As players finalise their preparations ahead of the busiest day of the Wimbledon championships, a series of records could be broken and rewritten at the tournament. Following the tournament’s grand tradition, all 16 remaining players in both the men’s and women’s draw will battle it out on a day nicknamed ‘Manic Monday’ with history at stake for a select few.
Rafa’s six-year wait
A two-time champion at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal could achieve something on Monday that the hasn’t done since 2011. The French Open champion will play Gilles Muller in the fourth round. Should he win against the Luxembourg player, he will play in his first Wimbledon quarter-final for six years.
“He’s one of the toughest opponents possible on this surface especially. Probably is his best surface without a doubt. He has a great serve, a great volley. He play well from the baseline here.” Nadal said about Muller.
So far in his career, the Spaniard has won 43 main draw matches at SW19 since 2003, when he made his grand slam debut at the age of 17. This year is his 12th appearance at Wimbledon.
Ostapenko’s Latvian task
Jelena Ostapenko is already the first player from her country to win a grand slam title after triumphing at the French Open earlier in the year. This time round, she is bidding for a quarter-final place at the grass-court major. Standing in her way is fourth seed Elina Svitolina in what will be their first tour meeting.
“Svitolina is a great player. She’s playing good this season. I know I will have to stay aggressive playing against her. Yeah, I can go for my shots. That’s probably the goal.” Said Ostapenko.
A run to the last eight will make Ostapenko only the second Latvian women to do so after Larisa Neiland, who reached the quarter-finals in 1994.
So far only three Latvian women have ever reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament. Ostapenko, Neiland and Anastasija Sevastova (2016 US Open).
Federer targets win No.317
Seven-time champion Roger Federer will be hoping to become the first player to win a 318th main draw match at a grand slam tournament. Following his third round win over Mischa Zverev, the Swiss player overtook Serena Williams with the most grand slam matches won. He is already the only man in history to break the 300 mark.
In the first round at Wimbledon, Federer sealed his 85th win at the tournament in what was an Open Era record, beating Jimmy Connors’ previous best of 84. During that same match he also became the third ATP player in history to hit 10, 000 aces in their career.
Outside of Wimbledon, Federer has won 87 matches at the Australian Open, 65 at Roland Garros and 78 at the US Open.
Williams aims to match Navratilova
At the age of 37, tenth seed Venus Williams is eyeing another quarter-final appearance in what is her 20th appearance at the tournament. Williams has lifted the Wimbledon trophy on five previous occasions with the last occurring in 2008.
Should Williams get through her fourth round encounter with Ana Konjur, she will be the oldest female quarter-finalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994. Croatia’s Konjur wasn’t born when Williams made her SW19 debut in 1997.
“This is my 20th Wimbledon. I never thought that I’d play this many. But I’m grateful to be here and to play. I love the game.”
This year is Williams’ 75th grand slam appearance in what is an Open Era record. She has currently won 254 grand slam matches which is the second highest on the WTA Tour after sister Serena (317).
The 43-year wait for the Brits
Monday could see a new chapter written in the history of British tennis when Andy Murray and Johanna Konta play their matches. Murray will take on Benoit Paire and Konta will face Caroline Garcia.
Should both of them win their fourth round matches, it will be the first time a British player has reached the last eight of the men’s and women’s draw since 1973. The last duo to achieve it was Virginia Wade and Roger Taylor.
Konta could also become the first British female quarter-finalist at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984. The last time a home player won the women’s title was in 1977 when Wade triumphed over Betty Stove in three sets.
