour, you try to take every chance you can get. Of course, you don’t always do. But you fight for it. It’s good to see some new faces in the quarter-finals. At least I’m happy to be part of it.”
Both men’s and women’s draws are missing some big names. Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Dominic Thiem, Milos Raonic all withdrew for different reasons. Additionally, there were multiple upsets in the first week: Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina among the women; Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Dimitrov among the men.
For the women, this is a tricky position to be in. They come out to play their quarter-final matches on Tuesday with little time to rest and more importantly, revel in their achievements.
“I think the short turnaround isn’t really giving the effect of being in the quarters. It didn’t really sink in because I’m already thinking what I’m going to do tomorrow,” said Tomljanovic who plays Barty next in what is going to be the first all-Australian women’s quarter-final at a major since 1980.
“But I did think to myself, I have to give myself some time to reflect on the week I’ve been having, just to give myself a pat on the back. Even though the circumstances were like this tonight, it is the biggest achievement so far in my career.“
“I’m unbelievably proud of myself that I’m here. I didn’t think I would be in a way. I didn’t think these two weeks would be my breakthrough. Now that they are, it’s kind of surreal. It just puts everything back into perspective.“
For some, like Sabalenka, this has been a long time coming. The World No 4 has won multiple big titles: 2018, 2019 Wuhan, 2019 Shenzhen, 2019 WTA Elite Trophy, 2020 Qatar Open and this year in Abu Dhabi and Madrid. What evaded her, or more accurately she didn’t take advantage of, was a showing at a major. Twice the Belarusian reached the fourth round and then was a prime contender for the 2020 French Open only to lose in the third round.
“Of course I’m really happy. But this is not my final goal. I’m trying to be happy but at the same time be focused and be ready for the next one because it’s also not [an] easy match.”
“Yeah, but I’m really happy I finally broke this wall (smiling). Yeah, I’m in the quarter-finals. Yeah, really looking forward for the next match. Hopefully, I can keep going,” she said after beating Elena Rybakina and has Jabeur next.
And then there is Pliskova who has been to the quarter-finals or better at the other three majors but exited Wimbledon in the last-16 in the previous two editions. Her 230 week stay in the top-10 ended just as Wimbledon began and on Monday she cut short Liudmila Samsonova’s 10-match winning streak.
“Super happy that I made it in singles because I had the last-8 only in doubles, which I thought is horrible. So now finally it’s my last Slam which I was missing [a QF],” she said with a laugh.
This is not the first of ‘firsts’ at Wimbledon 2021 and won’t be the last. A record six players had made the last-16 on their Wimbledon debuts and the women’s final on Saturday will at least have a player vying for her first Grand Slam title.
