Day 10, Part 1 Wimbledon


Day 10, Part 1

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This is the national programme. Now we are going to take you over to

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Wimbledon... He's done it! Her Majesty will present the trophy.

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Brilliant! Oh, yes! Perfect. Irresistible. Majestic. Superb.

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Champion again! You are about to leave the sanctuary

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of the locker room. Take a deep breath. Focus. And it is time to

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take the walk. Pictures hang on the wall, great moments captured in

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time. Ignore them. Your opponent is right there. Ignore them. You are

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nervous. There is pressure. Especially if you are the home

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favourite. The woman who has suddenly got the whole nation behind

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you. History weighing on your shoulders. Ignore it. A British

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victory at last. Walk down the stairs, past the trophy cabinets,

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past the honours board, ignore them. Tell yourself this is just another

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match. Only it isn't. You know it isn't. A place in the Wimbledon

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final... It is the semi-final at Wimbledon. That is genius! The door

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is open to the final. Light at the end of the tunnel. British tennis

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history is made! It is time to go to work. Nobody knows that walk better.

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Martina Navratilova has 59 Grand Slam titles and Johanna Konta will

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make that walk today. Still driving for her first. We have not had a day

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like this for 39 years, a British woman in the semifinals at

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Wimbledon. Johanna Konta has performed bravely at this year's

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Wimbledon and now carries the country's hopes following Andy

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Murray's defeat yesterday. The British number one was out on the

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practice court this morning. Three times she has been taken to three

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sets and each time she has found a way to win and they have been some

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of the most thrilling matches that this year's Wimbledon. But standing

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in her way today is an all-time great of the sport. Venus Williams

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is a five-time winner of the Ladies' Singles and at the age of 37 is the

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oldest semifinalist since Martina 23 years ago. She has now played

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exactly 100 matches here and won 86 of them. But Johanna Konta has a

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winning 3-2 record against Williams and has already disposed of the

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number two seed Simona Halep. She is the first British woman to reach the

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semifinal since Virginia Wade in 1978. The other semifinal is Garbine

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Muguruza against Magdalena Rybarikova. Garbine Muguruza was a

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semifinalist when she lost to Serena Williams. Rybarikova is ranked 87 in

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the world that you makes a comeback from injury but she has won 18 of 19

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matches on grass this year. Those are the two semifinals that we are

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looking forward to an Centre Court. Muguruza against Rybarikova and then

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a huge day for Britain's number one Jo Konta up against the great Venus

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Williams. That is Centre Court and we thought it was fitting on this

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day that we make our way courtside. I am with two people who know that

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walk well, with multiple Grand Slam titles between them, in places and

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King. It is some walk, Sunday. -- Kim Clijsters and Billie Jean King.

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It is just so nerve-racking. If you are in the zone, it is a wonderful

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walk. It reminds you of history, you look up at the boards, you see the

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trophy, the plate. It is truly beautiful. I think that is the most

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beautiful award in the world and I love it. With all the different

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names on it. All the shoulders that you are standing on before you get

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here. It is quite wonderful. Walking out on this court, when you turn the

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corner, it opens up to this panoramic view with the people.

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There is nothing like it. It can be wonderful but it can also be

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terrifying as well! Looking at the trophy and the board and everything!

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Bows, it can be both. I remember as a junior I would wait at the stairs

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outside of the locker room and I would look through the window and I

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would see the players leaving, and I would see them walking that five or

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ten metres, and as a junior it was like being in Disneyland seeing the

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Disney characters walking out! At a junior it was an incredible

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experience already back then and it is still special now after being

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retired for a few years. Coming back it is still just as special. Martina

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was saying ignore it, ignore all the pressure. How easy is it to ignore

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it? You don't ignore it. You know it is there. What really helps is when

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you admit it. You say I am nervous. When you try to say that you are

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fine and you are not, that is the worst. Just accept it. Have

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ownership of it. When you say I feel pressure, then it dissipates. It is

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being honest. It allows you to move on also and then get really focused

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on the task at hand. It is not easy. It is so emotional. It is the person

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who is stronger at that that tends to be the greater champion in the

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world. If you have the head and the heart and the guts together, and

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integrated, those are the true champions. It is amazing to watch

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that evolve every generation. I have been around a while now! I keep

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thinking about this occasion for Konta and how important it is for

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her. She needs to just stay focused. I know she gets a text message the

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night before. Tactics. And they go over it again in the morning. Almost

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like an exam. Testing to see if she has got it clear. Clarity is a big

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part of being a great player. It is very important. Being very clear

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what you are going to try to do. You have got to embrace it but you can't

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get away from it. Semifinals is a different feeling around the

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grounds, the locker room, and you know it is a huge occasion. It is.

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After winning the quarterfinals, the media hype it up. The day off in

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between, there are lots more things to do. There is a lot more pressure.

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Dealing with the pressure. What is important to know, for Jo as well,

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Venus has been in this situation many more times than her that she

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will also be nervous. Everybody will be nervous in this situation, no

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matter how many times you have been there because it is so special.

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Absolutely. I think for both of them... The two waterboard things

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are served and service return, the two initial shots. -- the two most

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important things are service and service return. But you are only as

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good as your second serve. That will make the difference today. You have

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got to get a huge percentage in if you are not serving well. These are

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the decisions you have got to make as you adapt and adjust and you go

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through the match. I really know you are always as good as your second

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serve because you don't have your first serve going every day, day in

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and day out. And don't get overwhelmed. You look at the draw,

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128 people at the beginning. But you have only got to win seven matches,

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one match at a time, one ball at a time. I remember Rod Laver telling

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me that. I only have got to beat seven guys, not 128. I thought that

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was brilliant! That allowed me to calm down right there. That makes it

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sound so easy! I do think that pressure is a privilege. Jo knows

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that better than anybody and she is a bracing it. Andy Murray might have

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to step over, Kim and I might have to step away, and we might have

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Konta Castle on the hill! Tim Henman and Andy Murray are great, but go

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for it because you are the last bricked left! -- the last Briton

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left! I know Tim Henman on the committee here and he is not going

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to give up that hill! We will talk more about Jo and service later, but

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talking about Andy Murray and the disappointment yesterday, playing

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with an injury is always hard but yesterday was painful to watch.

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Painful but also I admired him that he was still fighting, still out

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there. If it had been another tournament, I don't think he might

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have started. It just shows how much he respects this place. He did try

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to finish the match. When you rely so much on your speed and you cannot

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push off, there is no chance for him to win points. No, and it also comes

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down to not wanting to give up. He wants to give his opponent and the

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crowd the respect. Maybe I am not as fit as normal but I still want to

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finish and I want my opponent to have the respect that they beat me.

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I think that is something... Personally I had mixed emotions

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going into this tournament for Andy Murray. If he has got an injury, I

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don't want him to hurt himself so badly that he ends up needing an

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operation. Sometimes you need to have a short-term loss for long-term

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gain. I know the reason he played, he wanted to play for his country

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and the people. I felt bad and I felt that he was between a rock and

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a hard place no matter which way he went. He still made the semifinals!

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Amazing. Quarterfinals, sorry. Novak Djokovic, similar, an elbow injury

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yesterday and the shoulder injury, long-standing. He has got to have a

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long time now. But then who walks onto Centre Court? Roger Federer. He

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just made the game looks so easy. Wow! If he could pass that on to

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others! He has got such a passion to play and his technique is a perfect

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that he is having this longevity and being able to sustain it. I have had

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a kidney operations and when your knee is not right, it is horrible to

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play. -- I have had eight knee operations. Taking that rest in the

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second half of the year and getting extremely prepared and repaired, his

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body and having time with the children, he just seems so relaxed

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and fit this year. He is so fit. And he has got the chance to have a

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record number of titles, between him and Pete Sampras. And then of course

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we can go way back for the record of seven titles, and Roger has the

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chance to get to eight. He knows that. He is so fluid and efficient.

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We were wondering whether he is human. Some of the shots he was

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playing yesterday were out of this world. For me it is funny. I have

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been around him since the juniors and to see the process, to see how

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he was from juniors and how he is now and the way he thinks out on

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court, it is like a chess player. Everything is very tactical as well

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and it is incredible to see. He is a great guy and I am really excited

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that he is in this position again. I interviewed him recently about his

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very first match at Wimbledon and he came at 16 in the juniors and after

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four games he said he was so nervous that he asked the umpire to measure

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the net because he thought it was too high. He said police measure the

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net, and he got down and said it is not too high. He said it just felt

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to be, an enormous thing. And then he won the juniors, I think in 1998,

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and now look where he is. Unbelievable. Wimbledon has that

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effect on people. Good news for Roger Federer fans yesterday as he

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went safely through to the last four. And I wonder if we have more

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good news about the weather because we want that roof open today.

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Absolutely! The cloud has been building up through the course of

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the day but it is still going to be a pleasant afternoon. It is still

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quite warm and we will have further sunny spells. The maximum

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temperature today is 23. As we head through the evening, we are looking

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at a lot of dry weather and temperatures of about 20. Coming

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down in the evening with only a 10% risk of a shower in the late

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afternoon, early evening, but we are more likely to see dry weather. Into

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the next day, dry weather and temperatures on the right side of

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20. All is good. Yes, and you are looking wonderful in your Wimbledon

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colours! Perfect for the semifinals. We did meet for breakfast and yes, I

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did pay but she only had a cup of tea! Thank you very much. All of the

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talk, a real buzz on Centre Court, because Britain's number one Jo

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Konta will be on Centre Court, because Britain's number one Jo

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Konta will be an second. She has been talking to us.

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It's a very special day for Joanna Konta. And the fans have waited 33

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years to be able to say that one of their own is in the quarterfinals.

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Whenever you engage in one of these titanic tussle is, you always seem

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to have the belief. I trust in my own ability, that trust has got to

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be there. # I rise up

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# And I do it a thousand times again The first British woman since 1978

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to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, and you will be in the

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top five in the women's rankings when they are out next week.

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I didn't know that! OK. Thank you. Congratulations. When you tot up all

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of these achievements, do you ever patch yourself on the back and go,

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well done? Um... It's difficult, because in the fortunate and

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unfortunate position in tennis, things move quickly, so before you

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know it, the Championships will be over, things are so fast moving. It

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is almost an art to reflect well and to acknowledge the good things that

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you do, and that is something I work on to make sure that I acknowledge

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the good things I'm doing, but I'll let you know after Wimbledon how my

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pat on the back went! COMMENTATOR: British tennis history

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is made. Venus Williams, semifinal at

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Wimbledon, the sound of that to as is are as exciting as you can

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imagine. What about EU? Equally. I have shared the court with a number

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of times in the last few years, and every single chance I've had to play

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her, it's been a battle. The last time she got the better of me, so I

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am the King forward to sharing accord with her again, to be really

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playing against someone who is in such good form and if such a

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champion. I have never played her on grass. How much can the crowd help

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you in those difficult moments? But I'm sure we'll be coming against

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Venus. They have been tremendous in their passion and support, and their

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excitement for me to battle well, and I'm definitely feeling very

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humbled and grateful that they are on this journey with me, and I'm

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definitely looking forward to seeing them on Thursday. Well, they are

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preparing the Centre Court for the first of the ladies semifinals, so

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we have come to our usual spot just behind the net in the corner, and

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just listening to Jo, she is remaining very calm. It has been the

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same since the beginning of the tournament. There were questions

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before about her injury before the tournament, but she has been very

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composed and well spoken, and she has been like that on court as well,

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when she wasn't playing her best tennis, staying focused on what she

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had to do and could turn matches around. And she will need that today

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as well if she wants to get through. This was her this morning on one of

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the championship courts, going through all her routines as they do.

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She looks very relaxed, which is a good thing. It's good, smiling and

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relaxed, you have to remind yourself to keep your face relaxed, and that

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is good, she is enjoying the process which is helpful to keep your pulse

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rate and nerves down so you are not wasting energy. Sometimes you can

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leave it all in the locker room or the day before because you are so

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nervous, that when you get out here, you are flat. So you have to keep

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your inner self calm, keep on message, and it is interesting to

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hear her speak. She is so articulate. You know what she's

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thinking and feeling, she is honest. And I think it's really helped her

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to be where she is today. She is very, very reflective, she really

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thinks a lot and feels a lot as well, and I think when she puts

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those two together, she is indomitable, she really is. I love

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watching her. Absolutely, and against Simona Halep, when it got

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tight, she really did hold their nerve, and she kept hitting so hard.

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We have a few illustrations where she broke in the final set to get

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that break of serve which is so important when you get into the

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third set. It is, and she made Simona Halep doubt herself because

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of her internal strength, and you could see the shift coming. It was

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even through the whole match until the end of the second set, and a

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venue could see Johanna fighting and fighting, and she broke down. And

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this was her serving for the match, she didn't let up. Because she knew

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she did, she might let Halep back in. That is when you have to make

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the total commitment. I am going to keep doing what I need to do to win

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this, I am not going to win the other way, and sometimes you have to

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go back, you want to go back and play different, but she knows this

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is the way she's going to win, such clarity, and she stays with it no

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matter what. A very different opponent today, because Venus

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Williams is a very different style of play. Yes, against somebody like

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Simona, the rhythm is there, she hits a nice height over the net, you

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have a lot of rallies, so you are in a rhythm when you play against

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someone like Simona Halep, but today it will be different. Venus, like

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you said before, she returns well, she serves well, and that is going

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to be the key. Let's talk about the first shot. We have been looking at

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the stats, and how close they are. There is only one mile per hour

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difference between their average first serve speed and second serve

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speed, and only double faults at the bottom as well as separate.

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Let's have a look at the two different players. Down the centre

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of the column, 30% in the middle, and then 14 on the right, and if we

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now put Joe in, it is totally different.

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There we go, going for the corners. You want to get the player off the

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court say you have all the court to hit into on the very next shot off

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the return, that is what we are taught. Venus with her long

:22:07.:22:12.

wingspan, by serving down the middle, she gets less angle on the

:22:13.:22:17.

return, so it is very interesting. I think that Konta's second serve is

:22:18.:22:23.

better than Williams, so Venus is going to have to get a high

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percentage of first serves in to win this match today, and if she

:22:28.:22:33.

doesn't, then Jo will have the upper hand. You are only as good as your

:22:34.:22:38.

second serve, and you cannot serve great everyday on your first serve,

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so how does my second serve hold-up? That is going to be the thing I will

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be looking for. How many first serves in, and how many second

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serves are they winning? What percentage? It will be interesting

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to see how it evolves, and the service return is major to really

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strike the ball well on the return, to really get the point so you

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really do have the upper hand in the point. And the Jo, she can go for

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those corners, because she is such a great athlete, she doesn't mind if

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they come back at angles. One is serve that Jo hasn't really used is

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the body serve, and against the French girl, Garcia was so close,

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she was inside the court, and I was wondering why she wasn't using the

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body serve more, because it is so effective on grass. And especially

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against Venus today, too, it was a serve I tried to use a lot against

:23:43.:23:47.

her, because she has those long arms, try to not give her the angle.

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We will see if she will use it a little more today, but I think she

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will. So you won't be happy if she isn't getting some down the middle?

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I am not seeing very many body serves. This was Venus going through

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a gentle warm up, building herself up here, but how good a serve is it,

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Billie Jean? It is one of the best in the tournament. She got really

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upset, she was tired of not serving well, and at the beginning of the

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year she went out and work extra hard on her serve, spent extra time

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on the gym, on all so her autoimmune condition, I thought she might not

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come back at all, but you can just see her resolve thinking, no, I am

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going to come back here and play again.

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Still playing for titles, and we have been asking why.

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A lot can change in 20 years, people come and go. Some things remain

:24:56.:25:08.

constant. Long reigns are scarce in sport, making various Williams were

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rare. Williams the elder is a serious contender again. It is the

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love for the game is what you need if you want to be able to keep such

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a long career, and of course the belief, too. She must still believe

:25:28.:25:30.

that she is capable of beating the best players out there, and she can.

:25:31.:25:37.

At 37 she is the oldest woman to make the semifinals here since the

:25:38.:25:39.

legendary Martina Navratilova in 1994. The British player who

:25:40.:25:43.

practised with Venus during her first Wimbledon didn't see it coming

:25:44.:25:51.

at all. I remember back in 1997 it was her first Wimbledon, and we

:25:52.:25:54.

spent a lot of time together on the practice courts. I started hitting

:25:55.:26:02.

with her, and she hit every ball at Mack ten. If you told me back then

:26:03.:26:07.

20 years ago that she would still be playing in 2017, I do think I would

:26:08.:26:11.

have believed you. This achievement is all the more remarkable

:26:12.:26:13.

considering the surrounding heavy gloom of her recent and much

:26:14.:26:15.

publicised car accident. I think I should go. She is a warm,

:26:16.:26:29.

empathetic person, this is not something that she'd be able to

:26:30.:26:34.

brush off. She in turn lies is it, Angie is a very stoic person, so for

:26:35.:26:39.

her to break down like that demonstrates the internal struggle

:26:40.:26:40.

she is going through. I think that she finds refuge on the

:26:41.:26:53.

tennis court, but no more so than at Wimbledon. Just being on the grass

:26:54.:26:58.

is very comforting to her in a lot of ways, and she is one of only two

:26:59.:27:04.

former champions here, so I give her a shot. Being able to treat those

:27:05.:27:11.

two impostors, triumph and disaster, the same, has never felt more apt

:27:12.:27:17.

for Williams as she bids to succeed her pregnant sister Serena as

:27:18.:27:23.

champion and win her first title here in nine years. She is playing

:27:24.:27:29.

unbelievably well, as well as she ever has. Venus always comes to

:27:30.:27:38.

Wimbledon as if she belongs here, and she says she feels it's like a

:27:39.:27:42.

home. Taking full ownership of her

:27:43.:27:47.

Wimbledon home once again would be a tale for the ages. A lot can change

:27:48.:27:51.

in 20 years, but lifting Wimbledon trophies never gets old.

:27:52.:27:57.

SUE BARKER: And I guess that is an important factor, the fact that she

:27:58.:28:01.

has gone on to win it and she has that champion's aura about her. That

:28:02.:28:05.

is very important, and what happened earlier when she made the finals of

:28:06.:28:09.

the Australian Open again, losing to her sister, Serena, but that must

:28:10.:28:15.

have been a big confidence booster to her again, she believes in

:28:16.:28:20.

herself but she is showing herself again on court. I have known her

:28:21.:28:26.

since she was 11 years old, I met her in California where I was born

:28:27.:28:34.

and raised. I just saw her, remember she is only 15 months older than

:28:35.:28:37.

Serena, but she seems much older internally, wiser, she has been

:28:38.:28:44.

through a lot, and I think with the accident that has happened, she

:28:45.:28:50.

found out it was a green light, and I think she feels that she is OK

:28:51.:28:56.

now, it wasn't her fault, but she still has great empathy as a human

:28:57.:29:00.

being, she very has, she is very reflective as a person.

:29:01.:29:04.

And it is good to see her with everything you have been through --

:29:05.:29:09.

she has been through, and you talk about her Sjogren's syndrome, that

:29:10.:29:13.

affects her joint and fatigue. Exactly, when she wakes up in the

:29:14.:29:18.

morning, she doesn't know how she is going to feel, you can feel

:29:19.:29:23.

absolutely horrible with Sjogren's autoimmune, so it is a blessing to

:29:24.:29:28.

still be able to see her play at this height of play, and remember

:29:29.:29:32.

she is on five times here, she understands that as Virginia said,

:29:33.:29:36.

she just loves Wimbledon, this is her home. That is the second match,

:29:37.:29:41.

it will be a new experience for Jo, and same here, Garbine Muguruza has

:29:42.:29:49.

been here before, but the Magdalene Rybarikova, this is her first ever

:29:50.:29:53.

Wimbledon semifinal, it is the first time she has ever got past the third

:29:54.:29:58.

round of a major, and she had so many injuries last year and only

:29:59.:30:01.

came back to the tour in February, but she has done it the hard way,

:30:02.:30:05.

she has played all the small tournaments, won 18 out of 19

:30:06.:30:09.

matches on grass, and she is feeling comfortable. Yes, and sometimes

:30:10.:30:12.

having injuries like that make you reflect and make you miss the sport,

:30:13.:30:17.

and the fact that she went back to the lower ranked tournaments, it is

:30:18.:30:23.

a sign that she wants to fight and tries to get back, and the love for

:30:24.:30:26.

the game, and that is why you want to be able to play these big

:30:27.:30:27.

tournaments. Absolutely. Konta will be an second. She has

:30:28.:30:39.

been talking to us. Mary R. Garbine Muguruza who has

:30:40.:30:49.

been so impressive so far looks to be back to herself. There was a dip

:30:50.:30:53.

in form and then she won the French Open last year and then another

:30:54.:30:56.

death and she looks to be back to her best once again. Let's hear from

:30:57.:31:00.

her. She has been talking to Lee McKenzie. She is there! Garbine

:31:01.:31:11.

Muguruza in the Wimbledon final. The star is born today. Can you compare

:31:12.:31:16.

where your game is from two years ago to now? I was learning how to

:31:17.:31:22.

play because did not play a lot of matches on grass so it was sort of

:31:23.:31:25.

love it. Now I have learned with experience and I think I am a

:31:26.:31:29.

different player. A little bit more calm and figuring out what to do in

:31:30.:31:34.

certain moments I am improving. I am happy to be able to be in the

:31:35.:31:38.

semifinals. It is great to come so far. Is it possible for you to relax

:31:39.:31:42.

at Wimbledon when you know you have got a semifinal coming up? You have

:31:43.:31:50.

also got to learn how to relax. You can't be 24/7 intention. You have

:31:51.:31:53.

got to close the window, now it is my moment, I will focus again

:31:54.:32:00.

tomorrow. It is interesting looking at your social media. Johanna Konta

:32:01.:32:04.

is the goody to shoes making muffins for everyone. Working seems to be

:32:05.:32:09.

more chaotic in your house with fire alarms going off. -- cooking. Yes,

:32:10.:32:17.

we had a problem with the fire alarm but that is part of Wimbledon! We

:32:18.:32:21.

have got a house and we can cook altogether. I tried to be there and

:32:22.:32:25.

I do this week part because I love sweets. What is your signature dish?

:32:26.:32:31.

I love creme caramel, brownies, anything with sugar. It should in

:32:32.:32:34.

everything and it tastes fine! I can't believe it. Magdalena, you

:32:35.:32:43.

have got Muguruza and a date back on Centre Court. For a long time I did

:32:44.:32:47.

not play against her but her game is still there. She was in the

:32:48.:32:51.

semifinals. I am just expecting another tough match and I am ready.

:32:52.:32:58.

I can't believe she said the fire alarm off! She is staying 20 yards

:32:59.:33:04.

from where I am staying! She is such a happy person. When she is playing

:33:05.:33:08.

happy tennis, and hitting the ball so freely, she is beautiful to

:33:09.:33:15.

watch. Conchita makes a big difference. She won here in 1994 and

:33:16.:33:21.

she is very relaxed. It spills over into Muguruza and she is having fun.

:33:22.:33:26.

I think the fire alarm was good because it is something to laugh

:33:27.:33:29.

about. She is very relaxed for her and she knows she has that if she is

:33:30.:33:34.

going to play. She has lost the least games and she has come through

:33:35.:33:43.

against Kuznetsova and Kerber. She maybe wasn't feeling her best before

:33:44.:33:47.

this tournament but she built her level. People always say it will be

:33:48.:33:51.

tough for her but then she steps up. She has done what she has got to do

:33:52.:33:55.

and it is the sign of a great champion and today she will

:33:56.:33:58.

definitely have to step it up as well. I think the question is

:33:59.:34:04.

whether she can play Rybarikova off the court because Rybarikova has

:34:05.:34:06.

great hands and slice and she can break up the rhythm and he has

:34:07.:34:11.

terrific drive shots. Can she handled the pace of Muguruza off the

:34:12.:34:15.

ground? That is my question. Muguruza is so tough of the ground.

:34:16.:34:20.

I watched her playing last year after the French, and sitting right

:34:21.:34:24.

behind the court, kind of like the royal box ear, she hit the ball so

:34:25.:34:27.

hard and it penetrated through the courts so fast, and you have just

:34:28.:34:35.

got to play early. Let's hear from her.

:34:36.:34:41.

It is a Slovak surprise. An unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova is through to a

:34:42.:34:53.

Wimbledon semifinal. I would never ever believe I could be in a

:34:54.:34:56.

semifinal before this tournament. I am speechless right now and so

:34:57.:35:04.

happy. The fairy tale continues. What are the expectations of taking

:35:05.:35:09.

on Muguruza? The head to head is 2-2 at the moment. Last time we played

:35:10.:35:13.

it was on grass. This will be completely different. It is a

:35:14.:35:19.

semifinal of a Grand Slam and she is experienced with semifinals and

:35:20.:35:22.

finals and she is a Grand Slam champion. He is an amazing player

:35:23.:35:26.

but again it is not pressure on me, I think it is more pressure on her

:35:27.:35:29.

because I am not the favourite in this match and it is the semifinals,

:35:30.:35:34.

so I will enjoy the match. I want to give my all and I want to fight for

:35:35.:35:37.

this match and to be in the final. It is a great achievement for me

:35:38.:35:44.

already now. She has certainly done it the hard way, getting into the

:35:45.:35:49.

grass here. Playing in the smaller tournaments, she won at Surbiton and

:35:50.:35:53.

Ilkley and she got into the semifinals of Nottingham, but when

:35:54.:35:56.

your ranking has dropped that low, that is what you have got to do,

:35:57.:36:00.

work your way back in those tournaments. You have got to win

:36:01.:36:04.

matches. That is what is so important. Just try to win matches.

:36:05.:36:09.

It doesn't matter if the player is ranked 300 in the world or top 50,

:36:10.:36:18.

as long as you can win and build your confidence and get into the

:36:19.:36:20.

routine of playing matches, that is the most important thing. And see

:36:21.:36:22.

how your injury is holding up. That is important. The mental side of

:36:23.:36:26.

things, when you have been away for so long, just knowing how much you

:36:27.:36:29.

have missed the game and loved it, that is something that will boost

:36:30.:36:33.

your confidence and your work ethic as well. She has been working

:36:34.:36:39.

extremely hard. I was talking to her in the locker room and it is nice to

:36:40.:36:42.

hear that the hard work pays off. It is such a lovely game, a throwback

:36:43.:36:49.

with the slice and wanting to come forward and volley. Yes, and she

:36:50.:36:53.

makes it very tough for the opponent on grass because she has that

:36:54.:36:57.

variety in the game. I wouldn't enjoy that. It is easy to play

:36:58.:37:00.

against somebody when you know which shot is coming at you every time but

:37:01.:37:05.

she has got every shot. She can slice it. She can come in and really

:37:06.:37:09.

surprise you with all types of tactical tennis. She will have to

:37:10.:37:14.

use that today. Angie has got a big serve. They all do otherwise

:37:15.:37:20.

wouldn't be in the semifinals. -- and she has got a big serve. Built

:37:21.:37:26.

for service, playing on grass. People think they can't play on

:37:27.:37:30.

grass, and that takes the pressure. She has got a great game for grass

:37:31.:37:34.

because everything she hits penetrate and that is what you want

:37:35.:37:37.

unless you are hitting the soft shot. Is that strapping new? I don't

:37:38.:37:43.

remember it. I think it new. When you go through these Grand Slams,

:37:44.:37:49.

you do pick up little things. Yes, that this is prevention may be as

:37:50.:37:56.

well? She wants to be moving and she doesn't want anything more serious

:37:57.:37:59.

to happen if she makes it to the final. They have called time. Where

:38:00.:38:06.

is your money going? Muguruza if she is hitting well. I think so as well.

:38:07.:38:11.

Thank you to Billy Kee and Kim Kleist is, who is on her way to the

:38:12.:38:16.

commentary box. We will speak more to Billie later. Now over to John

:38:17.:38:23.

McEnroe. Muguruza in her third Grand Slam

:38:24.:38:33.

semifinal and she has not lost one yet. This is a comparison of how

:38:34.:38:39.

they have done. Not a lot to choose between the two. More winners from

:38:40.:38:46.

Muguruza but you would expect that. John has joined me. Do you expect

:38:47.:38:50.

Muguruza to dominate this match? Potentially. She has obviously got a

:38:51.:38:58.

lot more experience and belief. I think she has added something to her

:38:59.:39:10.

game, variety. She has a lot of strapping to her leg which could

:39:11.:39:13.

because for concern. She is playing someone with not a lot of pace. It

:39:14.:39:18.

could be interesting. Muguruza will begin.

:39:19.:39:42.

Her sixth Wimbledon. Last year she lost in the second round against

:39:43.:40:29.

Cibulkova but the year before that she was magnificent, all the way

:40:30.:40:30.

through to the final. Kim, she is a superb athlete,

:40:31.:40:48.

Muguruza. She is a very good athlete. We were talking about the

:40:49.:40:54.

strapping is on the leg, but it is more prevention. I think we will see

:40:55.:40:59.

some of her great movement out here. Conchita Martinez seems to have

:41:00.:41:20.

settled down and make believe that she can win this one. Nice change

:41:21.:41:28.

from her normal coach. She gets calmer and calmer and Conchita gets

:41:29.:41:29.

more excited. Good yin and yang. I helped a girl here at the

:41:30.:41:58.

beginning of the tournament. She and Muguruza played in the second round.

:41:59.:42:02.

I was just a few seats away from Conchita and they were very vocal in

:42:03.:42:03.

the box! Much more aggressive. Don't you

:42:04.:42:26.

think that Conchita has brought to the table the idea that you don't

:42:27.:42:37.

have to blow the ball through or by anyone every time. That was how she

:42:38.:42:41.

was able to use her guile and wherewithal to win this. A nice

:42:42.:42:45.

matchup, especially for Wimbledon. A lot of girls think that they have

:42:46.:42:49.

got to play perfect tennis to win matches. That is what Conchita, with

:42:50.:42:54.

their experience, having won here, it helps to know that she can also

:42:55.:42:57.

win matches without playing your best tennis. She has not always

:42:58.:43:02.

played her best here but every match she has been playing better and

:43:03.:43:03.

better. It will be fascinating to see how

:43:04.:43:24.

big a part nerves play with Rybarikova. It is new for her that a

:43:25.:43:31.

lot of this fortnight has been. Yes. She is a talented player and she can

:43:32.:43:36.

do anything out there, but because she is so comfortable with a lot of

:43:37.:43:39.

things, she can lose her focus a little bit.

:43:40.:43:56.

Strapping on her left arm as well. It doesn't give a lot of pace on her

:43:57.:44:04.

ball. It is sneaky base at times that is throwing off her opponents

:44:05.:44:08.

in this tournament, especially in the last round. -- sneaky pace.

:44:09.:44:18.

This is a whole new level now for Rybarikova, the Wimbledon semi. She

:44:19.:45:05.

looked a little hesitant in that move forward, not the shot that she

:45:06.:45:06.

wanted. You don't normally hit a half-volley

:45:07.:45:17.

and run backwards. No. That is her favourite shot, that

:45:18.:45:38.

backhand down the line, on any surface. She loves to go for that

:45:39.:45:40.

shot. Always great slow-mos when Muguruza

:45:41.:45:50.

is around. It is almost expected when someone

:45:51.:46:11.

hasn't been in this position before, experience comes in handy. She is

:46:12.:46:15.

challenging, but I'm not sure with how much expectation.

:46:16.:46:23.

When you got nervous, Kim, how many games did that last for? Sometimes

:46:24.:46:33.

the whole match! Depends who you were playing. As I got older, it is

:46:34.:46:38.

shorter, of course, but in the beginning of my career, I remember

:46:39.:46:46.

playing Jennifer Capriati... The nerves go down a little bit, but

:46:47.:46:50.

there is always a different type of tension. Wasn't that a 12-10 in the

:46:51.:46:53.

third? Yes! UMPIRE: Ms Rybarikova is challenging

:46:54.:47:59.

the call. Another challenge, but she is moving

:48:00.:48:01.

towards the sit down. It's all right. And the crowd giving

:48:02.:48:12.

her a healthy round of applause. UMPIRE: Replay the point.

:48:13.:48:32.

That's when you know things aren't going well, when they are applauding

:48:33.:48:41.

Hawk-Eye! You never had that, did you? I had other issues!

:48:42.:48:51.

Consistent and strong, and after ten minutes, it is 3-0.

:48:52.:49:48.

And four Rybarikova, this is totally new ground. In March she was ranked

:49:49.:49:56.

453. And she had allowed the record here at Wimbledon, seven consecutive

:49:57.:50:00.

first-round exits, 2008-2014 and again last year. And here she is,

:50:01.:50:11.

Centre Court, playing Muguruza. It is to be expected and anticipated

:50:12.:50:16.

that she would be tight. That was like Sam Querrey against Murray. But

:50:17.:50:22.

looking at her record, the last time they played, two years ago on grass

:50:23.:50:28.

in Birmingham, she won. So once she is able to settle down and get rid

:50:29.:50:31.

of those butterflies, she should be able to make this competitive.

:50:32.:50:43.

UMPIRE: Time. S nervous connections. Peter Hooper in

:50:44.:50:50.

she has never been to the third round in a major before this.

:50:51.:51:04.

UMPIRE: Fault. She will have to think about challenging.

:51:05.:51:22.

Hawk-Eye says it was in, but having lost a challenge, she didn't want to

:51:23.:51:23.

go for another one. She won one. To me, that was close

:51:24.:51:41.

enough, and as tight as she is. Too late now.

:51:42.:51:55.

She's looking very assured, Muguruza. Very much so. Using that

:51:56.:52:04.

backhand down the line very well to set up that point, and just going to

:52:05.:52:06.

the open side. That is well played. Not the right

:52:07.:52:47.

shot, the drop shot. Not executed as well as she would have liked.

:52:48.:52:52.

Muguruza is moving well, looks to be a little desperate here early to try

:52:53.:52:53.

to settle them somehow. So she is trying to throw different

:52:54.:53:03.

looks at Muguruza, and it is not working.

:53:04.:53:26.

Her backhand reminds me a lot of Nick Kyrgios's backhand. It is a

:53:27.:53:31.

pretty solid shot. I like her backhand more than her

:53:32.:53:48.

forehand. She slaps at the forehand sometimes. If she could get out of

:53:49.:53:52.

this game, this would be a big boost for her.

:53:53.:54:19.

A couple of misses on the backhand, and three break points saved.

:54:20.:54:53.

There was a chance there for Rybarikova. I don't think I've ever

:54:54.:55:06.

seen Muguruza attack and move forward as much as I have. Take the

:55:07.:55:11.

net. A good addition to her game, I would say.

:55:12.:55:18.

Gives her opponent more to think about. Oh, yes.

:55:19.:55:31.

Thankful but that passing shot was up as high as it was. Longreach and

:55:32.:55:36.

good control. Not enough loft on the club. You can

:55:37.:56:03.

see she is still a bit cramped out there, she is not playing freely

:56:04.:56:05.

yet. UMPIRE: Miss rib are covert is

:56:06.:56:32.

challenging the ball, the ball was called out.

:56:33.:56:41.

The umpire was noncommittal about what she thought.

:56:42.:57:04.

Just wearing her down. UMPIRE: Miss Rybarikova has one

:57:05.:57:16.

challenge remaining. She is looking a little overwhelmed.

:57:17.:57:30.

She does. I think if she wins again, she can be a little bit more

:57:31.:57:32.

comfortable. It is not perfect, that backhand,

:57:33.:58:02.

there have been a few errors. When you are nervous, your legs are

:58:03.:58:39.

tight, the spring isn't there, nothing seems to be working. You

:58:40.:58:44.

feel heavy. It is a terrible feeling. And your breathing is

:58:45.:58:50.

short. It's not fun. And what can make that feeling go

:58:51.:59:26.

away? Just a bit of success? Yes. Like I said before, that breathing,

:59:27.:59:29.

trying to calm yourself down, turn to the back of the court and just

:59:30.:59:36.

take a few deep breaths. But also with age, I got more used to dealing

:59:37.:59:38.

with that stuff. bloomer, maybe doesn't have a couple

:59:39.:59:59.

of years before she figures it out. Can she get on the board here? Can

:00:00.:00:39.

you remember matches where you felt totally overwhelmed?

:00:40.:00:47.

My first match here against Jimmy Connors, I was hyperventilating, my

:00:48.:00:50.

legs were shaking. On my last match where I lost to

:00:51.:01:08.

Agassi, it felt like nothing you can do. That is the other terrible

:01:09.:01:10.

thing. You just get blown out. And that's not nerves, it's just old

:01:11.:01:20.

age. That's worse! And I thought I was old, I was 33.

:01:21.:01:50.

Take a look at Federer right now, 35, almost 36, the guy looks

:01:51.:01:51.

amazing. Unbelievable. And Venus, we see her at 37. 22

:01:52.:02:11.

minutes, and Muguruza has opened up a 5-0 lead.

:02:12.:02:19.

SUE BARKER: Garbine in a hurry on Centre Court. Disappointment for

:02:20.:02:23.

defending champion Gordon Reid who has lost in the opening round of the

:02:24.:02:28.

men's wheelchair singles. The top seed lost 62-63 to Stefan Olsson of

:02:29.:02:34.

Sweden who avenged his defeat in last year's final. Gordon Reid is

:02:35.:02:40.

out in the opening round of the singles, 6-2, 6-3. So that was a

:02:41.:02:49.

little earlier today, but back we go to see if Rybarikova can get on the

:02:50.:02:50.

scoreboard. It is going to be tough. Shots

:02:51.:03:14.

played inside the baseline. I think in the last year or so she has been

:03:15.:03:20.

doubtful about her own game. It is nice to see her in this tournament

:03:21.:03:23.

with everything falling back into place and her confidence building

:03:24.:03:31.

with every match that she wins. Her approach is good but not going for

:03:32.:03:32.

the outright winner every time. 15,000 people here but it is a

:03:33.:03:51.

lonely place on that court. The good news for her is that she

:03:52.:04:15.

had a slow dart. -- slow start. She came back against the risk --

:04:16.:04:25.

Pliskova and won that in three sets. She at least has got that to fall

:04:26.:04:27.

back on. Well played! Her best rally so far.

:04:28.:04:49.

But when things are going wrong, John, it is things like that

:04:50.:04:54.

comeback against Pliskova that you can use as a crutch. Absolutely.

:04:55.:04:59.

There is more expectation and more pressure. Nobody was expecting her

:05:00.:05:02.

to beat Pliskova. In a previous post-match interviews

:05:03.:05:21.

she kept saying I can't believe it, every time. She needs to believe if

:05:22.:05:27.

she wants to be able to have a chance in this match.

:05:28.:05:44.

One of the signposts of the way she has made her way through is that she

:05:45.:05:57.

has been so calm and assured all the way through, even in the Pliskova

:05:58.:06:01.

match when things got tough. This is a different kettle of fish.

:06:02.:06:06.

There we go. How sweet it is. The mercy applause is somewhat annoying

:06:07.:06:22.

even at 5-0! You never got that applause, John! Take anything you

:06:23.:06:24.

can get! She is more than likely not going to

:06:25.:07:52.

win this first set but just to get a foothold and do something here. You

:07:53.:07:56.

never know. There are more is moving a little bit more freely than than

:07:57.:08:03.

what we have seen so far. -- her arm was moving more freely.

:08:04.:09:11.

Shots like that are never far away. That is the problem. Even to miss

:09:12.:09:22.

it, you just want to get a little bit more power and hit it out of

:09:23.:09:27.

you, the tension, and then hopefully the next time there will be a little

:09:28.:09:29.

bit less of that. Set point after exactly half an

:09:30.:09:51.

hour. An utterly convincing first set foot

:09:52.:10:16.

Muguruza, 6-1. It seems to me that the problem with

:10:17.:10:33.

Muguruza for most of this year has been that she is a perfectionist and

:10:34.:10:37.

if her tennis is not absolutely 100%, then something is seriously

:10:38.:10:43.

wrong. Yes. Why hit with her a couple of years ago at the

:10:44.:10:48.

Australian Open. We were practising together. I was trying to try my

:10:49.:10:52.

best. I wasn't playing greater anything but I wanted to give her a

:10:53.:10:56.

good practice and she was missing a few forearms, and out of nowhere her

:10:57.:11:01.

coach Sam said please don't hit it to her forearm any more. OK! That is

:11:02.:11:09.

one way of avoiding a problem! To me that was a strange approach. And she

:11:10.:11:14.

lost the next day. They haven't asked me to practice with her since!

:11:15.:11:22.

Blame it on you! With Conchita being here, Sam is very intense. Perhaps

:11:23.:11:30.

blowing off a little bit of steam. Conchita has had success here and

:11:31.:11:34.

for whatever reason she has worked very well. I am sure some will come

:11:35.:11:38.

back into the picture at some point soon. I am not sure of the exact

:11:39.:11:42.

schedule. Due to come back for going to the US season. As far as

:11:43.:11:49.

Rybarikova, you have someone who is a career top 100 player, who has

:11:50.:11:57.

spent several years in that area, and then she dropped to something

:11:58.:12:07.

like 400 and 53 or something. It is hard to get yourself to believe that

:12:08.:12:11.

you can take it to the next level. That is a problem right now.

:12:12.:12:30.

That is well played. I thought she might have been pushed out of the

:12:31.:12:36.

rally though. It is really playing for her. -- it is really paying off

:12:37.:12:45.

for her. That was a nice volley, cringed away.

:12:46.:12:53.

Yes, pouncing impressively. Important that Rybarikova can get

:12:54.:13:27.

off to a lead in this second set. Otherwise it could be a very short

:13:28.:13:28.

afternoon. There we go! She made her way onto

:13:29.:14:41.

the court. Mind and body. Here we go. It took 35 minutes, to come back

:14:42.:14:46.

to your question earlier! We are off and running, hopefully.

:14:47.:15:22.

The difference in playing styles is very interesting. Rybarikova is so

:15:23.:15:42.

straight, even when she hits it, her upper body does not go forward,

:15:43.:15:46.

compared to Muguruza. Every chance, she likes to go forward.

:15:47.:16:10.

Coming into this match, both players had been to the net about the same

:16:11.:16:21.

amount. If you look here, 15 or 16 already for Muguruza and Rybarikova

:16:22.:16:26.

only four times. She has been on her heels the entire match.

:16:27.:16:45.

That is a break there! On the money so far. Another huge dent in the

:16:46.:17:01.

confidence of Rybarikova. That was by far her best game in a match. She

:17:02.:17:06.

served two aces, she did some good things, she had a passing shot that

:17:07.:17:10.

took the top of the tape, which was bad luck. And some good play by

:17:11.:17:17.

Muguruza. She has come out very focused, hitting the ball extremely

:17:18.:17:25.

well. The bookmaker's favourite to win this and she is playing like it

:17:26.:17:32.

right now. If you could get into the ear of Rybarikova, what would you

:17:33.:17:39.

say to her? That is hard. Oh, boy! I think she is still cramped. You

:17:40.:17:45.

wanted to step in a little and maybe hit a few more aggressively.

:17:46.:18:01.

Like that shot, she could easily take two steps forward and maybe try

:18:02.:18:09.

to go for it a little more than she is doing right now. That is not

:18:10.:18:14.

really in her nature. She is more a slice and dice person. She tries to

:18:15.:18:21.

throw her opponents off by not giving them a lot of pace. She has

:18:22.:18:24.

been more aggressive in her previous matches, Isaac. -- I think. And also

:18:25.:18:34.

Muguruza is keeping her on her heels a bit more so she cannot step in.

:18:35.:18:53.

She is winning a few of the long rallies now but not enough. Keep

:18:54.:18:57.

that going. She didn't move well at all to that

:18:58.:19:59.

volley. It is one of the few times that she has come forward. I don't

:20:00.:20:07.

know how low the ball and Muguruza were getting, but that is what she

:20:08.:20:10.

needed to do there, just reach for it, get down with those legs.

:20:11.:20:18.

I hate to say it, as she turns towards us, there is a resigned look

:20:19.:20:27.

about Rybarikova. Frustration as well. It is frustrating when it is

:20:28.:20:31.

the biggest match of your career and you are not playing your best tennis

:20:32.:20:38.

and you feel like she is feeling. Hesitant. That is not fun. At least

:20:39.:20:43.

when you are on the big stage you want to play some of your best

:20:44.:20:45.

tennis. STUDIO: Muguruza is playing so well.

:20:46.:21:08.

On BBC Two, we are leaving this match. If you want to watch it, it

:21:09.:21:14.

is on BBC One. This semifinal continues on BBC One. And Johanna

:21:15.:21:17.

Konta and Venus Williams will be next on Centre Court of course. On

:21:18.:21:21.

BBC Two we are going to Court Number One, the semifinal in the men's

:21:22.:21:26.

doubles. It has worked out in this easier, because it is the number one

:21:27.:21:31.

seeds up against the number four seeds, Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo

:21:32.:21:36.

Melo. They have taken the first set 6-3 and it is 1-1 in the second set

:21:37.:21:40.

as we join this live with our commentators Peter Fleming and David

:21:41.:21:42.

Mercer. Henri Kontinen serving, and he won

:21:43.:21:59.

with Heather Watson last year. So far Henri Kontinen and John Peers

:22:00.:22:03.

are definitely second against the fourth seeds with just the one break

:22:04.:22:07.

in the first set. Really a difference of class. Yes, it was,

:22:08.:22:20.

but not insurmountable. Two or three holes of serve here and John Peers

:22:21.:22:26.

and Henri Kontinen will feel better about themselves.

:22:27.:23:24.

This pair won the Australian Open at the beginning of the competing

:23:25.:23:31.

against the O'Brien brothers in the final. And they have also won Grand

:23:32.:23:37.

Slam doubles titles but with different partners. Marcelo Melo won

:23:38.:23:42.

the French Open at Roland Garros in 2015 with his Croatian opponent. And

:23:43.:23:50.

Lukasz Kubot won the Australian Open in 2014 with Robert of Sweden. But

:23:51.:23:55.

the man with his back to us, Lukasz Kubot, has been the star of the show

:23:56.:24:02.

so far. He has. He has served accurately solidly. But more

:24:03.:24:11.

impressive of the return. He has really thumped the ball. Forehands,

:24:12.:24:15.

backhands, following them up with some deft reaction volleys. He has

:24:16.:24:21.

been solid. And of course he has been more than solid. Marcelo Melo

:24:22.:24:30.

has been very solid and Kubot has been spectacular. The question is

:24:31.:24:33.

how long can he maintain that kind of form? Marcelo Melo to serve. His

:24:34.:24:43.

nickname is Giraffe because he is six. -- he is 6'8". From Brazil. His

:24:44.:24:58.

partner is Polish. We didn't see many of those returns from Kontinen

:24:59.:24:59.

in the first set! There you go! Henri Kontinen all

:25:00.:25:34.

over the place and perhaps distracting his opponents just that

:25:35.:25:45.

little bit. The first time that Kontinen and Peers have had half a

:25:46.:25:46.

chance of a break. Oh, and net call and now they have

:25:47.:26:07.

their first break point! Riding the wave. Kubot put together a really

:26:08.:26:13.

good return game in set number one, and now so is Kontinen here. From

:26:14.:26:22.

Helsinki but lives in talent, the capital of Estonia. -- Talinn.

:26:23.:26:58.

The world number ones couldn't have hoped to play a better return game

:26:59.:27:05.

than they did just then. Marketing returns, left, right and centre.

:27:06.:27:12.

Peers is the only man to have dropped served so far.

:27:13.:28:20.

Yet again, the returns of Kubot putting pressure on Peers's serve.

:28:21.:28:27.

That second serve was just a bit pedestrian. Rolled in at 83 mph,

:28:28.:28:33.

giving Kubot plenty of time to take a full swing at it.

:28:34.:28:54.

Last year when he won the mixed here with Heather Watson, they were

:28:55.:29:00.

ranked 35 in the world of doubles and now ranked number one.

:29:01.:29:12.

You don't see jumps like that too often.

:29:13.:29:47.

And that is a bad miss. Attempted to hit a very sharp angle. Not sure if

:29:48.:30:06.

it is because he was slow to react to the ball, or overly ambitious.

:30:07.:30:08.

Chance to break back. Peers is missing too many first

:30:09.:30:18.

serves. One of the big differences is that

:30:19.:31:09.

these two have only lost two points behind their second serve, they have

:31:10.:31:15.

won 85% of them. In contrast, continent and peers have

:31:16.:31:31.

only won 59%, that is a huge dichotomy. It helps to be six foot

:31:32.:31:40.

eight, when you are going up for a smash! Nice looking smash as well.

:31:41.:31:55.

They started out the more secure pair. A brief blip, and it looks as

:31:56.:32:00.

though they have resettled. Perfect return. That was an almost

:32:01.:32:32.

impossible half-volley. Has it landed in? Called in by the

:32:33.:33:09.

linesman. Being challenged, though. So, Muhammed overruled.

:33:10.:33:17.

And his overrule was absolutely right. He doesn't miss much, Mohamed

:33:18.:33:25.

Lahyani, the umpire. UMPIRE: Kontinen and Peers have two

:33:26.:33:38.

challenges remaining. One of the lovely things about

:33:39.:34:38.

Wimbledon, on Court Number One the last four days, no singles played,

:34:39.:34:43.

but there must be at least 8000 people in here. They just love

:34:44.:34:47.

coming to Wimbledon to experience being at the Championships.

:34:48.:34:52.

I dare say a few of them may make their way up to Henman Hill to look

:34:53.:35:01.

at Jo Konta and Venus Williams on the giant screen in due course. I

:35:02.:35:08.

think it might be closer to 9000 in here.

:35:09.:35:42.

John Peers is from Melbourne, became a father back in May, his daughter

:35:43.:35:47.

Lily Rose. They are struggling to take Kubot

:35:48.:36:08.

out of his rhythm. He is still seeing the ball very well on

:36:09.:36:09.

returns. Two aces in the game, the first aces

:36:10.:36:28.

for the Kontinen/ Peers partnership. So, the top seeds and Australian

:36:29.:37:22.

Open champion is just moving ahead in this set, and there is Henman

:37:23.:37:32.

Hill, absolutely packed. Lovely that the weather is set fair. Again, just

:37:33.:37:40.

being able to savour the Wimbledon atmosphere, the Wimbledon

:37:41.:37:45.

experience. When John Peers is clearly struggling on server little

:37:46.:37:48.

bit, not getting many first serves in and coming under pressure, how

:37:49.:37:52.

can Kontinen try to help him and left him? I think he needs to be

:37:53.:38:02.

upbeat, needs to almost encourage him to take a few risks. Tom --

:38:03.:38:11.

sometimes you can get to conservative when things are not

:38:12.:38:17.

going well, and often it can be just relaxing for a guy if his partner

:38:18.:38:25.

just says, come on, just do what you do. That's what's required right

:38:26.:38:31.

now, and you can snap back into your comfort zone, and that helps a lot.

:38:32.:39:14.

Taking advantage of his slice of good fortune with the net cord.

:39:15.:40:08.

Fatal hesitation there from Melo, he thought it might have been going

:40:09.:40:22.

wide. So, half an opportunity here, and did nothing with follow-up shot.

:40:23.:41:06.

Unlucky, struck it well, just ever so slightly mistimed.

:41:07.:41:51.

Kubot will be thankful, he had a couple of high volleys that he

:41:52.:41:56.

didn't strike very cleanly. Got away with it, though. This is the real

:41:57.:42:03.

test of a John Peers, he is the man who has struggle on serve, lost his

:42:04.:42:07.

serve twice. He needs to get first serves in.

:42:08.:42:41.

What a difference getting three first serves in makes. John Peers

:42:42.:43:01.

was the runner-up in Wimbledon a couple of years ago with Jenni

:43:02.:43:05.

Murray, and also a runner-up at the US Open.

:43:06.:43:32.

I don't get that. You are up 40-0, and you hit a 77 mph second serve,

:43:33.:43:42.

and your service your strength. Surely that is the time to roll in a

:43:43.:43:49.

95 mph slider, or 100 mph into the body.

:43:50.:44:07.

Entirely with you, Peter, but the essential thing there for John Peers

:44:08.:44:14.

is he got four out of five first serves in, and that made life so

:44:15.:44:20.

much easier for this partnership. They won the only previous match

:44:21.:44:24.

between these two pairs, that was in Rome backing me. 6-4, 7-6, they won

:44:25.:44:34.

the breaker 8-6. So now that little advantage of serving first in the

:44:35.:44:37.

set means the opponents have got to serve to keep the set alive.

:44:38.:44:49.

I am intrigued that Lukasz Kubot is turning back the clock and refusing

:44:50.:44:58.

to sit down. Yes, and I'm wondering if he has some sort of back issue

:44:59.:45:06.

that has caused him to say, if I stand up, it just feels better. If I

:45:07.:45:14.

stand up, I won't freeze up. Lock-up.

:45:15.:46:00.

Wishful thinking here, I think. Sure, I will lob the six foot eight

:46:01.:46:14.

Guy! He will have a bit of a bruise on his ankle.

:46:15.:46:31.

He has dispensed with the shades at the moment, they are on the back of

:46:32.:46:38.

his baseball cap. It'll be surprisingly they don't fall off.

:46:39.:47:39.

Kubot is cruising through his service games, he has dropped

:47:40.:47:45.

precisely three points on serve throughout the match. And one of

:47:46.:47:46.

those was a double fault. Gets back very quickly, John Peers.

:47:47.:48:52.

Although the shortest guy on the court might be the most difficult

:48:53.:48:54.

one to lob. Back-to-back love service games,

:48:55.:49:48.

then, that one just flying by. They have got to find a way of breaking

:49:49.:49:54.

again. Suppose this partnership would say, we have broken the

:49:55.:50:01.

Marcelo Melo serve. This is a better chance for us. Even though he is six

:50:02.:50:05.

foot eight, Melo doesn't have the biggest of serves. Really strange

:50:06.:50:13.

statistic here. Kubot and Melo have won 83% of their second serve

:50:14.:50:18.

points, which is higher than the percentage of service points they

:50:19.:50:23.

have won on their first serve. It is very odd. I'm likely to lose serve

:50:24.:50:31.

too many times when you have those sort of numbers.

:50:32.:52:00.

It is not just his returning that is going well, he has been sharper the

:52:01.:52:08.

net, Lukasz Kubot. He was a top singles player.

:52:09.:52:46.

UMPIRE: Six games all, second set tie-break. Both teams receive one

:52:47.:52:55.

additional challenge. We just may have reached the crux of the issue

:52:56.:53:01.

right here. Kubot and Melo take this tie-break and they are in a

:53:02.:53:02.

commanding position. On such fortunes are matches won and

:53:03.:54:25.

lost. You saw that one dribble over. That is such an extravagant volley

:54:26.:55:52.

to go for, Kontinen. And I didn't understand the strategy, either. If

:55:53.:55:56.

Peers is going the other way, why serve out wide? He gave Kubot the

:55:57.:56:00.

whole alley to hit too. Melo really got hold of that, just

:56:01.:56:11.

wide, though. Oh, he's just overdone the angle. It

:56:12.:56:55.

was a good shout by Melo, I suppose. Urging his partner to leave it.

:56:56.:57:02.

Changing ends every six points, of course. The prize money in the

:57:03.:57:08.

doubles, very nice. The losers of this match will share ?100,000. The

:57:09.:57:18.

runners-up will share ?200,000, and the winners ?400,000. That'll do.

:57:19.:57:25.

What did you get the first time you won the doubles? I think it was

:57:26.:57:31.

$25,000 each. We would never have given new dollars! That's probably

:57:32.:57:33.

how I converted it. UMPIRE: Let, first service. A

:57:34.:57:47.

multi-winning doubles champion herewith John McEnroe.

:57:48.:58:17.

The mini-break cancelled out. Marcelo 's brother, Daniel, won't be

:58:18.:58:29.

happy with that. Well, they are challenging,

:58:30.:58:53.

suggesting that it may have been on the sideline, but beyond the service

:58:54.:58:59.

line. But they are wrong, it was on both lines.

:59:00.:59:24.

Well, those last two points have certainly made Peers feel a lot

:59:25.:59:34.

better about himself. Can he roll it into a winning return?

:59:35.:59:52.

UMPIRE: Out. Mohamed Lahyani has overruled. The

:59:53.:00:04.

baseline judge called good, Lahyani has called out, and Kubot and Melo

:00:05.:00:12.

are challenging the overruled. Not the greatest of calls. Two set

:00:13.:00:20.

points for the number one seeds to level the match.

:00:21.:00:43.

. Whole host of being called here. Peers and continental are

:00:44.:00:56.

challenging that call on the sideline. And they are right!

:00:57.:01:12.

Having a good giggle about it! And certainly towards the end of that

:01:13.:01:21.

set, John Peers started to play much better than he did for the first set

:01:22.:01:28.

and a half. Yes. Marcelo Melo will be ruing that double fault he hit at

:01:29.:01:33.

4-2. Let's not forget they were up 4-2 in that tie-break. That double

:01:34.:01:37.

fault perhaps opened the doors. John Peers hit two huge serves and a huge

:01:38.:01:46.

return and Kontinen finished it off with another huge return. The last

:01:47.:01:50.

five points won in succession by the world number ones.

:01:51.:01:59.

Still that huge dichotomy in terms of second serve points won. That

:02:00.:02:09.

counts for nothing now. Kubot has left us briefly. Not because his

:02:10.:02:12.

partner served that double fault in the tie-break! Are you sure? You

:02:13.:02:19.

would never have walked out on John McEnroe, would you? Constantly! It

:02:20.:02:25.

gives everyone a chance to have a little breather. I tell you what,

:02:26.:02:34.

the pair who are breathing easiest are these two. They were looking

:02:35.:02:44.

down the barrel of a big, powerful weapon, had they been 2-0 down.

:02:45.:02:54.

Now they can... Not relaxed, that is the wrong word. Yes, relax, settle

:02:55.:03:06.

in. Pump themselves up almost. Say, right, we are in this. Now we can

:03:07.:03:10.

just go for our shots without having to worry about being Conservative.

:03:11.:03:17.

Looking at their selfies, perhaps? Dressing up to come to Wimbledon.

:03:18.:03:24.

How nice! The other doubles semifinal is also

:03:25.:03:47.

1-1 between the Croatian partnership of Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor,

:03:48.:03:50.

and the Austrian partnership of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. Kubot

:03:51.:03:56.

is back. Well, the next four games perhaps

:03:57.:04:35.

could be crucial here. Let's see if all four players come out with some

:04:36.:04:37.

solid serving. Henri Kontinen couldn't have played

:04:38.:05:06.

that point much better. A nice chip return, a throwback. Very much so.

:05:07.:05:40.

Oh, yes! Kontinen is much more in the groove with his returns now.

:05:41.:05:52.

Right in the pocket. 117 mph is not quick enough to overpower a player.

:05:53.:06:04.

You have got to place the ball better.

:06:05.:07:25.

Especially given they lost that tie-break having been ahead, an

:07:26.:07:35.

important hold for Melo, 15-30, and a lovely exchange year. -- lovely

:07:36.:07:46.

exchange here. All four players are seeing the ball, moving well, quite

:07:47.:07:49.

confident in what they are trying to do out there. This is about the best

:07:50.:07:57.

patch of the match in terms of this standard that both sides are

:07:58.:07:58.

showing. The curse of the commentator always

:07:59.:08:12.

works. Praise them all Andy Dunn son easy forehand volley into the net.

:08:13.:08:24.

-- and he dumps and easy forehand volley into the net.

:08:25.:08:40.

Well, they are challenging here. This will be really important. 0-30,

:08:41.:08:51.

they feel they have a great chance to break. Calls on the baseline have

:08:52.:08:57.

not been very good of late. Of course, the balls are coming very

:08:58.:08:59.

fast. Peers and continents did well to get

:09:00.:09:36.

back into that rally. -- Peers and Kontinen. That is a forehand volley

:09:37.:09:45.

he would like to have back. Three errors have gifted three break

:09:46.:09:46.

points. Well, that time they outfoxed him.

:09:47.:10:47.

Kubot perhaps expecting Peers to move across. He did not.

:10:48.:11:58.

He got out of the way of this body serve quickly. And boy, did he thump

:11:59.:12:11.

it? Regaining the ascendancy in the match with the early break in the

:12:12.:12:12.

third set. WHEN you hit the ball that hard, the

:12:13.:12:46.

margin for error is very slim. Probably only past eight or nine

:12:47.:12:47.

inches over the net. A little short of the box, the

:12:48.:13:44.

second serve. Plenty of pace, 140 mph, but Peers had time to get onto

:13:45.:13:45.

it. -- 114 mph. That is plan A. If you are returning

:13:46.:14:24.

serve, try and get it low and into the alley, forcing the volleyer to

:14:25.:14:38.

try and get it past your partner at the easy to do. -- your partner at

:14:39.:14:45.

the net. Not easy to do. Good second serve. Very near the

:14:46.:15:10.

sideline and it kicked laterally. Peers well out of court.

:15:11.:15:48.

UMPIRE: Game. New balls, please. Kubot Melo lead 3-0, one set all.

:15:49.:16:02.

The momentum has shifted back in this partnership after losing that

:16:03.:16:09.

tie-break. Kubot found his first serve just at the right time having

:16:10.:16:12.

struggled with it in the first few points of that game. He is so fired

:16:13.:16:25.

up for this one, Lukasz, isn't he? In part because he is playing so

:16:26.:16:29.

well and celebrating after almost every point. It is a nice feeling to

:16:30.:16:36.

have. You can't wait for the next rally to start. Melo just the

:16:37.:16:49.

opposite sort of personality. As the name says. He is mellow. Very low

:16:50.:16:54.

key. He is going to stay, I think. Yes. A

:16:55.:17:06.

love game for John Peers. They look a little bit glum the

:17:07.:19:19.

Kontinen Peers support group. How many tennis balls have we got

:19:20.:19:31.

out there? There should be six. Oh, my word. Can we call that the

:19:32.:20:18.

shank? Well, yes. The balance was very poor. We need it back, thank

:20:19.:20:26.

you, Madam. At the US Open they are allowed to keep the balls.

:20:27.:21:56.

It looked like there was a puff of dust behind the line.

:21:57.:22:18.

Henri Kontinen launches himself into those returns of serve.

:22:19.:22:23.

Unfortunately if the volley comes back to him, he is often a little

:22:24.:22:27.

off-balance, and therefore has difficulty reacting to the next

:22:28.:22:37.

ball. They have just gone a little flat. So energised after winning the

:22:38.:22:45.

second set tie-break from behind. And now they find themselves

:22:46.:22:46.

struggling to stay in the third set. Now it is time to dig deep. Just

:22:47.:23:11.

down the one break, but they need it back now. They did come from two

:23:12.:23:19.

sets to one down to win the quarterfinal. Yes, but I don't think

:23:20.:23:28.

they would look forward to being in that sort of position against this

:23:29.:23:35.

pair. These guys are seasoned and they are informed. -- they are in

:23:36.:23:45.

form. They won their two grass court warm up tournaments leading into

:23:46.:23:46.

this. They are confident. Tremendous slice on that serve. The

:23:47.:24:11.

sixth ace from the team compared to their opponents.

:24:12.:24:27.

He is guilty of the extravagant from time to time.

:24:28.:25:15.

She did that well. That is an experienced Champagne open! These

:25:16.:25:30.

days it is just as likely to be prosecco, isn't it?

:25:31.:25:48.

Excuse me, Peter. They need someone to taste that and make sure it is

:25:49.:25:54.

good enough for them. I will be back in a few minutes. Off you go!

:25:55.:26:22.

Powerful, powerful return. From John Peers.

:26:23.:27:04.

Kubot attended a spectacular crosscourt volley, trying to go in

:27:05.:27:11.

front of John Peers. Perhaps it would have been wiser just to dump

:27:12.:27:14.

it back deep and see if he could have defended Kontinen one more

:27:15.:27:18.

time. Yes, 15-30, second serve, he really

:27:19.:27:54.

needed to make that one. Perhaps subconsciously saw Melo moving to

:27:55.:27:57.

exactly where he was wanting to hit the return. Maybe he tried to cut it

:27:58.:28:01.

a little too fine. He got away with some safe volleying

:28:02.:28:28.

there. What on earth happened there? It

:28:29.:29:05.

looked like he took a full swing and miss timed it. The ball at the very

:29:06.:29:15.

top of the frame. John Peers going through a poor spell there. He

:29:16.:29:19.

certainly had chances to do damage, return on the volley. Head down just

:29:20.:29:31.

a fraction. This was the last point. Excellent lob from Peers. He must

:29:32.:29:41.

have taken his eye off the ball. He very nearly whiffed it. Sometimes

:29:42.:29:50.

better safe than sorry and he went for the whole enchilada. Really wax,

:29:51.:29:59.

a full swinging volley. He almost failed to strike the ball. So it

:30:00.:30:07.

falls to Peers to try and keep this third set alive at 2-5.

:30:08.:30:45.

John Peers seems to have gone into a funk. Second serve again, just set

:30:46.:30:51.

up well. Melo jumped all over it. Oh, my word. Well, he is having a

:30:52.:31:08.

nightmare passage. Two double faults. Well, they are

:31:09.:31:51.

challenging. But I don't think they are very optimistic.

:31:52.:31:58.

It is a break of serve. The double break secures the third set.

:31:59.:32:29.

What a baffling turn of events, really. I mean, it appeared as

:32:30.:32:46.

though they had a bit of momentum going in the second set tie-break.

:32:47.:32:49.

They could not have played a much worse than they did just then.

:32:50.:32:57.

Second serve points, one. Rolling in some serves that, to his credit,

:32:58.:33:03.

Kubot especially was willing to jump all over.

:33:04.:33:18.

If the ball is in his hitting zone, he gives it a ride.

:33:19.:33:36.

Some sailing going on. On the Wimbledon Park Lake.

:33:37.:33:47.

You might even say these two were capsized in the third set. You might

:33:48.:33:57.

be right to say that. Henry Kontinen's backhand return is

:33:58.:34:27.

money. His timing it beautifully now. It was notable, the statistics,

:34:28.:34:35.

he made more returns in that set than Melo and's, but was still

:34:36.:34:37.

totally outplayed. To their credit, Kubot and Melo did

:34:38.:34:55.

a fine job of defending the net. Came in, been very solid, played

:34:56.:35:00.

some clever shots away from the net. Such an important part of doubles.

:35:01.:35:19.

There is a classic example of just that.

:35:20.:36:21.

Since dropping his serve in the second set, Melo's served very well.

:36:22.:36:30.

His partner is so active at the net, helping him. Another look at Marcel

:36:31.:36:37.

's brother, Daniel. Interesting that Peers has changed

:36:38.:37:18.

ends for serving. Perhaps the sun has bothered him.

:37:19.:37:39.

Kubot did so well to put the return of serve back into play. Barely got

:37:40.:38:21.

his racket on it. Suggesting he serves out wide. He

:38:22.:39:09.

may well move. Wonderful reactions from Melo. Yes,

:39:10.:39:27.

and wonderful instincts. Watch, after he hits this first volley. He

:39:28.:39:29.

just follows the ball. Any old days, that was clearly a

:39:30.:39:39.

double hit, it would have been a point against Melo, but now it is

:39:40.:39:42.

allowed. You can have a double hit as long as you don't carry the ball

:39:43.:39:44.

your racket. That last result will be a huge

:39:45.:40:25.

relief to John Peers. Great serve, indeed it was. Pace and

:40:26.:41:19.

accuracy. Well, all four players, sharper than

:41:20.:42:09.

that. But Kubot and Melo, just that something extra.

:42:10.:42:26.

What an athletic smash. That ball appeared to be well over his head.

:42:27.:42:58.

What happened here? The service judge called the serve as good. But

:42:59.:43:14.

it was called a fault by the umpire. Kontinen hit a superb return.

:43:15.:43:26.

Ouch. Oh, dear, Mohammed. Not your finest hour. We will replay the

:43:27.:43:32.

point. On serve, then. In the fourth set.

:43:33.:44:58.

Kubot and Melo leading 2-1 in sets. Let's take you back to that incident

:44:59.:45:03.

a couple of games go when it looked like there was a double hit from

:45:04.:45:08.

Melo, on that shot. I'm not sure it was. It hit the net cord,

:45:09.:45:15.

definitely. This might give us a better view. There is the net cord.

:45:16.:45:21.

He hits it at the top and bottom of the frame. It was clearly a double

:45:22.:45:26.

heat. When Peter was playing, when I was umpire, I would have been saying

:45:27.:45:30.

it was a foul. I would have been cursing you out! But the rules have

:45:31.:45:36.

been changed since then. The double-header is now legitimate. The

:45:37.:45:39.

one thing you can't do is actually carried the ball on the racket. The

:45:40.:45:44.

rule says it has to be one continuous swing. If you swing and

:45:45.:45:51.

then tried to carry it back, that is illegal. But you rarely see any of

:45:52.:45:57.

that. It makes sense. There were so many opportunities to miss it, or to

:45:58.:46:05.

argue. It was just awkward. It is kind of like the let today. Get rid

:46:06.:46:09.

of it! What's the point? It is a mis-hit and it has turned

:46:10.:46:47.

into the perfect return. Pressure now on Kontinen.

:46:48.:48:59.

He missed it! What a golden opportunity for Melo. That would

:49:00.:49:06.

have been two break points. And he knows it!

:49:07.:49:43.

That's why he's number one in the world. Not afraid to man up in a big

:49:44.:50:00.

moment. A new set of tennis balls being

:50:01.:50:39.

brought out. Very quickly indeed, by the ball boys and girls.

:50:40.:51:06.

It's that backhand return of Kontinen once more.

:51:07.:51:53.

If you can get it down to defeat of the incoming server, you've got a

:51:54.:52:00.

chance. Absolutely, not easy to do, though.

:52:01.:52:08.

He middles that. He hits it so flat that the margin of error is tiny. He

:52:09.:52:19.

just crushed that return. Self-preservation was the order of

:52:20.:53:01.

the day there. Well, a good hold for Melo from

:53:02.:54:13.

0-30. A little bit lucky on the last point. The angle of the ball, right

:54:14.:54:18.

onto the line. We all know that if it hits these lines, the ball grips

:54:19.:54:24.

on it stops. That volley was a bit special. I'm not even sure if it did

:54:25.:54:32.

hit the line? No, almost another miss.

:54:33.:54:39.

Peers, his form has fluctuated fairly wildly in this match. The

:54:40.:54:46.

other three have been pretty consistent. Kubot has just been

:54:47.:54:50.

outstanding. But, of course, Kontinen and Peers

:54:51.:55:03.

are still in this fourth set. No doubt they have been in this sort of

:55:04.:55:10.

situation many times before. So, not yet time to panic.

:55:11.:55:53.

Well, that time, Kontinen was hoping that Melo was moving across. No such

:55:54.:56:00.

luck. Pretty straightforward volley missed

:56:01.:56:20.

by Kontinen. Too much of a swing on it.

:56:21.:57:05.

To a certain extent, the form of Peers seems to ebb and flow with the

:57:06.:57:08.

quality of his serving. A third double fault of the match

:57:09.:58:20.

from Kubot and Melo. Kubot is the only man not to have dropped his

:58:21.:58:21.

serve so far. It was a mis-hit return. Very

:58:22.:58:47.

difficult for Melo to see immediately if it was going in or

:58:48.:58:49.

out. Unlucky! He was right there and

:58:50.:59:10.

struck it well. They are challenging, but I think

:59:11.:59:55.

they are guilty of extravagance in the end. But he made it! He made it!

:59:56.:00:07.

The break is secure, the match is wide open again.

:00:08.:01:21.

Well, they had a little bit of fortune in that game, a mis-hit

:01:22.:01:31.

return and this net court. Yes, he struck the return well and it was

:01:32.:01:39.

going to be a very difficult volley. For Kubot, in any event. Still, he

:01:40.:01:43.

might have shovelled it backhand who knows what might have happened? One

:01:44.:01:51.

of those heartfelt apologies. Yes, exactly. I'm sure he will be paying

:01:52.:02:04.

penance tonight. But of course, they were up a break. In the second set.

:02:05.:02:08.

And immediately lost the break. If he locks in on that spot, that is

:02:09.:02:31.

never coming back. For the first time in the match,

:02:32.:04:06.

Kontinen and Peers put together a run of three straight games. And the

:04:07.:04:11.

odds at the moment would be on this going to a fifth set.

:04:12.:06:30.

So the rot stopped, but they have to find a way to break back. Deep

:06:31.:06:41.

breaths for John Peers. So much now depends on him getting the first

:06:42.:06:47.

serve in. Yes, this will be an interesting game. Because the

:06:48.:06:54.

pressure is well and truly on John Peers right now. Can he make some

:06:55.:06:59.

first serve is and follow it up with some solid volleying? As you say,

:07:00.:07:10.

David, he has been up and down today. We have had some really good

:07:11.:07:17.

tennis in the second set and almost immediately, he followed it up with

:07:18.:07:20.

a shocking game in the third. First serving and quite a solid

:07:21.:07:58.

volley, nothing extravagant there. Kubot ripped the return, but

:07:59.:08:53.

Kontinen stayed at home. Two hours and 28 minutes they have

:08:54.:10:21.

been out there, two sets all. Peers and Kubot off for a bathroom break,

:10:22.:10:24.

Kubot follows. Do you have a good feeling as to who

:10:25.:10:37.

will win the fifth round? Absolutely not. Absolutely not, it could not be

:10:38.:10:45.

more evenly poised really. It seemed early on that Kubot and Melo had the

:10:46.:10:50.

upper hand. They whipped the inform team. -- they were the inform team.

:10:51.:10:58.

Henri Kontinen has played superb tennis off the returns especially.

:10:59.:11:06.

And so it is just a matter of, can one of these teams serve up

:11:07.:11:10.

something special? It will be decided I want break. Second serve

:11:11.:11:21.

points won. Kubot and Melo sliding right down, 44%, down to 71. That

:11:22.:11:26.

would have decided the break. Kubot and Melo had no chance. No break

:11:27.:11:29.

points. Incidentally, the other Doubles

:11:30.:11:58.

semifinal looks as though it may also go four sets. 2-5 down in the

:11:59.:12:08.

fourth against their opponents. And obviously, what this partnership

:12:09.:12:40.

can't afford to do is what they did in the third set, having got a

:12:41.:12:45.

second, they played a sloppy service game, Kontinen losing his serve for

:12:46.:12:48.

the only time and straightaway 3-0 down. In the third set. That is the

:12:49.:12:57.

best thing, you watch the tennis and you have the Radio 1, you can keep

:12:58.:13:00.

up-to-date with all the news. Very smart thinking. And I suppose there

:13:01.:13:13.

is another tennis much going on at the moment. I suppose there is!

:13:14.:13:26.

We have not got the screen for them to look at as happens in so many

:13:27.:13:37.

tournaments. But I think he knows we are talking about him! Is it time

:13:38.:13:44.

for tea? Yes, quarter to four. While we are still waiting for Kubot, put

:13:45.:13:51.

the kettle on, will you, Peter? Exactly. Maybe you will run out and

:13:52.:13:56.

get us some tea. No, I'm just heading out for some champagne. Good

:13:57.:14:09.

for you! Kubot is back. It must have been a long queue!

:14:10.:14:40.

They have to do so many things, the ball kids these days. But after the

:14:41.:14:48.

towels, bring the drinks, take away the letter. I think they should get

:14:49.:14:51.

double pay! Fantastic rally! Probably the best

:14:52.:15:52.

point of the match, right up until the last shot. Henri Kontinen here

:15:53.:15:59.

probably changing his mind. He did not commit. That is a fantastic

:16:00.:16:08.

smash. So a nice love game. To get this

:16:09.:17:23.

final set started. Lukasz Kubot. Always comforting to hold serve with

:17:24.:17:28.

a winning serve. When the return doesn't come back. Get an extra

:17:29.:17:42.

charge. Moving around the court. Interesting, Peers has changed ends

:17:43.:17:47.

the game for serving, they obviously believe he should serve first.

:17:48.:18:00.

A bit of fortune here. Melo struck this one off the frame. Well... No,

:18:01.:18:12.

I suppose he did not, he just guided it up the line.

:18:13.:19:33.

Well, Kubot left just a little early after the return. And they were all

:19:34.:19:38.

over the place from then on. Well, we are having some great

:19:39.:20:08.

rallies at the start of this fifth set. A deft touch from all the

:20:09.:20:11.

players. As well as the power. We have the men's Doubles semifinal

:20:12.:21:18.

which has gone to a fifth set in the other game.

:21:19.:21:55.

What a pick-up! Great return of serve. Melo did so well the

:21:56.:22:10.

half-volley back. The ensuing two or three shots were also difficult

:22:11.:22:11.

returns. Just three points have gone against

:22:12.:23:42.

the serve in the opening three games of the final set. No hint as yet as

:23:43.:23:49.

to who will be inspired or who might just falter. At the crucial stages

:23:50.:23:58.

of the match. Yes, exactly, we have no idea whether one team will become

:23:59.:24:03.

inspired, as has happened several times in this match. On both sides.

:24:04.:24:14.

All will some less fortunate player throw in some mistakes? And that is

:24:15.:24:20.

what determines it. Let's hope for the former.

:24:21.:24:50.

That was a great love volley. Kontinen threw everything at the

:24:51.:26:39.

return. It was a long shot, to the least. -- to say the least.

:26:40.:27:13.

Two and three quarters hours now and we can't tell them apart. Two sets

:27:14.:27:20.

all, two games all, no tie-break in the fifth set of course.

:27:21.:28:00.

Oh! Those are the half chances you really have to seize on.

:28:01.:28:49.

Well, Henri Kontinen, timing his backhand returns beautifully. He

:28:50.:28:57.

often has struggled to follow it up. With a winning volley. At that time,

:28:58.:29:02.

he was able to keep the pressure on. Kontinen and Peers ending up on the

:29:03.:30:29.

same side of the court, then. When you are into a fifth set,

:30:30.:31:00.

sitting down and maybe having a chat, do you ever think, shall we

:31:01.:31:04.

try something a little different? Try and get a break? Often, sure.

:31:05.:31:12.

Often you do. You know, there are two is to win. You either play

:31:13.:31:16.

better than your opponent or you make them play worse than you.

:31:17.:31:21.

Either one is just as good. So, yeah, often you try to take your

:31:22.:31:27.

opponents out of their rhythm. Often we would both stay back, returning

:31:28.:31:34.

service. Stay with both of us back for greater lengths of time, and

:31:35.:31:40.

then get to a tie-break, boom, both in because they haven't seen it for

:31:41.:31:45.

six, eight, ten games. So, yeah, it's all part of it. If you show

:31:46.:31:49.

them the same looks throughout, I think you are missing a trick.

:31:50.:31:51.

Unless you are just romping them. Well, Peers has looked the most

:31:52.:33:47.

vulnerable, but not that time. I think that record is ours today.

:33:48.:33:56.

There are no lights on this court, we will have to come back tomorrow,

:33:57.:33:59.

Peter. I just can't see where the break is

:34:00.:34:26.

coming from. All four guys, in a nice rhythm on serve. Won't be easy

:34:27.:34:31.

to break, that's for sure. Five double faults for the team of

:34:32.:35:19.

Kubot and Melo. Well, nice volley. Deftly played.

:35:20.:35:52.

Just dropped it right at Kontinen's fit. -- feet.

:35:53.:36:02.

Fancy footwork, but then he is a Brazilian.

:36:03.:36:38.

Words of encouragement from his partner. Nervous shuffling from his

:36:39.:36:49.

brother. Well, he opted for a very difficult

:36:50.:37:18.

attempt. Chose to stop on a dime and try to hit the slice. Not sure if

:37:19.:37:25.

maybe if he kept on moving and headed up the half-volley, it would

:37:26.:37:27.

have been easier. Kontinen's forehand return is not as

:37:28.:37:48.

good as the backhand. He is going to award the point. He

:37:49.:38:23.

has overruled and has awarded the point, saying it was a late call

:38:24.:38:28.

after the ball had been struck. They are challenging. Kontinen was

:38:29.:38:32.

already sitting down. He called it straightaway! John

:38:33.:38:57.

Peers are doing if it was a late call or not. -- asking if it was a

:38:58.:39:06.

late call or not. The correction was late, but the original call seemed

:39:07.:39:09.

like it was right after the Serb landed. He called it as he hit the

:39:10.:39:15.

ball, he called it very quickly. You corrected after. His one was before.

:39:16.:39:23.

Yeah, but it was me hitting the ball. It impacts on that. That's

:39:24.:39:32.

what it does. I was trying to hit the ball. I think you've got that

:39:33.:39:39.

one wrong. I think you've got that one wrong.

:39:40.:39:47.

All a question of if the call came before he struck the ball or not.

:39:48.:40:00.

The game moves on. 3-4 in the final set.

:40:01.:40:36.

Kontinen made the difficult volley and then missed the easier one. It

:40:37.:40:39.

wasn't easy. There he goes again. Really

:40:40.:41:01.

extravagant choice of shot. I think it was an two minds, wasn't sure if

:41:02.:41:06.

it would drop in or out. We move into the fourth hour of the

:41:07.:42:20.

match. The sort of returns that Kubot was

:42:21.:42:51.

producing at the start of the match. Exactly.

:42:52.:43:17.

Melo did really well to put that return of serve back into play.

:43:18.:44:14.

A couple of deuce games, but still we await the first break point of

:44:15.:44:27.

the final set. 76 more service holds to go.

:44:28.:44:54.

Caught one on the side of the head, but they build them tough. Second

:44:55.:45:01.

serve, right onto the service line. He's been aggressive throughout. Hit

:45:02.:45:16.

the second serve with a bit of venom.

:45:17.:46:11.

There was a little variation, there was that block return.

:46:12.:46:51.

Again, a big first serve. Kontinen Lucky... Or, well, did well to put

:46:52.:47:00.

the return back into play. But he blocked it again? Exactly.

:47:01.:47:29.

We are now at the stage, assuming this pair continued to hold serve,

:47:30.:47:35.

their opponents are constantly having to serve to stay in the

:47:36.:47:40.

match. We commentators say it is a huge psychological advantage to be

:47:41.:47:42.

serving first. Is that how you see it from the player perspective? Huge

:47:43.:47:50.

advantage might be overstating it. But a distinct advantage, yes. That

:47:51.:48:02.

pressure continues to mount. So at four, five, six, seven, eight, it is

:48:03.:48:06.

an insidious little pressure and it eats away at you. You get to ten,

:48:07.:48:12.

11, mentally you are more fatigued than the opponent. As we saw with

:48:13.:48:23.

Rafa against Muller during the week? Exactly right.

:48:24.:49:08.

Perhaps Melo saw Peers moving to his left, he knew that there was a space

:49:09.:49:17.

there. Did well to guide the ball into the open space.

:49:18.:49:31.

Gosh, this is going to be a big decision by Hawk-Eye. 0-30 or 15-15?

:49:32.:49:38.

Missed it! First serve is going AWOL again.

:49:39.:50:11.

Doesn't want him to cross, wants him to cover the line.

:50:12.:50:25.

That was a chance that wasn't so deep in the court. But it looked as

:50:26.:50:33.

though it kicked off the surface. 5-5 in the final set in this

:50:34.:51:28.

semifinal. In the other, it is for- four in the final set. Mektic and

:51:29.:51:39.

Skugor against Mate Pavic and Oliver Marach.

:51:40.:52:14.

Got over his head very quickly. A total mis-hit.

:52:15.:53:25.

A good return of serve. I think John Peers perhaps play the following two

:53:26.:53:29.

shots a little too safely. Magnificent effort from Melo and

:53:30.:54:05.

Kubot to stay in that point. They shouldn't have been allowed to.

:54:06.:54:17.

Again, they defend the net expertly. He needed every inch of his six foot

:54:18.:54:29.

eight to get up to that bounce ball. He certainly did.

:54:30.:54:47.

He loves the backhand. Anything in the middle of the court as his.

:54:48.:55:11.

John Peers just didn't quite have the nerve to get across quickly.

:55:12.:55:19.

Held his ground, thinking that Melo would go down the line. He didn't. A

:55:20.:55:24.

good position for him to slot it away.

:55:25.:56:00.

Melo doing so well to hang onto that service game. Down 15-30. There were

:56:01.:56:06.

really having to defend the net. Yeah, once Kubot and Melo

:56:07.:56:29.

established themselves at the net, on a couple of occasions, both

:56:30.:56:33.

Kontinen and Peers missed ground strokes that almost appeared as

:56:34.:56:38.

though they thought the task of hitting a passing shot was just a

:56:39.:56:46.

little too daunting. Henry Kontinen has gone off for a break. Here he

:56:47.:56:55.

comes. A very quick one. Allow to do that when it is your serve to come.

:56:56.:57:03.

Not when your opponents are about to serve, because you might disrupt

:57:04.:57:07.

their rhythm. You can tell how much the crowd have

:57:08.:57:13.

enjoyed this one. The players are doing a nice job of

:57:14.:58:27.

putting returns into play. Difficult to par lederhosen to break points.

:58:28.:58:33.

-- difficult to turn them into break points.

:58:34.:58:47.

Doesn't really get hold of that smash.

:58:48.:58:54.

Almost as though when John Peers is back and the other two are at the

:58:55.:58:59.

net, he runs out of ideas. I think Kontinen is pretty glad that

:59:00.:59:08.

was a let. Two points for 6-6. A reminder, no

:59:09.:59:39.

tie-break in this set. You can tell the ball boys and girls

:59:40.:00:24.

are so good, we hardly ever notice them. Because they don't make any

:00:25.:00:31.

mistakes. That is why they make the big box! They wish! -- the big

:00:32.:00:40.

money. New balls, 6-6, final set. Brett on the line. -- right onto the

:00:41.:01:53.

line. Yes, just good solid defence of the net once again. It is not

:01:54.:02:01.

rocket science. So this set lasting 53 minutes so

:02:02.:03:04.

far, the match now up to three hours and 20. A nice love game for Kubot.

:03:05.:03:13.

Once again, the pressure on the other team, especially John Peers.

:03:14.:03:28.

At 6-7. You were saying what? 145 games to go? Yes! I'm up for it, how

:03:29.:03:37.

about you? Yes, you know, I might nip out for a Sandwich and leave you

:03:38.:03:41.

to do a couple of games. Fair enough! And you can nip out. Bring

:03:42.:03:45.

me some adult beverages back! When John Peers puts the first serve

:03:46.:04:31.

interplay, the other guys really have had very little joy. It is when

:04:32.:04:38.

he misses the first served that things start to go pear shaped.

:04:39.:05:02.

Well, it is at the far end from us, but that second serve must have been

:05:03.:05:07.

as deep as deep can be. Really nice reaction, that serves,

:05:08.:05:47.

109 mph. Right into the body and Melo did well to get out of the way.

:05:48.:06:01.

Oh, how about that?! Lovely reaction! Just crushed the return.

:06:02.:06:40.

The umpire was in the rough -- the umpire's voice, seven all! How many

:06:41.:06:55.

more? ! He must be thinking, not me a game! Deja vu! Mohamed Lahyani.

:06:56.:07:51.

Successive love service game is for Kubot and Melo, which just ramps up

:07:52.:08:48.

the situation a bit more. Because Kontinen and Peers have hardly

:08:49.:08:52.

finished serving and they have got to do it again. Well, exactly. And

:08:53.:08:57.

the longer your service games go on and the shorter your opponent has

:08:58.:09:06.

their games, the pressure mounts as the set and stews. Look at that, the

:09:07.:09:15.

other semifinal also deep in the fifth set, six all. I guess there

:09:16.:09:22.

will not be any physical advantage for the two winners. Yes! Men's

:09:23.:09:33.

Doubles final. Played on Saturday after the lady Singles. -- the

:09:34.:09:38.

Ladies' Singles. A lot of biffing going on in that

:09:39.:10:22.

rally. But that is what happens to Kontinen

:10:23.:10:38.

when he takes the pace off the first serve. Yes, that first serve just

:10:39.:10:52.

105 mph. If he is going to take the pace off, he needs to play it

:10:53.:11:03.

better. Kontinen hoping to challenge. Mohamed Lahyani saying,

:11:04.:11:11.

no, you can't challenge after you have missed the ball, you had plenty

:11:12.:11:14.

of time to challenge before you hit it.

:11:15.:11:28.

What a second serve! He has come through a couple of times in that

:11:29.:11:59.

situation. Remind me never to play Henri at poker! He wins the gambles.

:12:00.:13:11.

The game, he took the pace off the serve. The first break point of the

:13:12.:14:18.

final set. The first match point. A unique celebration from Lukasz

:14:19.:15:15.

Kubot! That is what it means to be a Wimbledon finalist.

:15:16.:15:29.

What a fantastic points to finish it on as well. Henri Kontinen did so

:15:30.:15:40.

well to stay in that rally. And it was a succession of powerful drives

:15:41.:15:48.

from Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo that finally finished them off.

:15:49.:15:57.

Three hours and 32 minutes. And boy, have the Number 1 Court crowd

:15:58.:16:00.

enjoyed their first Match of the Day! Nice to see them waiting for

:16:01.:16:05.

their opponents. This was at class matchup, two

:16:06.:16:23.

inform teams who both played superbly at times in the match. Ebbs

:16:24.:16:32.

and flows. In the end, Robert Blake Kubot and Melo with a better pair --

:16:33.:16:36.

probably. SUE BARKER: What a match on Court

:16:37.:16:55.

Number One, 9-7 in the fifth and what a celebration from Lukasz

:16:56.:17:00.

Kubot! Divided that, I would have to call for the trainer! What a match

:17:01.:17:05.

and the crowd loving it on Court Number One. In the build-up to this

:17:06.:17:08.

year's championships, I have been talking to many of Wimbledon's rates

:17:09.:17:15.

fall than 90 years of the BBC and it was interesting to find out where

:17:16.:17:19.

they are now and what they are doing. When I visited Chris Evert in

:17:20.:17:24.

Florida, guess what, she was at the Chris Evert Academy. How are you?

:17:25.:17:41.

Good! Lily, nice going! That was the right shot. What a set up you have

:17:42.:17:47.

here! How many courts? Don't as glue that, 31! Clay and hard. Two

:17:48.:17:56.

dormitories. Kids from all over the world, about 70, 80 full-time

:17:57.:18:02.

players. This is my brother 20 years ago. He started it out? Yes, it is

:18:03.:18:08.

all him, yet he bugged me won years to begin an Academy. He is

:18:09.:18:13.

responsible for the success and he figures out what makes a great

:18:14.:18:17.

Academy. You must be so proud of what the Evert family have created.

:18:18.:18:21.

Yes, carrying on the tradition. My dad was the professional, at a

:18:22.:18:28.

holiday park for 50 years. In those days, there was no Academy. That was

:18:29.:18:33.

the mecca of Academy tennis in the United States and Florida.

:18:34.:18:37.

If you are going to commit and poach, you go in, don't go sideways!

:18:38.:18:42.

Cut it off and go in. It is creating an environment where

:18:43.:18:47.

they can reach their goals and be the best they can be. It is about

:18:48.:18:54.

grounding them and making them into well rounded student athletes as

:18:55.:18:57.

well, not just tennis players and tennis machines. To really give them

:18:58.:19:03.

the tools that they can benefit in life after tennis also.

:19:04.:19:08.

I come out here every day and I love it. It is something that helps me

:19:09.:19:13.

get out of bed in the morning. You just need to have something to look

:19:14.:19:17.

forward to even when you are not a professional and not playing on the

:19:18.:19:21.

pro tour and raising kids. You still need something at this stage in my

:19:22.:19:25.

life, it is really a good thing I have this.

:19:26.:19:31.

How lucky those kids are to learn from the greatest match player I

:19:32.:19:35.

ever played against, that is Chris Evert, at her Academy. And hopefully

:19:36.:19:40.

she will be joining me later today. We have more tennis for you now and

:19:41.:19:44.

this is a match involving Gordon Reid, of Britain. He was facing

:19:45.:19:51.

Stephane Olsson in the Wheelchair Singles, and this is a repeat of

:19:52.:19:56.

last year's final. You can see he has struck the opening set, Gordon

:19:57.:20:02.

Reid, serving 4-3 up in the second set. The commentators, Peter Norfolk

:20:03.:20:03.

and Nick Mullins. He has lost the last three games, he

:20:04.:20:13.

was 4-3 up. This is a big game for him. I love Gordon, but if he

:20:14.:20:20.

doesn't stop the rot... Gordon is on the ascendancy.

:20:21.:20:35.

Yes, quite likely, Olsson looking at the finish line when he got the 4-0,

:20:36.:20:43.

big mistake if he did. And he was serving 45-1, that is the game he

:20:44.:20:53.

was broken in. -- was serving for 5-1.

:20:54.:21:31.

The serve looked borderline long. I guess it is the umpire's call. There

:21:32.:21:38.

is a line judge. This has got the feeling of a really

:21:39.:22:05.

big moment. Yes, big game, everybody is getting a bit twitchy.

:22:06.:22:23.

Great serve out wide by Olsson, it gives him his sixth ace. Normally,

:22:24.:22:32.

Gordon serves big and he's got no aces yet. Quite if you double

:22:33.:22:40.

faults. Drop shot. -- quite a few double faults. That was not even

:22:41.:22:46.

close, it was the bottom of the net. The improvement in form for Reid

:22:47.:22:56.

just going into other areas. Nothing wrong with that. That is a

:22:57.:23:13.

great forehand. Lovely toss, almost like a half-volley, so deep into the

:23:14.:23:16.

corner, back behind Gordon. The aces have been balanced out by

:23:17.:23:42.

the double faults. Yes, he is nervous, I mean, obviously, Gordon

:23:43.:23:49.

is defending. Olsson is nervous. It's getting close to a big scalp.

:23:50.:24:00.

That is a good shot. That is a very good slice. Olsson is sitting on the

:24:01.:24:06.

baseline, Gordon is still behind, pinning it back behind Gordon.

:24:07.:24:10.

Gordon has to try and take that away from Olsson.

:24:11.:24:17.

Yes, that was a really big hold. And his reaction tells you that he knows

:24:18.:24:32.

it as well. Those are the Swedish coaches. They will be well chuffed

:24:33.:24:45.

if Olsson comes through this. So Gordon Reid, 12 months after

:24:46.:24:49.

becoming champion here at Wimbledon, winning the inaugural Singles title

:24:50.:24:52.

and making a little bit of history in the quarterfinals, serving to

:24:53.:24:59.

stay initially's event. -- initiate's event.

:25:00.:25:07.

Well, that is not going to help. Chucking in yet another fault.

:25:08.:25:24.

That is a great return! I don't like it, but I admire it. Gordon, good

:25:25.:25:37.

serve. You can see where Olsson is returning that. Straight back down

:25:38.:25:42.

the line, not giving Gordon a chance to move from where he has served.

:25:43.:25:57.

Yes, he took the pace off. Gordon took the pace off his serve. Olsson

:25:58.:26:02.

returned it and he did it again, Gordon hit the ball back behind

:26:03.:26:03.

Olsson. Yes. Excellent shot once more from

:26:04.:26:42.

Olsson, and he has match point. It is the depth that he is hitting the

:26:43.:26:48.

ball, because he is hitting it so deep, it is all about having to

:26:49.:26:49.

react. Olsson attacking the second serve

:26:50.:27:05.

for the match. Fantastic second serve by Gordon,

:27:06.:27:27.

that was a bit scary. It elicited the error, he needed that. One match

:27:28.:27:33.

point saved. It has gone. And there it is.

:27:34.:28:13.

Revenge for Stefan Olsson, the man beaten in last year's Singles final

:28:14.:28:18.

has knocked out the champion. Not this year for Gordon Reid, not in

:28:19.:28:22.

the Singles, at least. He has still got the Doubles. But the defence of

:28:23.:28:29.

his Singles title has ended at the first stage. Beaten by an

:28:30.:28:34.

outstanding Swede called Stefan Olsson. 6-2, 6-3.

:28:35.:28:38.

SUE BARKER: Disappointment for Gordon but revenge is sweet for

:28:39.:28:47.

Stefan Olsson, going through in straight sets. It was ladies semi

:28:48.:28:51.

final day today and on Centre Court, first was Garbine Muguruza against

:28:52.:28:58.

Magdalena Rybarikova. And I'm afraid Magdalena Rybarikova was not playing

:28:59.:29:03.

well, nervous performers from her, wonderful performance from Garbine

:29:04.:29:07.

Muguruza looks back to her best. Her coach is a former winner here,

:29:08.:29:11.

Conchita Martinez, a big smile from her because she knows Garbine

:29:12.:29:16.

Muguruza displaying superb grass court tennis, big serves. And there

:29:17.:29:20.

was a big smile because she knows that she had a chance of winning a

:29:21.:29:25.

second Grand Slam title, having won the French Open last year. 6-1, 6-1,

:29:26.:29:31.

one hour and five minutes. Then on the court, Venus Williams against

:29:32.:29:36.

Britain's Johanna Konta, trying to become the first British woman

:29:37.:29:40.

through to the finals since Virginia Wade in 1977. She was facing a

:29:41.:29:44.

champion, a great champion, who looks to be back to her best, Venus

:29:45.:29:49.

Williams, who was the winner in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, magnificent

:29:50.:29:56.

serving display from Venus and she does a little twirl on Centre Court.

:29:57.:30:00.

First time in the final here since 2009, but is chasing her six title.

:30:01.:30:05.

And after the match, she spoke to Richard.

:30:06.:30:11.

Congratulations. Europe when he viewed at Wimbledon and your first

:30:12.:30:18.

final since 2009. I have played lots of finals here. I could not ask for

:30:19.:30:23.

more, one more win would be amazing. It will not be given but I will give

:30:24.:30:29.

it my all. You are up against the big British hope, how well did you

:30:30.:30:33.

have to play to win because of the crowd? The crowd was very nice to

:30:34.:30:39.

me. Even more boy studies. I felt the crowd was there and I know that

:30:40.:30:44.

the love Jo Konta. There was lots of pressure and I felt she handled it

:30:45.:30:49.

well. You have got a lovely smile on your face when the match was over,

:30:50.:30:54.

what emotions were you feeling? She played so well and no point was

:30:55.:31:00.

easy. I tried to climb on top every time to get another point. It was

:31:01.:31:07.

done. Just so happy. Muguruza way to you in the final, what can we

:31:08.:31:13.

forward to? The last time she played Serena Williams, I will have to ask

:31:14.:31:18.

for pointers, she is always in my corner. It is usually hard in these

:31:19.:31:22.

finals. I am trying my best to represent William is the best I can.

:31:23.:31:27.

Do you miss her? Terribly. I missed so much before this game, I wish she

:31:28.:31:34.

was here. This time have to do it for myself. QPR. Well done, Venus.

:31:35.:31:45.

Thank you. SUE BARKER: Jo Konta can be proud of her Wimbledon

:31:46.:31:50.

Championships as well. More tennis for you on Court number one, it is a

:31:51.:31:55.

quarterfinal in the Mixed Doubles. Between Andre Begemann and Nicole

:31:56.:32:00.

Melichar and Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina. They are the number two

:32:01.:32:05.

seeds. They are just on court. Louise Pleming is alongside Barry

:32:06.:32:06.

Davies. COMMENTATOR: All smiles at the

:32:07.:32:38.

moment and a few empty seats after a match lasted more than 3.5 hours.

:32:39.:32:43.

They have gone out for the break but I am sure they will be coming back

:32:44.:32:48.

for what promises to be an entertaining Mixed Doubles match.

:32:49.:32:52.

The favourites on the near side of the net. Bruno Soares from Brazil

:32:53.:33:01.

and Elena Vesnina from Russia. Against Andre Begemann and Nicole

:33:02.:33:02.

Melichar. Do you have any questions? Heads or

:33:03.:33:26.

tails. Your choice. The choice was for the German. They will serve

:33:27.:33:43.

first. Next quarterfinal in every sense, four nations represented. In

:33:44.:33:49.

the country book -- commentary box one Englishman and somebody from

:33:50.:33:52.

down under in Australia, Louise Pleming. Thank you, Barry. Quite a

:33:53.:33:59.

distance I have had to travel to come here but this will be a

:34:00.:34:07.

terrific match. Elena Vesnina is certainly a very good doubles

:34:08.:34:11.

player. This will be an interesting match for this young player, Nicole

:34:12.:34:16.

Melichar, from the United States. She has only been victorious in one

:34:17.:34:20.

doubles match at Grand Slam level in the US Open last year. This is new

:34:21.:34:28.

territory for her and her partner. They are very happy to be here at

:34:29.:34:33.

the quarterfinals given the rankings. They really do gel very

:34:34.:34:39.

well. This man is very impressive, Andre Begemann. He is super solid.

:34:40.:34:46.

He has got a big serve, he is fast. He has got all the good tools and

:34:47.:34:50.

weapons to be a great Mixed Doubles player. He is very positive on the

:34:51.:34:56.

court as well. He played a terrific match, the first match against

:34:57.:35:02.

England and Robson. That is this mean, her doubles ranking is at

:35:03.:35:04.

four. Her partner is at six. Bruno Soares would not feel he has

:35:05.:35:22.

had a great Wimbledon. He would be expecting to be still in the Men's

:35:23.:35:26.

Doubles with Jamie Murray from Scotland. They went out 7-5 in the

:35:27.:35:38.

fifth. From -- against the tennis players from Sweden and Australia.

:35:39.:35:42.

That was a big surprise for the man who has 26 titles. And knows what it

:35:43.:35:52.

is like to win Grand Slams. But not here at Wimbledon. He did once get

:35:53.:35:58.

to the final, Soares, with Lisa Raymond. But be lost.

:35:59.:36:11.

Vesnina is 30 years old. She comes from Saatchi. That is where the

:36:12.:36:19.

Olympic Square. The Winter Olympics. Bruno Soares is from Belo Horizonte

:36:20.:36:32.

in Brazil. Nicole Melichar is from Florida in

:36:33.:36:51.

the United States of America. In the last round she was the only player

:36:52.:36:56.

on court who won all four service games. Which her partner, Andre

:36:57.:37:07.

Begemann, who was 33 years old yesterday, was presumably very

:37:08.:37:08.

grateful. Tour de France Brown is only after

:37:09.:37:36.

getting a bye into the second round. Some terrific matches. The big one

:37:37.:37:42.

was Jack Sock and Madison Keys in three sets. That was a tough battle

:37:43.:37:47.

for them. They played a long match. And then they went through to play

:37:48.:37:52.

Mark Venus and a Boruc Rogic over. That was also a very tough match.

:37:53.:38:01.

They have a plenty on court time to work things out. They won a Grand

:38:02.:38:07.

Slam match in 2016. The understand how do they need to play together.

:38:08.:38:10.

Soares is very solid. Andre Begemann and Nicole Melichar,

:38:11.:38:32.

best when was against next-door and the patch. They had some time in the

:38:33.:38:41.

second round. 15 - 13 in the third set. They have played some

:38:42.:38:49.

outstanding tennis. Their first match was high-quality. That was

:38:50.:38:56.

against England and Robson. It was played on Court number one. They

:38:57.:39:00.

have had some time to get familiar with surroundings. It would be a big

:39:01.:39:05.

moment for Nicole Melichar that day. The biggest stadium she has played

:39:06.:39:09.

in. She has really enjoyed Wimbledon this year. I have seen her in the

:39:10.:39:16.

restaurant a couple of times and she has been so impressed with what

:39:17.:39:20.

happened with her tennis, the fact she has gotten in here. It was back

:39:21.:39:28.

in 2012, her and her partner, Brian Batten Stone, they played the

:39:29.:39:32.

national wild card play-offs in the United States and got through to the

:39:33.:39:37.

US Open. That was her first moment of Mixed Doubles play at Grand Slam

:39:38.:39:44.

level. That is the umpire from Croatia.

:39:45.:39:56.

She is very experienced. She has taken care of big matches for quite

:39:57.:40:02.

a long time. We will not see too many things go awry. This is the

:40:03.:40:16.

pair that will be favoured to win. Soares and Vesnina. Vesnina is very

:40:17.:40:22.

flat, very aggressive, great return. She did very well last year here in

:40:23.:40:29.

the singles. She is still in the women's doubles. Soares bowed out

:40:30.:40:33.

earlier. They will be a familiar -- formidable team. Vesnina was in the

:40:34.:40:38.

semifinals of the Ladies' Doubles. As in tradition, in pleasant

:40:39.:40:59.

sunshine, it is Andre Begemann to open this match. For Street, too far

:41:00.:41:07.

for Nicole Melichar. I have got a feeling she will get lots of traffic

:41:08.:41:11.

directed at her earlier gone. Perhaps intimidate her a little bit.

:41:12.:41:16.

The least experienced on court by a long shot.

:41:17.:41:51.

Just the sort of opportunity you want to be offered in your first

:41:52.:41:58.

game. This match is in the quarterfinals.

:41:59.:42:16.

Just 109 from Begemann. He can do everything with his serve, he has

:42:17.:42:21.

got variation. Goodness me. This is just the

:42:22.:42:51.

opening game!. Proper entertainment here. We don't often see that.

:42:52.:42:59.

Rallies going 14 shots in the Mixed Doubles. Breakpoint against the

:43:00.:43:05.

server. Slightly delete if not a

:43:06.:43:17.

particularly quiet call. That is an unfortunate way to lose

:43:18.:43:39.

your opening serve. There are some people who would argue, and you

:43:40.:43:46.

could be among them, Louise, the man has not played his part, he is

:43:47.:43:51.

expected to hold serve. I do not lie, Barry. I would not be happy, I

:43:52.:43:56.

would look at him with a stern look. Of course I wouldn't. You cannot do

:43:57.:44:00.

that. You have to take the good with the bad, Barry.

:44:01.:44:12.

Smart play from the call. -- from Nicole. She understands the doubles

:44:13.:44:36.

court very well, tactically thinking straight away. She does not want to

:44:37.:44:41.

test the volley of Vesnina early on, she knows that they are solid. As

:44:42.:44:44.

was that serve. Vesnina is very safe at the net,

:44:45.:45:38.

that was hit with lots of pace offended by Begemann. Cool, calm and

:45:39.:45:41.

collected is Vesnina at the net. Up against it right from the start.

:45:42.:46:03.

Begemann and Melichar... Can she maintain her record from her

:46:04.:46:29.

last match of all is winning her serve?

:46:30.:46:42.

Good depth from Soares. He is going to try to get the ball to penetrate

:46:43.:46:52.

through and stay back on Melichar, try to stay away from Begemann. He

:46:53.:46:56.

is good at the net. That is one reason why she was not broken in the

:46:57.:47:02.

last match. It is a team game, no doubt about that.

:47:03.:47:27.

Good work from the call. Got behind that right away. Soares trying to

:47:28.:47:32.

explain -- expose the server. That was a good hold. You felt she

:47:33.:48:11.

might have been upset at Begemann of losing his opening serve. When the

:48:12.:48:15.

male player loses the opening serve, when they do, it is not often off

:48:16.:48:21.

their own back. The first point, when Begemann suit, it was Vesnina

:48:22.:48:25.

that went down the line and try to intimidate the female player a

:48:26.:48:30.

little bit. Particularly at the net. As this match extends, you will see

:48:31.:48:35.

how good at the net Melichar is. That is probably the best part of

:48:36.:48:47.

our game. She can read the baseline. We saw an pace and some big serving

:48:48.:48:48.

there. It was one of your compatriots that

:48:49.:49:04.

made the observation, who said, the man does not hold serve, he is not

:49:05.:49:09.

doing his job because the pressure is always on the lady anyway. He is

:49:10.:49:14.

expected to do so. Let us see what Vesnina will do.

:49:15.:49:22.

Good serve. Was it Liz Smylie Pat Cash that said that? I could not

:49:23.:49:32.

possibly comment. Without the permission.

:49:33.:49:47.

You are like a bank vault, Barry. That was some return.

:49:48.:50:18.

He won a couple of Grand Slams with Jamie Murray. Last year, Australia

:50:19.:50:22.

and the United States. Another very good return. Begemann

:50:23.:50:42.

was best on court and the opening match against the Brits. I like the

:50:43.:50:49.

way that this sky please. -- that this man plays.

:50:50.:51:01.

Great play from Begemann, how he interjects himself. He is getting

:51:02.:51:07.

good presence at the net. He is getting in the mind of Vesnina. He

:51:08.:51:16.

moves across. And very safe hands. And brings up a break back point.

:51:17.:51:28.

He was trying to do too much, Soares.

:51:29.:51:48.

Still some degree from that opening service game. It was a double fault

:51:49.:52:23.

in the last point. Good placement from Vesnina. She

:52:24.:53:10.

reads the serve well. Takes some pace off and make sure that the ball

:53:11.:53:18.

will get download. That is the criteria in doubles, you want to get

:53:19.:53:19.

the ball sitting download. Interesting grip on the forehand

:53:20.:53:45.

from Melichar. Makes a solid shot on that.

:53:46.:53:54.

Just making amends, Barry. Wants to hold serve here.

:53:55.:54:05.

A run of play my games after losing the last two. That is the father of

:54:06.:54:50.

Elena Vesnina. He is her coach and constant travel companion, he is a

:54:51.:54:55.

great influence, they are a great pair. It said something about her

:54:56.:55:00.

personality, when you see a partnership of Ekaterina Makarova,

:55:01.:55:06.

and Vesnina, they have been a partnership for so many years, it

:55:07.:55:14.

speaks volumes about how somebody can communicate and work together.

:55:15.:55:19.

Throughout the years, that is her real strength as a doubles player,

:55:20.:55:23.

she gets on really well with her partner. She thinks things through.

:55:24.:55:28.

It is one of the reasons why she is a Grand Slam champion. As many times

:55:29.:55:34.

as she is. She is consistent with her mentality.

:55:35.:56:29.

Very clever. Very precise. Point made.

:56:30.:56:43.

Good hands from Soares. Just waits for Melichar to move a little bit

:56:44.:56:53.

and slides it down the side. Such a top serve for the female players

:56:54.:56:57.

when the opponents can hurt a little bit of slice with the added value of

:56:58.:57:03.

the grass. It makes it an impossible return.

:57:04.:57:44.

Very casual to go back there, Soares.

:57:45.:58:01.

And the ball was out. Soares perceived that quite early.

:58:02.:58:26.

Very solid on returns, Begemann. He is really going to challenge Vesnina

:58:27.:58:31.

today at the net. She looks to be concerned. She

:58:32.:58:56.

should not have worried. The most difficult volley to hit is

:58:57.:59:19.

when the male player goes right at your body into that backhand side.

:59:20.:59:23.

When it comes into the forehand it is not as difficult.

:59:24.:59:36.

That was very sharp. Again, I like the confidence of Begemann. He is

:59:37.:59:48.

trying to draw the ball to him. He was faking a little bit. Trying to

:59:49.:59:50.

bait Vesnina. He has got a little bit of flair

:59:51.:00:07.

about him. I like the way that he gets about the court. He has

:00:08.:00:10.

probably got the best presence on court, this man.

:00:11.:00:34.

A very common mind under pressure just to let that one go.

:00:35.:00:53.

So well directed. Begemann took off to meet it and found it was just

:00:54.:01:01.

about already passed him. They look pretty comfortable,

:01:02.:01:35.

despair, extremely well. The assets they bring to the game, meant each

:01:36.:01:45.

other. Melichar has a good serve. Very good at the net, very solid,

:01:46.:01:50.

and when she gets behind her returns, she puts a lot and the play

:01:51.:01:55.

for Begemann to interact and be dominant at the net. Begemann is a

:01:56.:02:01.

calming influence and they seem to get on extremely well, chemistry

:02:02.:02:05.

almost better than this pair, looking worried, as they should do.

:02:06.:02:10.

At the back of Vesnina's mind, she has never won this event, Mixed

:02:11.:02:16.

Doubles. She has been to the cup -- by not a couple of times, but never

:02:17.:02:22.

won it. So a real addition to her trophy Cabinet. They are the number

:02:23.:02:26.

two seeds in this competition. Oh, and Lucky! -- unlucky. But some

:02:27.:03:43.

great crosscourt hitting in that rally. Either women. -- by the

:03:44.:03:48.

women. That was a bit of a gift. Vesnina is

:03:49.:04:10.

not quite at the races at this stage. No, he is rattling her. Andre

:04:11.:04:23.

Begemann. Very active at the net and his presence creating pressure on

:04:24.:04:36.

this player on screen. Oh, that is an unlucky miss. Melichar.

:04:37.:05:15.

Just staying on pace, Begemann, making Vesnina a little

:05:16.:05:21.

uncomfortable from the back. So solid with his returns, good depth.

:05:22.:05:25.

She is having to really think her way out of the service game. Aided

:05:26.:05:31.

by something of a shout when she hits the ball. Apparently. Good/

:05:32.:05:42.

there. There is a good partner, you sense

:05:43.:06:20.

your partner is struggling to hold and you want to help her. You know

:06:21.:06:29.

Begemann has gone off that forehand a couple of times, so good movement

:06:30.:06:31.

from Soares. You would go with touch, Barry? Or

:06:32.:06:52.

would you rather use a bit of pace, power? I love variety. This lady is

:06:53.:06:58.

a very good player. I enjoy watching her.

:06:59.:07:09.

Oh, that is unlucky, Begemann. Just playing a game. In tandem at the

:07:10.:07:18.

net. Begemann and Melichar connecting well when they move

:07:19.:07:19.

forwards. Soares brought the ball was in fact

:07:20.:07:49.

out. Well, it could not have been much more on the line than that. So

:07:50.:07:52.

30-15. These two are very much playing the

:07:53.:09:01.

match with a smile all the time. They are, I feel baked in -- they

:09:02.:09:06.

are in charge because of this man, Begemann, he has a great presence.

:09:07.:09:12.

He is extremely active. Looking to come forwards whenever he can. But

:09:13.:09:16.

great mover. You can really defend well. But just the way he carries

:09:17.:09:25.

himself, it is imposing. And he is the lead out there, he is looking to

:09:26.:09:29.

take charge. And I just love the fact that he is trying to get into

:09:30.:09:35.

the mindset of his opponents. He has been really aggressive and going at

:09:36.:09:40.

Vesnina. But for me, he is the one that is really driving this match so

:09:41.:09:45.

far. And it is all about chemistry, isn't it? Soares had a lot more time

:09:46.:09:57.

on court with his partner to gel. So, Soares now needing to hold.

:09:58.:10:07.

Otherwise, they will be a set down. 4-5.

:10:08.:10:14.

I think he is OK. Making light of it, anyway. Those shoes just

:10:15.:10:41.

starting to get a little worn out. Very small pimples on them. He was

:10:42.:10:47.

not quite quitting. His foot crossed over. -- splitting. Just unsettled

:10:48.:10:58.

him for a minute. Yes, good serving from Soares. They

:10:59.:11:13.

had been serving three or four serves in in this match, 75%. That

:11:14.:11:15.

is pretty high. He catches a little luck, but he

:11:16.:11:36.

just feels that slight gap down the line.

:11:37.:11:55.

Half an hour has gone. They can't be parted at the moment. A rapid pace

:11:56.:12:06.

they are playing this Mixed Doubles at, ten games in 30 minutes.

:12:07.:12:35.

Oh! Soares just lifting his game now. Another slight slip from

:12:36.:12:52.

Begemann. Well, I'm really surprised to see

:12:53.:13:12.

Vesnina stay back after that deep return from Soares, and she stayed

:13:13.:13:18.

back. That is just a little notice of where her minders at the moment,

:13:19.:13:24.

not that confident up at the net. Love- 30 here. Melichar.

:13:25.:13:39.

Oh, that is like a comedy of errors, almost, what happened? Two shots

:13:40.:13:48.

were not hit cleanly. One ended up on the net post and the other out at

:13:49.:13:53.

the back. Apart from that, it was all great stuff! Just glad he didn't

:13:54.:13:57.

touch the net and finish it off! Did not quite get that right, they

:13:58.:14:08.

are in trouble. Two big points. That is a brave second serve from

:14:09.:14:43.

Melichar! Just 100 mph on that second serve, that is huge! In fact,

:14:44.:14:54.

they average around 97 mph for the second serve. That is up there.

:14:55.:15:11.

Still break point. Oh, that is an unfortunate way to drop her serve.

:15:12.:15:26.

Both of them have dropped their serve with a double fault at the

:15:27.:15:33.

last point. Way back in the first game, it was the male of the team,

:15:34.:15:36.

and there, the female of the team. Beautiful afternoon, isn't it,

:15:37.:15:51.

Barry? It has been stunning weather. A cool breeze, but perfect

:15:52.:15:55.

conditions for playing tennis. We have seen a little bit of everything

:15:56.:15:59.

this Wimbledon, haven't we? Plenty of blue. The cloud is pretty high.

:16:00.:16:13.

Just a bit of darkness. No roof at all on here. It will be one that

:16:14.:16:25.

will open and close in 2019. What stage we will be at next summer

:16:26.:16:30.

remains to seen. Probably would only have needed to use it just the one

:16:31.:16:34.

day really. As happened with the Centre Court roof the first time it

:16:35.:16:41.

was used. It was almost as if they needed to try it out! Vesnina

:16:42.:16:45.

serving with a chance of taking the set.

:16:46.:17:10.

Oh! That is a great interception. Melichar could not react.

:17:11.:17:41.

I think he was partly responsible for that. He ran across her line of

:17:42.:17:54.

fire. Vesnina made the error. He can be a little overeager sometimes.

:17:55.:17:58.

This 35-year-old is a class act. That is the highest today. Two set

:17:59.:18:08.

points. Oh, what an excellent return! Brave

:18:09.:18:41.

shot here from Melichar. You can see how much space Soares is giving her.

:18:42.:18:46.

And feeling that Begemann is going to do exactly the same play on this

:18:47.:18:52.

next shot. He is going to go straight down the line. So set point

:18:53.:18:55.

on offer. Could be a little harsh after

:18:56.:19:20.

contributing so much, they rather threw it away. Begemann and

:19:21.:19:27.

Melichar. Well, they will certainly be disappointed after that, Begemann

:19:28.:19:31.

and Melichar felt that they were looking to be the more confident out

:19:32.:19:37.

here. First serve points won went down, their conversion rates just

:19:38.:19:41.

dropped at the wrong time, Begemann and Melichar, when Melichar was

:19:42.:19:47.

broken. The winners have been getting a better percentage in and

:19:48.:19:52.

they were so lucky to dip at the wrong part of the match. The spare

:19:53.:19:57.

here were just a little lucky, I'm sure they are saying, we got out of

:19:58.:20:02.

jail here! We saw Vesnina staying back and a couple of points, I just

:20:03.:20:06.

felt she was feeling a little intimidated. I thought that Begemann

:20:07.:20:11.

was doing a good job. I wonder when he slipped, that time, whether that

:20:12.:20:17.

just got inside his head a little bit and he was a little bit of

:20:18.:20:21.

confidence with his moving. Because he has been extremely explosive, as

:20:22.:20:26.

we just see both of his team, Begemann and Melichar have left

:20:27.:20:31.

Court Number One to have a quick bathroom break. As more people are

:20:32.:20:36.

arriving on Court Number One after hearing about such a good Mixed

:20:37.:20:39.

Doubles match. Nice to see them back, Barry. But I'm sure they will

:20:40.:20:47.

be discussing how they really got out of trouble. Soares started to

:20:48.:20:55.

read a little bit, Begemann's returning patterns. And he was able

:20:56.:20:58.

to help Vesnina somewhat on her service game.

:20:59.:21:10.

Elena's father. A constant companion and a great source of strength and

:21:11.:21:19.

wisdom. Always with his daughter. I wonder if coaches get to logon how

:21:20.:21:25.

many hours they sit down and tally up. They can go at dinner time and

:21:26.:21:34.

say, Vesnina, I spent 30 hours a week watching you play tennis, you

:21:35.:21:37.

have to sit and listen to me for a minute now! They have switched

:21:38.:21:46.

towels as well, Barry. Yes, it is always the way, so you have a

:21:47.:21:48.

complete set. Yes. So, do they have it in them to come

:21:49.:22:08.

back? Begemann is the first to serve again.

:22:09.:22:23.

He needs to get a quick point, Begemann.

:22:24.:22:42.

Oh! Just a passing brush. That was good enough.

:22:43.:23:14.

You just don't know why that one comes into play for Begemann, he

:23:15.:23:22.

looks so solid on his serve. He threw one in at 135 rounds per hour,

:23:23.:23:29.

he gets under it. Sometimes on that second serve, it just gets a little

:23:30.:23:30.

too far in front. It would be good for this team if

:23:31.:23:58.

they get a good start and get momentum back. They created good

:23:59.:24:04.

pressure in that opening set. They just failed at the end.

:24:05.:25:04.

It is important to refuel if you are going to keep your energy up. She is

:25:05.:25:09.

doing a good job of that. Well, that was very nearly mine. I

:25:10.:25:48.

have to admit, I chickened out! It hit the glass of the commentary box,

:25:49.:25:56.

of course. You get a good view down here, right down on the court.

:25:57.:26:04.

Barry, we are a bit lucky. It is a privilege.

:26:05.:26:18.

Oh! She got a lot of spin on that, I suspect! She made it look easy! And

:26:19.:26:29.

he thought he was going to find it easy, but not so. Yes, you can just

:26:30.:26:37.

see the backspin. It's just dies on the grass and takes it a little too

:26:38.:26:53.

passably. -- passively. Out of the Sony sky, mistakes by the Brazilian.

:26:54.:27:16.

He has been so effective with that slice serve out wide, Soares, into

:27:17.:27:23.

the weakest side when he can get Melichar moving out wide on the

:27:24.:27:27.

forehand. She has not been able to make it.

:27:28.:27:41.

Oh! They crashed out. Nicole had a bit of a brain fade. She forgot she

:27:42.:27:59.

is playing with a guy who is extremely fast. He was behind that,

:28:00.:28:04.

could have had an easy shot on it as well.

:28:05.:28:26.

Good body serve. You just see how Vesnina had nowhere to go.

:28:27.:29:09.

He is certainly the dominant character at the net. Sometimes,

:29:10.:29:13.

Vesnina can't cope with it. I think he got away with more of a

:29:14.:29:24.

slice than was ever considered. Well done, Vesnina. She is realising

:29:25.:30:15.

that he is moving a lot, so she is just going to try to keep him on

:30:16.:30:17.

that baseline for a little. SUE BARKER: We're leaving this

:30:18.:30:44.

match. You can continue watching it on the red button on the BBC sport

:30:45.:30:50.

website. We are going to take you over to Centre Court to see the

:30:51.:30:55.

defending champions in the Mixed Doubles, on the Kontinen on and

:30:56.:31:01.

Laura Robson, up against Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski. They

:31:02.:31:07.

are the number ten seeds. They are just about to get underway. Heather

:31:08.:31:09.

is already smiling. COMMENTATOR: Great if you have

:31:10.:31:32.

stayed and this should be fun. The reading champions against the best

:31:33.:31:36.

beer in this tournament so far. The Roland Garros champion is taking on

:31:37.:31:37.

the Wimbledon champions. When I think of Hornby commented on,

:31:38.:32:19.

I think of Ryan Gosling. He has to watch out that after the

:32:20.:32:41.

long Men's Doubles he does not come out flat.

:32:42.:33:10.

He is a magnificent tennis player. Kontinen, strong hand, quick feet,

:33:11.:33:22.

good tactician. He also plays some crazy shots.

:33:23.:33:42.

Excellent work from Rohan Bopanna. 37 years of age but has Venus

:33:43.:33:45.

Williams will tell you, aegis just a number.

:33:46.:33:54.

Heather Watson taking the responsibility and they go into the

:33:55.:33:56.

lead. For him, I am not sure if that is

:33:57.:34:14.

lunch or dinner. He probably does not know. An unidentified category

:34:15.:34:15.

of meal. Here is Rohan Bopanna on serve. He

:34:16.:34:32.

was fantastic on serve in the third round match.

:34:33.:34:44.

There was not much space but it was right on the line.

:34:45.:35:13.

This is interesting. Bopanna and Dabrowski have not been broken right

:35:14.:35:23.

the way through the tournament. They are 0- 30 on the opening service

:35:24.:35:25.

game of Bopanna. He has missed a couple of first

:35:26.:36:04.

serves and he has now missed for him, an easy volley, and there are

:36:05.:36:06.

no two break points. Good fencing between Gabriela and

:36:07.:36:35.

Heather. Having big discussions about whether to go for the Heather

:36:36.:36:38.

Watson return because her backhand is superb. That is why they did not

:36:39.:36:49.

go there. I watched the last couple of rounds from Henry and Heather,

:36:50.:36:52.

Watson has been superb. He did not let me down in the end on

:36:53.:37:39.

his serve. Two break points saved. One game each. It would've been an

:37:40.:37:47.

irony if he was broken after you had given him a showcase. Did happen.

:37:48.:38:25.

Now the -- we saw signs of it in the singles here, I think Heather as

:38:26.:38:30.

plain as well as she has ever played. She is back on track

:38:31.:38:35.

trampling in the doubles helps, having to serve out for threats and

:38:36.:38:40.

in the clutch, that is where she is having problems in the singles.

:38:41.:38:53.

Where was Gabriela Dabrowski standing to return? It looked as if

:38:54.:38:58.

she had gone off court. He has got some funky shots all

:38:59.:39:04.

right. It was the ideal move at the ideal

:39:05.:39:35.

time. Not a lot of room but he found some.

:39:36.:40:11.

Rohan Bopanna has the most beautiful ability, fluid strokes, wonderful to

:40:12.:40:18.

watch. He just caresses it over the net but generates incredible power.

:40:19.:40:32.

Three games with serve. Bopanna was the most threatened.

:40:33.:40:48.

They are full of animation and communication these two. It brings

:40:49.:40:54.

back memories of those wonderful scenes 12 months ago right here.

:40:55.:41:04.

There is another smiler, Heather's mum, Michelle.

:41:05.:41:14.

And Elaine Paige on the left. She is a pretty good tennis player herself.

:41:15.:41:25.

She quizzes around the court, mad, passionate tennis fan and everything

:41:26.:41:31.

about the court -- about the sport. Coached by Sam Smith? Not coached by

:41:32.:41:35.

Samantha Smith but I have seen her play. She would play every day of

:41:36.:41:44.

the week if she had the time. Even more people coming in.

:41:45.:41:55.

Gabriela Dabrowski is the last to serve.

:41:56.:42:24.

They are doing a lot of thinking about the Watson return. Worried

:42:25.:42:30.

about her getting onto the backhand. Heather is so good at that.

:42:31.:42:38.

Not quite the return she wanted. It was an easy put away.

:42:39.:42:56.

He is a big man and packs a big punch, and is also very quick at the

:42:57.:43:24.

net. He tried to conjure up something

:43:25.:44:15.

special but it had too much pace on it. I actually feel that Heather was

:44:16.:44:21.

right to take this on, I do not think it would have gone out.

:44:22.:44:26.

Dabrowski playing really well. It is about the women in Mixed Doubles,

:44:27.:44:30.

who is the stronger female out there?

:44:31.:45:33.

Again, super teamwork. This served from Kontinen is so difficult to

:45:34.:45:43.

pick, wonderful disguise, an amazing pace and swing. Luke Rowe that

:45:44.:45:53.

bounced for the first time, on the court covers, that is about a seven

:45:54.:45:55.

metre swing. No problem and no breaks so far, 3-2

:45:56.:46:05.

to the champions. No pressure on that serve at all. It

:46:06.:46:30.

is such a great delivery. I am rather fascinated by it, actually.

:46:31.:46:35.

By how he lays his head back, his arm goes right behind into an

:46:36.:46:41.

unbelievable Trophy position that he gets into. I do not know how you

:46:42.:46:45.

read it because I do not know how you get a clue from the racket face

:46:46.:46:50.

if you are the return. He must be double jointed in his shoulders,

:46:51.:46:56.

look how far back the racket goes, in that for the I'll open it is. I

:46:57.:47:01.

do not know how you see that coming over. It could gone anywhere. Look

:47:02.:47:09.

how far the racket is from his head. He has got lots of lag on it. That

:47:10.:47:16.

is an extraordinary serve. He must have strong neck muscles as well.

:47:17.:47:24.

Bopanna was not on top form when he served first time. He got out all

:47:25.:47:28.

the hole. Even the second serve has got kick

:47:29.:47:56.

and bike. Tough to handle. As soon as you get that return them

:47:57.:48:35.

though, at the serve and volley, you have to get it and you haven't.

:48:36.:49:17.

Now we are beginning to see why these two have not dropped a set all

:49:18.:49:24.

the way through to the quarterfinal and have been unbroken. Watson and

:49:25.:49:29.

Kontinen have been broken just the once.

:49:30.:50:05.

Excellent return from Dabrowski. Kontinen was surprised that it was

:50:06.:50:12.

over the net. He has got it all, hasn't he?

:50:13.:50:45.

Including looking like Ryan Gosling. He is the Ryan Gosling from Finland.

:50:46.:51:28.

Watson really coming good at the end of that game.

:51:29.:51:44.

No wonder Heather is full of beans. Great serving at the wonderful

:51:45.:51:49.

finish to that last rally. Dabrowski giving her space down that

:51:50.:52:00.

line. And that is immaculate. She has been down in the dumps,

:52:01.:52:18.

Heather, in the last year or so. The signs are good now. She had a few

:52:19.:52:24.

injuries and also hardcourt who took into the top 40 in the world, he

:52:25.:52:29.

went to Argentina will stop he was working with her in Florida and he

:52:30.:52:34.

was really good for her. She has had some instability on the coaching

:52:35.:52:39.

front and also with injuries. It does not take much for you to spiral

:52:40.:52:44.

down with some results but back on track now. New coaching setup.

:52:45.:52:48.

Hopefully he will spend more time in London.

:52:49.:52:58.

He wasn't sure whether to go for that. When he made up his mind it

:52:59.:53:08.

was too late. This could be a game that they could break. I always feel

:53:09.:53:13.

it is a lot harder when the ball comes out of the shade into the

:53:14.:53:22.

light. It is a good opportunity for Watson and Kontinen. It could be

:53:23.:53:29.

difficult for Dabrowski having to serve in this situation with the

:53:30.:53:30.

shadows are where they are. They have doing a very good job of

:53:31.:54:13.

neutralising the Heather Watson backhand return which can be a

:54:14.:54:14.

menace at its best. Dabrowski managed to hold serve

:54:15.:54:36.

without any fuss. Indeed, what's in the same. The only person who has

:54:37.:54:40.

been in trouble with his serve is Bopanna.

:54:41.:55:05.

How about that second serve? It is the third pace. His first or second

:55:06.:55:18.

serve is just not a problem. These two model it up, they get sold

:55:19.:55:51.

complicated. Of all the players I have seen at Wimbledon, it is rather

:55:52.:55:58.

evident, they have got great chemistry. Very easy in each other's

:55:59.:56:00.

company. Heather has definitely found a good

:56:01.:56:30.

one in the Henry Kontinen. She is a fine doubles player. This guy is the

:56:31.:56:35.

number one doubles player in the world right now. He won the

:56:36.:56:39.

Australian Open with John Peers and last year 17 doubles titles, five of

:56:40.:56:45.

them with John Peers. He was virtually taking it over. This time

:56:46.:56:54.

last year, we had never heard of Kontinen. I note he had played on

:56:55.:57:01.

the men's tour, ranked just outside the top 200 which is a very good

:57:02.:57:06.

ranking. I think it was all down to winning the Mixed Doubles last year,

:57:07.:57:14.

it sent him on the right path. I imagine he has got the sports

:57:15.:57:18.

personality of the year for Finland tied up now. He was runner up in the

:57:19.:57:24.

Boys' Singles here. He lost to a player called Dimitrov.

:57:25.:57:50.

I think they have been trying to go to Dabrowski quite a lot and not

:57:51.:57:54.

with lots of success. I am not sure she knew in an awful

:57:55.:58:02.

lot about that. There is nothing flashy about

:58:03.:58:49.

Dabrowski but she gets the job done. With ruthless efficiency.

:58:50.:59:08.

The Mac is whistling through ten games in 27 minutes.

:59:09.:59:53.

Not that Kontinen made a move but the man from India found the space

:59:54.:00:08.

and power. He timed his jump perfectly. So far,

:00:09.:00:25.

Heather has been unchallenged on serve. Her first was very accurate.

:00:26.:00:29.

It is the second serve that can leave the team of vulnerable.

:00:30.:00:39.

Oh, dear. That was a very good move off the ball by Dabrowski. Off the

:00:40.:00:50.

line. Oh, it is in. The volley is not

:00:51.:01:38.

quite good enough from Dabrowski. Good from Heather and great to see

:01:39.:01:43.

her release perhaps -- the racket head. If she does that in her

:01:44.:01:50.

Singles play, she will be flying back up the rankings.

:01:51.:02:02.

Oh, missed it. Super shot from Dabrowski. Didn't he do well then?

:02:03.:02:20.

He loosened the grip off that so he can remove the shot like a squash.

:02:21.:02:32.

Was quick. So some dicey moments. But Watson does hold and it is 6-5.

:02:33.:02:48.

So, these two won the mixed at Roland Garros, started last year at

:02:49.:02:59.

the US Open, got the quarterfinal and backed it up at the Australian

:03:00.:03:02.

Open in Melbourne at the start of this year. So it has been all good

:03:03.:03:07.

for these two and you can understand why. Yes, certainly, Gabriela has

:03:08.:03:20.

got a big first serve. Knocking them in, the boy at 110. Heather is 101,

:03:21.:03:28.

102. Plenty on the second serve and powerful at the net. They complement

:03:29.:03:33.

each other well. 20 of stick from their end of the court. -- plenty of

:03:34.:03:46.

stick. So, it is Dabrowski and serve. 5-6.

:03:47.:04:00.

Kontinen gambling his part -- his partner would be in the centre, and

:04:01.:04:07.

it nearly was. Oh, my goodness! What has happened

:04:08.:04:29.

to Dabrowski? She is just rolling them in. 63 mph. Is that tension? It

:04:30.:04:36.

might be. A massive match on Centre Court. I will have to turn the radar

:04:37.:04:41.

off if it can -- if this carries on! They are challenging, the server

:04:42.:05:36.

suddenly it does look very vulnerable.

:05:37.:05:49.

Two points are dropping the set. The game, lightning reflexes from

:05:50.:05:57.

Bopanna. -- again. Oh, so good! Kontinen had gone way

:05:58.:06:41.

wide and Bopanna thread the needle. And after 34 minutes, it is a

:06:42.:06:42.

tie-break to decide this first set. She is challenging. It is Heather

:06:43.:07:33.

launched the challenge. She just did not quite go far enough. Just a

:07:34.:07:37.

fraction open. I think it was the disappointment of missing the shot

:07:38.:07:39.

that made her launch the Challenge. Third double for the team. A

:07:40.:08:17.

mini-break. Neutralised. Oh! Great reflexes from Kontinen.

:08:18.:09:17.

Heather's mother looking a little bit more serious.

:09:18.:09:46.

No. Bopanna targeting Watson and he gets what he wants. Heather drops of

:09:47.:10:00.

the points on her serve. Bopanna did not want to get back in that.

:10:01.:10:19.

Another challenge. But Heather, who started so well in this much, just

:10:20.:10:28.

going through a dodgy period at the moment. Oh, it is in.

:10:29.:10:40.

Yes, just checking they had not won the point, but that is fair enough.

:10:41.:10:48.

I think it came as a bit of a surprise!

:10:49.:11:06.

Again, Dabrowski is so assured. Very few mistakes from her. Lost in the

:11:07.:11:24.

first round in the Women's Doubles. Here in the mixed, looking promising

:11:25.:11:28.

in the quarterfinals. Oh, yes! That was a decent tactic

:11:29.:12:04.

from Dabrowski. Watson, how about that?! Way behind her. The line

:12:05.:12:10.

percentage shot! Good on you, Heather! Only one mini-break, they

:12:11.:12:16.

have two Henri serves to come, don't give up on this just yet.

:12:17.:12:47.

It is the quietest challenge and the most polite to challenge from the

:12:48.:12:54.

Finnish player. He didn't want anyone to hear, he works at the

:12:55.:12:59.

umpire. We will find out. No. No wonder it was quiet.

:13:00.:13:11.

Oh, how lucky was that?! You don't often see that. It went from the

:13:12.:13:19.

tape and it hits the bottom of the net. It is a retention act. -- it is

:13:20.:13:33.

a British net. Bopanna, can he finish it off? There was a chance

:13:34.:13:45.

there. Challenging again. They got lucky last time. Was it? It was a

:13:46.:14:02.

better challenge. I told you! It is like, don't bother! Oh. She had a

:14:03.:14:15.

great second serve from Bopanna. Two set points. Sure enough, Bopanna's

:14:16.:14:29.

serve does them proud. And the match is getting better and better, but

:14:30.:14:34.

the first set goes to Bopanna and Dabrowski on the break.

:14:35.:14:39.

SUE BARKER: What an entertaining match! We will be back with it on

:14:40.:14:42.

Centre Court. We will update you with what has happened elsewhere.

:14:43.:14:49.

And it has been won by Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina, defeating Andre

:14:50.:14:58.

Begemann and Nicole Melichar and they will meet the winners of the

:14:59.:15:06.

match on Centre Court. So it ended on a Hawk-Eye. Confirmed it was well

:15:07.:15:11.

out. But it is Soares and Elena Vesnina going through. And a mixed

:15:12.:15:16.

fortunes for British players in the wheelchairs Singles. Teenager Alfie

:15:17.:15:21.

Hewitt continued their fine form that saw him winning his first Grand

:15:22.:15:25.

Slam title at the French Open last month, the 19-year-old from Norfolk

:15:26.:15:30.

dropped the first set against his French opponent but he fought back

:15:31.:15:35.

to three sets. Well done to him as he goes through to the semifinals.

:15:36.:15:43.

But there was disappointment for defending champion and top seed

:15:44.:15:48.

Gordon Reid who went down 6-2, 6-3 to Stefan Olsson of Sweden in a

:15:49.:15:52.

rematch of last year's final. Stefan Olsson celebrates and Gordon Reid,

:15:53.:15:58.

the winner of gold in the Paralympics, will be back in the

:15:59.:16:01.

Doubles partnering Alfie Hewitt so we will see Gordon again at the

:16:02.:16:07.

Championships. And Jordanne Whiley in action at the moment. And as you

:16:08.:16:16.

can see, a set down, 5-3 down. Serving to stay in the match.

:16:17.:16:20.

Semifinalist here last year and she also will be in the Doubles

:16:21.:16:26.

partnering with her regular partner as defending champions. Some

:16:27.:16:31.

fighting heart -- fighting hard on Court number 17. Now, on Radio 5

:16:32.:16:41.

Live tonight, this is at 7:30 p:m., that's very popular double act of

:16:42.:16:46.

John McEnroe and Tim Henman. So do get involved, the lines are open

:16:47.:16:55.

now. And I love him trying to pronounce Worcestershire! It is

:16:56.:16:58.

wonderful. So do give the boys a call. Anyway, we are heading back to

:16:59.:17:01.

Centre Court. The guy who finished the first set

:17:02.:17:05.

of is starting the second. Remember, in the first set, Bopanna

:17:06.:17:21.

did have difficulty on his serve. They had to serve a couple of break

:17:22.:17:23.

points. The game, Dabrowski very efficient

:17:24.:17:46.

at the net. No flourish. Perfect finish.

:17:47.:18:00.

So the conversation was, you serve an ace. Bopanna is a quiet man, big

:18:01.:18:06.

game. Boy, it is a big game. 37 years of age, but still playing

:18:07.:18:49.

tiptop Doubles. 21, his ranking. His best was four years ago when he got

:18:50.:18:54.

to number three in the world. Even the ship, he has won two Doubles

:18:55.:19:00.

titles in Chennai and Monte Carlo. And the pinnacle of the year was

:19:01.:19:03.

winning Roland Garros a couple of months ago. With Gabriela Dabrowski.

:19:04.:19:20.

It is a lovely evening and a great match to finish this day on. On

:19:21.:19:24.

Centre Court. Well, he's got the talent to carry

:19:25.:20:04.

it off, that is for sure, just not that time! I can't imagine he ever

:20:05.:20:12.

gets stressed, Henri Kontinen. No, he doesn't. Perfect technique on the

:20:13.:20:19.

hot dog. Leave the ball just before its second bounce. She played that

:20:20.:20:31.

shot really well, Heather. Timing and strength in the wrist as well.

:20:32.:20:58.

Yes. He's got so much talent, and that was meat and drink to him.

:20:59.:21:28.

When you have got a serve like that, you can be extravagant, as he was on

:21:29.:21:35.

the opening point. I think he hits just the right note in Mixed

:21:36.:21:39.

Doubles. Serious when he needs to be, but if there is a chance of

:21:40.:21:42.

doing something extravagant, he will do it. Five aces for the team, four

:21:43.:21:51.

from Kontinen. Kontinen threatening to take charge

:21:52.:22:27.

of this match at the moment. So clever. He is great fun to watch.

:22:28.:22:54.

You would not think he played five sets in Men's Doubles earlier today,

:22:55.:23:01.

would you? No, and lost. He and John Peers losing to Lukasz Kubot and

:23:02.:23:12.

Marcelo Melo, the number four seeds in the Men's Doubles semifinals.

:23:13.:23:18.

About 18 different options there. That is sometimes the problem with

:23:19.:23:23.

Henri. And this is as close as they have got, apart from the Bopanna

:23:24.:23:30.

service game. Not putting any pressure on the other team serving.

:23:31.:23:42.

Oh, lucky. Just dribbled over. He has missed it. Just enough power

:23:43.:24:02.

from Watson to make it difficult for Bopanna. Two break points. The first

:24:03.:24:05.

break points and Dabrowski serve. Oh, he was there. If anything, he

:24:06.:24:20.

moved a bit early. Yes. Excellent work from Henri

:24:21.:24:52.

Kontinen. And there is the first break of the match. And it is the

:24:53.:25:02.

first time that Bopanna and Dabrowski have been broken in the

:25:03.:25:13.

tournament. Great teamwork from Kontinen and Heather Watson. Great

:25:14.:25:17.

return. You can see the problems Heather has had on return and they

:25:18.:25:22.

have really targeted her. Able to get the backhand in crosscourt, it

:25:23.:25:30.

just sets everything up. And in many ways, Mixed Doubles or any of the

:25:31.:25:34.

Grand Slams is a contradiction in terms. It is serious fun. Yes. And

:25:35.:25:42.

they epitomise that, these two. My grammar teacher would not be happy

:25:43.:25:47.

with me now, but I don't really care! It is the best description I

:25:48.:25:59.

have got. It will do. So Dabrowski's serve is broken. Can Watson hold and

:26:00.:26:04.

give them a significant advantage in the second set?

:26:05.:27:34.

No problem. Not sure Bopanna and Dabrowski have remembered, don't

:27:35.:27:44.

give this team high backhand volleys.

:27:45.:27:54.

A contrast in the ladies service games, Dabrowski broken, Watson

:27:55.:28:06.

serving with some comfort. And after dropping the first set and the first

:28:07.:28:11.

game of the second set, they have won three games in a row. But if

:28:12.:28:22.

they could win a fourth in a row, that really would be something, with

:28:23.:28:24.

Bopanna serving. Oh, yes, great rally from all four!

:28:25.:28:59.

Dabrowski with the finishing touch. It is like every volley she hits, it

:29:00.:29:04.

has to be a winner. She is it a mighty swat. Another Bopanna service

:29:05.:29:12.

games that lasts just over a minute, I would imagine. So nothing to

:29:13.:29:24.

choose between these two pairs. When they won at Roland Garros, it was

:29:25.:29:30.

the first title for a Canadian woman in any slam. So, huge success for

:29:31.:29:44.

her. Yes, and in these enormous telephone box of facts we are given,

:29:45.:29:49.

you picked that out rather nicely! To be fair, I did them in the last

:29:50.:29:56.

round. You dug it out. I had half a chance!

:29:57.:30:12.

Dame Shirley Bassey. Watching late into the evening. And with the

:30:13.:30:21.

coolest sunglasses on, on Centre Court.

:30:22.:30:33.

It is a very watchable match. Kontinen on his own would be

:30:34.:30:39.

watchable. What a fabulous rally! Again the

:30:40.:31:23.

complete set of players playing their part.

:31:24.:31:53.

That's quite a surprise. Very rare that he would ever lose his service

:31:54.:31:59.

rhythm. He must have read the signal! 107mph

:32:00.:33:03.

serve, I'm not sure how much less than 107 that return was. So break

:33:04.:33:12.

point on the Kontinen serve. A clever shot from Dabrowski and the

:33:13.:33:30.

pressure is still on. What a second serve! Kicked like a

:33:31.:34:44.

mule. The courts have hardened up and it is really kicking out there.

:34:45.:35:09.

130mph. Break point averted with some style.

:35:10.:35:37.

So now Dabrowski was broken last time.

:35:38.:35:51.

There is nothing Henri can't do - he runs, he talks, he directs. You

:35:52.:36:01.

wouldn't know he has been on court for four hours, he looks so fresh.

:36:02.:36:25.

Terrific shot from Dabrowski. Kontinen's fast but he didn't have a

:36:26.:36:34.

prayer of getting to that. Gabriela is ruthless, she never enjoys the

:36:35.:36:38.

moment, she just marches back to get the next ball.

:36:39.:36:53.

He really gave that a crack and he is smiling. But 4-3.

:36:54.:37:11.

Certainly got the springboard, breaking Dabrowski early on. Can

:37:12.:37:19.

they hold on? The next game is pretty crucial on Heather's serve.

:37:20.:37:26.

Well the tenth seeds, since they were broken in the third game, they

:37:27.:37:29.

haven't lost a point between them on serve. So there has been a good

:37:30.:37:33.

response and this second set is not a slam dunk as yet. They have got to

:37:34.:37:38.

try and protect Heather's serve, which they have done pretty well.

:37:39.:37:49.

Great end to the day. A day that started in a disappointment really,

:37:50.:37:55.

the ladies singles, particularly of course for the Brits.

:37:56.:38:10.

Second double for these two. The first for Heather.

:38:11.:39:57.

And 99mph out wide and too good for Dabrowski.

:39:58.:40:22.

Yeah! Excellent play from Watson. He must be a joy to play with, Henri

:40:23.:40:33.

Kontinen, especially for Heather, who does sometimes gets stressed on

:40:34.:40:37.

court. There is no stress about him at all. And he is good, he doesn't

:40:38.:40:44.

automatically take everything in the air, he gives Heather a lot of

:40:45.:40:49.

responsibility and it works. He plays with a lot of freedom. He is a

:40:50.:40:55.

wonderful athlete. He just lets that racket head go and that is Heather

:40:56.:40:58.

struggles to do that. Yeah! No messing. Just the right

:40:59.:41:20.

shot at the right time. Well played. Watson knew what she

:41:21.:42:18.

was going to do, but it was just too good a shot.

:42:19.:42:44.

He is so care free, as you say. Even when he's returning serve, he is

:42:45.:42:53.

sort of ambling about as if he is having a practice session. But when

:42:54.:43:04.

he gets into the action, he is remarkably swift around the court.

:43:05.:43:10.

He lets Heather do most of the talking! When I interviewed them

:43:11.:43:17.

when they had that dream run, I was asking Henri questions and he was

:43:18.:43:22.

reluctant to chat and Heather just took over, which I think suited him

:43:23.:43:26.

down to the ground. Look where he is. He is watching from the side of

:43:27.:43:28.

the court. Whatever happened to the ready

:43:29.:43:46.

position? Here is Kontinen serving to give he and Heather the second

:43:47.:43:48.

set. Good call. Good early call. She

:43:49.:44:05.

would have hit it I think. I think they quite like serving to

:44:06.:44:20.

Dabrowski. What on earth of that? Well, nothing

:44:21.:44:35.

should come as a surprise. But even for him, that was a tough shot to

:44:36.:44:43.

pull off. That was the side-winder. We haven't seen that played in the

:44:44.:44:46.

coaching manual. Oh, great defence from Dabrowski,

:44:47.:45:12.

but they kept turning the screw did Kontinen and Watson. We talked about

:45:13.:45:25.

Henri, but Heather's been superb. She's missed about one volley in the

:45:26.:45:27.

whole match. LAUGHTER. Typical woman - not

:45:28.:45:46.

listening to the man! Clear call of I have got it. Took no notice. It

:45:47.:45:54.

was over her side fractionally! Two set points.

:45:55.:46:26.

Well played. And after an hour and a quarter, we tide up here one set

:46:27.:46:35.

apiece. STUDIO: What a lovely match and

:46:36.:46:40.

everybody enjoying it. We will right back with it as Heather leaves the

:46:41.:46:47.

court. Elsewhere, it is disappointment for Britain's Jordan

:46:48.:46:53.

wily, she has been defeated in the opening round to de-Groat of the

:46:54.:47:05.

Netherlands. She lost it 7-4. But she will be back in the doubles. .

:47:06.:47:16.

That is court 17. Still a few matches being played on some of the

:47:17.:47:22.

outside courts. And everyone enjoying this lovely evening. On

:47:23.:47:29.

Centre Court has been ladies semi-finals day and Claire will be

:47:30.:47:35.

here with highlights of what has been happened with Today at

:47:36.:47:41.

Wimbledon with Martina Navratilova on BBC Two. There are a few people

:47:42.:47:47.

still here enjoying the big screen on Henman Hill and a bit of

:47:48.:47:50.

hospitality as well. But a lovely scene at Wimbledon and they're all

:47:51.:47:55.

watching this. So let's go wack to centre -- back to centre. Good buzz

:47:56.:48:00.

around the place. It is a very enjoyable match. Well he's perhaps

:48:01.:48:06.

the ring leader. But Heather, she was super as you say, Sam, in that

:48:07.:48:14.

second set. Can they push on and take the third here? Both teams have

:48:15.:48:21.

dropped their first sets of the tournament. Who is going to drop the

:48:22.:48:31.

second? It will be Rohan Bopanna from Bangalore to begin the final

:48:32.:48:32.

set. When he serves like this, it is so

:48:33.:48:58.

matter of matter of fact. Heather Watson needed telescopic

:48:59.:49:48.

arms to get to that. I sense it will be one break, won't it? That will

:49:49.:49:53.

probably do it in this deciding set. Very high quality from the first

:49:54.:49:57.

ball, the whole hour and a quarter that we have seen. And there is

:49:58.:50:02.

questions about why do we have the mixed, as we have seen from this

:50:03.:50:09.

match and the one before, got to be in the programme. It is part of the

:50:10.:50:15.

event. An important roam it has. It is -- role it has. And it has

:50:16.:50:18.

lightened the mood at Centre Cour. Watson won the point. Again

:50:19.:50:47.

extraordinary reactions from Dabrowski to be able to get a racket

:50:48.:50:52.

on it. It wasn't in, but very impressive.

:50:53.:51:01.

Such a good combo for them. We talked about the kick it out and

:51:02.:51:37.

Heather covering. So much of doubles is pretty much preplanned.

:51:38.:51:58.

Enough fizz on that. It is getting so difficult for Bopanna. It is a

:51:59.:52:06.

set all and a game all and now it's the ladies to serve. Super high

:52:07.:52:12.

quality. There's only been six break points in the entire match. And they

:52:13.:52:20.

will all now have a great go on Dabrowski's serve. It was

:52:21.:52:24.

Dabrowski's serve that was broken in the third game in the last set.

:52:25.:52:31.

Sometimes when the ball hits the line set on this pigment, it props,

:52:32.:52:41.

it sort of checks its path and it's very difficult to time.

:52:42.:53:40.

Good reactions from Bopanna. Another top class rally though.

:53:41.:53:48.

Did well to conjure a shot out of that.

:53:49.:54:18.

They're fun to watch. Even between the rallies.

:54:19.:54:47.

The fourth double for the team and here's break point. Is lightning

:54:48.:54:56.

going to strike twice in the same place?

:54:57.:55:05.

Oh! Bopanna making the move. They had a real chance if that was over.

:55:06.:55:19.

It is so easy to just take your eye off the ball. It is so distracting.

:55:20.:55:32.

Again super reflections from Rohan Bopanna. -- reflexes. I sense from

:55:33.:56:06.

you were saying, that you feel mixed doubles could be under threat. I

:56:07.:56:10.

think it was, there was discussions a few years back, particularly when

:56:11.:56:16.

there's delays, because of the weather, like how do we fit it into

:56:17.:56:20.

the programme. I think it was, and actually men's and women's doubled

:56:21.:56:25.

was discovered about not only not having it on the tour and it took

:56:26.:56:30.

efforts from the Bryan brothers to change things up on the Tour now you

:56:31.:56:37.

don't play a third set. You just play a match-breaker, first to 10,

:56:38.:56:42.

to speed things up and a lot of singles players can use their

:56:43.:56:47.

singles rankings to play doubles. It needed a bit of a revamp and I think

:56:48.:56:52.

it's OK at the moment and I'm jolly pleased we have still got it.

:56:53.:57:03.

It is dangerous when you have had break points in the previous game

:57:04.:57:33.

not to lose concentration on your own and get into trouble.

:57:34.:57:43.

Sometimes that is how these big momentum swings happen in matches.

:57:44.:58:02.

So quick, so athletic. Perfect timing.

:58:03.:58:33.

Even though Dabrowski laid the hammer down, he placed that speed.

:58:34.:59:17.

He is into his sixth hour on court today, Henri.

:59:18.:59:34.

Great for him to be able to play with Heather with her character and

:59:35.:59:43.

the chemistry is so good. Probably doesn't feel he has been on court

:59:44.:59:44.

for five and a half hours. I think that is a little wordy fork

:59:45.:00:14.

onto and Watson, over 80% of the returns in court, but has dropped.

:00:15.:00:25.

-- a little wordy for Kontinen. When he is putting in first serves like

:00:26.:00:27.

this, Bopanna is a nightmare. One or two patriots in the crowd

:00:28.:00:47.

cheering the double fault. Really impressive the way he makes

:00:48.:01:42.

room for the big shot. This is going to come down to one point, here or

:01:43.:01:50.

there. It is not played in the evening but it has been a long day,

:01:51.:01:56.

as well. If there is any drop in energy, any lapse in concentration,

:01:57.:02:00.

they will take one or two points and that will be the break and that

:02:01.:02:05.

should be it. There could be some mental tiredness, it has been a long

:02:06.:02:13.

tournament as well. It has not been short of stories. What a story it

:02:14.:02:20.

would be if Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen could win back-to-back

:02:21.:02:25.

titles. The story is Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis against Heather

:02:26.:02:32.

and Henri in the final! That would be an entertaining way to bring the

:02:33.:02:36.

curtain down on the 2017 championships.

:02:37.:02:51.

That first serve and volley did not look like a lot but it punished the

:02:52.:03:13.

first volley towards the receiver, there was no angle to work with,

:03:14.:03:15.

deep and very tricky shot to manage. Great bit of retrieving from

:03:16.:03:44.

Kontinen. Tricky volley for Heather Watson.

:03:45.:04:01.

There he goes again! Nearly into the crowd!

:04:02.:04:16.

This time she did listen to him. It was either that or very large bruise

:04:17.:04:41.

on the top of her head! And that would not have improved Anglo

:04:42.:04:49.

Finnish relations. That was a good read from Bopanna. Just hope that

:04:50.:04:54.

down the T. There will be discussion here. I think they will try to go to

:04:55.:04:57.

the T again. It worked very well. Yes. 127 mph. She did not really

:04:58.:05:08.

have a prayer. She didn't see it! So, Dabrowski, she held serve last

:05:09.:05:30.

time, just. Watson loading up on the backhand

:05:31.:06:03.

and that is some shot when she times of like that. There was a little

:06:04.:06:09.

lapse in concentration from Gabrielle. That is the one return

:06:10.:06:19.

you do not give to Heather Watson. He was in situ for that, you wonder

:06:20.:06:22.

he looks to the sky. -- no wonder. A little bit too much on that. Like

:06:23.:06:49.

Jo Konta against Venus Williams earlier, just tried too hard.

:06:50.:07:00.

That is the return he has been looking for.

:07:01.:07:07.

He has best it! Now, it gets interesting. -- he has missed it.

:07:08.:07:32.

That was a bad miss from Bopanna. They had to save break point last

:07:33.:07:34.

time when Dabrowski served. They got what they wanted, there.

:07:35.:07:56.

Here is break point. Remember, just one break was good enough in the

:07:57.:07:58.

second set. He took it on but that was some

:07:59.:08:30.

miss. Still, he smiles. That was a chance, a real chance.

:08:31.:08:41.

LAUGHTER Joining in with the fun. It would

:08:42.:08:44.

have been more fun if that was over. There has been a very clever

:08:45.:09:27.

change-up from Watson and Kontinen, they have taken the place of Mark.

:09:28.:09:31.

-- the pace of. Bopanna guessing they would go down

:09:32.:09:55.

the line. They are trying to protect Dabrowski. Kontinen getting it

:09:56.:09:59.

across and that is the final miss. They are not getting much reward or

:10:00.:10:13.

not backhand return. -- on that. Take That! Instant apology. He put

:10:14.:10:51.

their -- he would put it there again, given the chance. Another

:10:52.:10:53.

break point. Well, she had to hope that at head

:10:54.:11:15.

height or above. This is good for Heather, this is clutched tennis and

:11:16.:11:19.

this will help her in her singles, this is where she struggles

:11:20.:11:23.

fractionally, just to have the relaxation to let the head of the

:11:24.:11:30.

racquet go. A little bit like Kontinen, there. That was pretty

:11:31.:11:36.

relaxed! He is cooler than Shirley Bassey's sunglasses! It is good that

:11:37.:11:42.

she is not under pressure. Give me another one. The fifth chance.

:11:43.:12:00.

Yes! Quite a few people standing up around Centre Court. What is

:12:01.:12:20.

outlined? If at first you don't succeed...? -- what is that lying?

:12:21.:12:28.

It is great to see Michelle sitting here on Centre Court, enjoying the

:12:29.:12:35.

Golden part of Heather's career because it must have been such a big

:12:36.:12:40.

decision at 12 to go with Heather. She had other children at home, to

:12:41.:12:45.

go to Florida and make a life for them. To fly backwards and forwards

:12:46.:12:50.

and take the gamble of doing all the training of there. They looked at

:12:51.:12:54.

academies in Spain and it was not right, they went to the place that

:12:55.:12:57.

gave the best chance and just happened to be the Nick Bollettieri

:12:58.:13:02.

Academy and that is a very big sacrifice from Michelle. Will this

:13:03.:13:16.

be another night of triumph? The survey will be the key. -- the

:13:17.:13:26.

serve. The way Kontinen serves, if she can hold. This is a different

:13:27.:13:32.

run of games, with Bopanna coming up next.

:13:33.:14:02.

They nearly bumped into each other, Dabrowski and Bopanna. This is a

:14:03.:14:09.

chance for Heather Watson. Still work to do.

:14:10.:14:31.

They cannot be disappointed with that return.

:14:32.:14:56.

Well-placed. Yes. The ball was heading into the Royal Box. These

:14:57.:15:11.

things happen, if you spend as much time as he has on court. Just into a

:15:12.:15:15.

pickle that they could not get out of.

:15:16.:15:33.

Good teamwork. Excellent finish. Do they plug away with serving on the T

:15:34.:15:47.

with Dabrowski? They have gone for the body a little bit as well.

:15:48.:16:01.

He was moving the wrong way initially but still thought he had

:16:02.:16:08.

no stretch to make it. I'm not sure they got the service direction

:16:09.:16:09.

right. The return was very solid. Find serve from Heather Watson. Only

:16:10.:16:41.

89 mph but placed perfectly. Where do they switch it?

:16:42.:16:57.

Yes. Well, they read it, she read it.

:16:58.:17:36.

Great defence from Heather Watson and, in the end, Kontinen provides

:17:37.:17:41.

the finish. I have no idea where they are going

:17:42.:18:04.

to go! Does Dabrowski? Into the service box, that will do, first

:18:05.:18:05.

serve. Super volley. She is the one that

:18:06.:18:27.

has been broken on her serve sometimes, she really struggled, but

:18:28.:18:32.

she is top of the box, under pressure.

:18:33.:18:49.

That is wonderful from Bopanna. A good return and Dabrowski cool as

:18:50.:19:02.

you like with the put away. The first break point on the Watson

:19:03.:19:03.

serve. Is she having a laugh? They want to

:19:04.:19:34.

go through the routine again. Excellent returning from Dabrowski.

:19:35.:19:59.

After being broken herself, this was some reply. She made that game after

:20:00.:20:06.

six consecutive holes and serve from Watson. Just edging that one. --

:20:07.:20:09.

holds on serve. She has gained confidence,

:20:10.:20:45.

Dabrowski. She is a real threat out there.

:20:46.:21:18.

Standard fare for Bopanna. They are in front. It will be Kontinen

:21:19.:21:38.

serving next. But she has picture game up, she looked vulnerable until

:21:39.:21:41.

15 minutes ago. Sadly, really catching fire. -- suddenly. Super

:21:42.:21:58.

returns. You can hear the chatter in the crowd.

:21:59.:22:08.

So difficult to pick a winner. Next is Henri Kontinen, the number one

:22:09.:22:22.

doubles player in the world on the men's side. Serving to keep himself

:22:23.:22:25.

and Heather in this match. As good as Henri is with his

:22:26.:22:42.

serving, I think we will need a lot of energy and movement from Heather

:22:43.:22:46.

at the net. Sometimes they get a little bit ugly with their signals.

:22:47.:23:22.

The crowd were getting a little bit edgy but they are comforted by that,

:23:23.:24:11.

that comfortable hold. Yes. She probably did see him make

:24:12.:24:50.

his move, it was an extravagant move from Henri Kontinen. It has taken

:24:51.:24:59.

him until his mid-20s, 24, 25, when he started to make an impact in

:25:00.:25:03.

doubles and I can see why. He has all of these shots to work out. He

:25:04.:25:08.

is almost too gifted! Not quite. No wonder she is stamping

:25:09.:25:24.

her feet! That was a really difficult volley, what you wanted to

:25:25.:25:32.

do, because the racquet face was so open, come on, Heather! The doubles

:25:33.:25:42.

team. They have just lost a little bit of their age, since they got

:25:43.:25:44.

that break. -- edge. I guess it was the right decision

:25:45.:26:14.

for him to take it on! She went for the right shot but that

:26:15.:27:06.

time, not the technique. There was no one there if it went over!

:27:07.:27:15.

The second time! Total confusion! I've got it! There was no notice.

:27:16.:27:57.

And she just blitzes it away. I love it. Just like mum torture! And both

:27:58.:28:07.

times, she has made it. Bless her. -- just like mother taught her.

:28:08.:28:13.

Terrific, finally she gets the return as well. That was a super

:28:14.:28:18.

minute in the life of Heather Watson. No wonder her mother is

:28:19.:28:24.

applauding. SUE BARKER: I'm sorry but we have to

:28:25.:28:29.

leave this match, you can continue watching on the Red Button. We are

:28:30.:28:33.

coming off the air because Today at Wimbledon is next, it has been the

:28:34.:28:36.

ladies semifinals day and with British hopes resting on Jo

:28:37.:28:42.

O'Connor. Coming up next, Clare Balding has Today at Wimbledon and

:28:43.:28:45.

she will update you with what is happening on Centre Court as well.

:28:46.:28:51.

That's it from me, I will be back tomorrow on the men's semifinal day.

:28:52.:28:54.

That is the line-up. See you tomorrow, but by! -- goodbye!

:28:55.:29:03.

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