Day 8, Part 1 Wimbledon

Beautiful reactions! That was just sumptuous, superb. Beautiful

forehand. Nothing stopping how now, is there?

Its 33 years since a British woman, Jo Durie, played in the

quarterfinals of Wimbledon but today Johanna Konta will walk out onto

Centre Court as one of eight people competing for the Rose plate. We are

on weather watch as 20 minutes ago the rain came on, the covers were

brought on. We got ten minutes of play on the outside court but then

they were rushed off. Everyone is patiently waiting because as of this

moment, the rain has moved away and we are hoping the rain will stay

away and the play will start on outer courts.

Johanna Konta faces a stern test today on Centre Court against the

world not to Simona Halep, but she has proved at Wimbledon that she can

handle the pressure on the world stage. She did it yesterday against

Caroline Garcia. It promises to be a fascinating day of tennis. Venus

Williams, the five times champion, has overcome personal difficulties

to reach the quarterfinals but she's potentially got her toughest test

yet. Against the 20 rolled champion in France, Jelena Ostapenko, who was

just eight few weeks old when Venus baby Venus made her debut.

Garbine Muguruza faces Svetlana Kuznetsova who has been in terrific

form and has not yet dropped a set. Coco Vandeweghe may be the 24th seed

but she has become an outside tip for the time -- title. She says

she's playing with confidence. But so is her opponent today, the

unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova, who was the convincing winner when the

two met at Roland Garros this year. Jo Konta is third on Centre Court

this afternoon. The expectancy is already building around the

All-England Club and the apathy is sure to be electric. A win for --

the atmosphere is sure to be electric. But a win for Simona Halep

will mean she ends the week as women's number one. So much is at

stake today. We have an added bonus for those at onset at court because

Novak Djokovic and Adrian Mannarino did not get on court yesterday to

pay their match so they are walking out right now, we will be going to

that match soon. They will be certainly keen to find

out about the weather number one Court.

So, I mentioned it is all about the weather as far as the other

2/4-finals are concerned, so let's find out how much rain has arrived.

We can expect the covers to be on and off through the rest of the day.

We have a fairly cloudy picture coming, 80% risk of a shower up

towards 5pm. There will be a lot of dry weather in between. At about

6pm, we're expecting some heavy and persistent rain to move across

Wimbledon so we've already had the maximum temperature, it's coming

down and will continue to do so into the evening. A much different feel

to the weather today than we had of late. Even into the evening, we'll

hang on to the heavy and persistent rain. But tomorrow it clears quite

early in the morning, we should see it leave Wimbledon at 7am, high

pressure builds, the sun comes out and it will feel pleasantly warm.

One good thing about the rain is at least the pollen level is moderate.

That is good for some, thank you, Carol. We will keep an eye out for

the rain today. After yesterday's magical manic Monday, we all

breathed a sigh of relief except Novak Djokovic who might feel little

bit of a different emotion because he did not play. The reason for that

was Jo Konta's 3-set battle and then the thrilling, nerve tingling epic

that was Rafa Nadal against Charles Muller. It was -- Gilles Muller.

There was a lot of outstanding tennis and reactions under extreme

pressure. Nadal threw everything at Muller but he served so well and

held firm. At the stat that stands out is that Rafa had 16 break points

and only converted two, including five in the fifth set. But on the on

the other side of the net, Muller produced the victory of his life.

15-13 in the fifth and final set, four hours and 48 minutes, and

experience that will live long in the memory of those lucky enough to

have a ticket on Court Number One yesterday. Charles -- Gilles Muller

into the quarterfinals at the age of 34.

Djokovic probably not happy with the organisers here because it happened

to be back in 2007 when he had a three-day match on Court Number One,

and then had to pull out of the semifinal because of blisters. Is it

happening again for Novak Djokovic to? They are warming up on Centre

Court under the roof, where not even going to worry about the weather

here, we have tennis all the way, so let's join the commentators for this

match. A little later than advertised,

let's go with the unfinished piece of the jigsaw from manic Monday.

Djokovic there, this time last year he held all four major titles. 12

months on, gluten-free and grand free. Fall from grace chakra grand

slam free. A fall from grace it is still an explained. He looked

imperious at Eastbourne, he has only lost 19 games and no set in getting

to this point. So this could be a Phoenix like to return to the top of

the game. What's your instinct, John, about how this much might play

out? I think Novak Djokovic is going to have too much class for

Mannarino. I'm not sure that they offer was the greatest thing but

Djokovic has been around for a long time, he's had to play two big

matches back-to-back because of weather in the Grand Slams, I do

think it will affect him. If he were to have a five set match, which I

don't think will happen, there could be an effect. But if he wins come to

become its no big deal for him. From Mannarino's point of view, this is

the biggest match of his career. I presume he will have been like a

caged tiger survey, pacing up and down, especially as that Nadal match

went on and on, saying, tell me, someone make a decision. The longer

that went on, the amount of nervous energy he must have been expending

must have been considerate. It must have been a lot. The ones who have

been there and done it before, it's another thing. Having said that, he

had two back-to-back five set matches, so the extra day of rest

might have done him good. I think it's 50-50 whether or not it's good

or bad for Mannarino. Here's another of those players, many of them are

getting on, he's 29 now but will know from Gilles Muller that there

is no definitive age where tennis players reach their peak. He's good

to be at his peak today and he's going to challenge the fact that.

Could be in for a long afternoon! Points like that! Mannarino there,

beautiful point. The way he constructed those ground strokes,

good angles, good pace. Not quite firing yet. That was a bit

ambitious from that position on the court, and this hit return but

effective. -- it was a mis-hit return.

There were a lot of long rallies in that opening game. There's

Mannarino, he's one of those players, if you're not a regular

tennis watcher, might have passed you by. Certainly his passage to

this stage might have passed you by. Were it not for the inter-didn't he

had when he barged a ball boy when he was going to the net, and he paid

a ?7,000 fine, after which he didn't seem to show much contrition. He was

justifying himself saying, can Wimbledon operate without players, I

don't think so, they can go without ball boy. Notwithstanding, he's a

feisty character and a maverick. He'll need all those elements of his

character this afternoon. I think you'd like to take those

comments back, on reflection. -- I think he would like to take those

comments back. But his tennis game, anybody who's come back from two

sets to one in two consecutive matches in Wimbledon, you have to

respect him in terms of what he brings to the court.

I saw one set of his match against Gael Monfils and he was hitting the

ball like a dream. This is the kind of start he does not want. Real

pressure on his serve. Great from Djokovic! And you can see

from the way the ball came off Mannarino's racket, the speed it was

going out, and look at the spin, watch how the ball came off the

racket. What a debt that was. The anticipation was so good.

Obviously, not a great start there. Maybe look at the bit tight on a

couple of shots there. Really breathing hard, just a few of those

Centre Court nerves. But Djokovic already moving so well around the

court. A fabulous start for him. He's hitting the ball well now.

Should say, if you're looking at the wide angle of Centre Court, you'll

see lots of empty seats, don't forget, play was not scheduled to

start until 2pm, so a lot of people will have to reschedule their day.

And I'm sure we'll have a full house when Venus Williams, Jelena

Ostapenko, Simona Halep and Jo Konta are in action this afternoon in the

women's quarterfinals. He's clutching his side at the

moment, Mannarino. And a lot of ground strokes are ending up in the

net at the moment. Or over the end. Either way,

Djokovic in complete control. So, Novak, we're just hearing and

seeing, has asked for the doctor. How extraordinary, you'd think he

would be round the other side of the chair seem to Mannarino, he looks

like the one in trouble. Novak has come out and hasn't missed a ball,

hardly, extraordinary. Let's see what he produces from his magic bag.

Maybe just got a headache? They're not treating any part of his body,

so you're probably right, probably something to do with that rather

than a physical side with the body. Otherwise he would have... Mannarino

was the one I was looking at. While you're here, doc, look at my

opponent! He's playing pretty well with a

headache. And Andre Agassi thinks it's funny!

This is one of those situations where, if you are the underdogs, as

Mannarino clearly is, you desperately wants to get your score

on the board. No doubt about that. Nicely done. He's got such compact

ground strokes, in particular on the backhand side, there's almost no axe

swing but he deals with that low ball so well and gets himself prime

position on top of the net. You want to be hitting bodies like this. --

volleys like this. That height. Oh, that's a brilliant point. Both

players. And Marino played well in this rally, but not getting much

change out of Novak at the moment. It's amazing how the game sounds

different beneath this roof. Just the flight resonance and the Echo is

it a different ambulance. -- ambulance.

Well, he's been scurrying all over the place, Novak. How much pressure

is he putting Mannarino? Mannarino can't breathe out here at the

moment. He's hitting good ground strokes and he's getting no reward

for it. Literally no reward. This could be 4-0. Barely 12 minutes.

That is outstanding! What backhand. It's the shortest backswing on the

tour. There's movement there. But he gets the power. Really good rotation

of the hips on that shot. Fabulous extension, drives it.

He must have unbelievably strong forearms and biceps to hit shots

like that with no backswing. Never mind on the scoreboard, the

difference psychologically between 3-1 and 4-0 is not to be

underestimated. So, he's on the scoreboard and he is

just. -- and he is under way, just. He earned that game. That's to put

it mildly. He had to withstand some immense ground strokes. He's still

holding that hit area, so I hope that's not go into causing any

problems. Superb shot, that. You can really

see the racket acceleration of Djokovic, and within that whip to

get the ball up and over the net quickly and accelerate through the

core. Mannarino is having to play so many

balls way, way below the net, because so deep. He is. He gets some

beautiful angles, Mannarino. That was unlucky, that was going to be a

winner, in all probability. He's losing, 4-1 down, it could have been

5-0, but already some very entertaining points going on. The

problem is whenever you see the top seeds play and you look at who they

come up against, and you look for an upset, you say, where are the

weapons, the big shots that can knock one of the top seeds out? And

unfortunately for Mannarino, he doesn't have one big weapon. He's

tidy, he does everything well, he's irritating to play because he

doesn't hit much spin and he gets a lot of balls back, but there's

nothing to really hurt someone like Novak unless he has a bad day and it

doesn't look like he's having a bad day. A really bad day. Mannarino

lives in Malta, for reasons... I know not!

We can maybe have a chat bit later on, if this goes some distance,

about the 30-something season, he's almost there, it amazing. The guys

who have been at the top for a long time, you'd expect them to stay

there, but there's a huge number of players in their late 20s and early

30s who are serious players on the main stage.

That's well struck in the end. Novak looking at that, maybe it clipped

the line. When you have an overhead against Novak Djokovic, memo, hit it

away from him! Otherwise! He stood his ground well, that could have

taken his head off! That is classy, it really is. Using

the backhand to good effect in some of these rallies. We have seen the

short backswing, this one had such good disguise there. UMPIRE: Ladies

and gentlemen, please, switch off the mobile phones during the match.

Thank you. Second ace of the match, 30th of the

tournament to date and he is in the game now.

What hitting, what hitting from both sides of the net. It really is. You

can see why Mannarino is where he is in this drill now. How he's beaten

the players he's beaten, playing like this. The ground strokes

standing toe to toe with Novak in that rally. He will have to do that

for three hours to beat Novak. May be Gilles Muller's win acts as a

spur to him, it can be done. Absolutely.

That body language told you, what was I doing?

Missed it. What a shriek from Djokovic. How far did Mannarino have

to run to stay in that rally? If Novak Djokovic has a headache this

shriek at the end of it probably wouldn't have done it any good. But

what a point. That is the first really bad error

he has made. Came out of that forehand. High-quality game, though.

It is excellent tennis. Another two or three hours of this, please. Not

bad. For a Tuesday lunchtime. I love seeing this from Djokovic. It

is a really good sign. He is genial, lovely, code Lee Novak

at Eastbourne and now he is venomous, I'm in the mood for it

Djokovic here. That was a curious backhand Djokovic

hit. It was a sort of slice, a floating slice and when he first hit

it I thought it would go along and it sort of died at the end.

Mannarino thought that. Yes, and the change of pace affected Mannarino.

Food for thought for Agassi. But his man is in the lead and Adrian

Mannarino will have to serve to stay in the first set. If you are

coaching you wouldn't teach somebody to hit the ball as Mannarino does

was done with such short backlift but it does mean you are in pole

position at some points. Looking at this replay, at what point, maybe

the answer is never, would Novak have thought that would be a drop

shot because it is indistinguishable from a backhand drive? It is too

late for him there. Some anything is going to a drop shot for the player

who decides to go for it. He has to know where his opponent is standing,

he has to be aware of where he is standing. If he is too far back you

don't go for it. If your opponent is too far in you don't go for it. And

then it's the disguise, you've got to put all of those components into

it and there Mannarino was perfect. He was in the right position, his

opponent in the wrong position, or the right position for him to make

the drop shot, and the disguise was perfect. The drop shot is a shot

that has come back into vogue in the last four or five years. For a while

it wasn't used so much but now with these big hitters on the baseline

you have to have the drop shot, you must take them out of their rhythm.

It is used a lot more than it has been for years and I love it because

it has been such a fitness shot. -- finis. New balls, serving to stay in

the opening set. That one literally you would have to

have your wedge, bring your wedge out of the golf bag because this is

the only way you could get that back. No chance. Brilliant.

I know it is a kind of easy and lazy analogy to make almost, but these

are the most brilliant squash shots, down the line, into the wall,

fantastic. I'm not sure he needed to do that

but anyway. He didn't, it was fun anyway. That was a Centre Court

shot. He may not have too many matches on the Centre Court but he

needs to entertain. No need to do that but I'm glad he did. It was

fun. He won't be glad he did if he loses this game. That's true.

You're kidding. He listened to you, you told him not to hit it back to

Novak on the overhead. Also, he looked up almost to say there is no

son there, so he couldn't use that as an excuse. That was just a

horrible miss. -- there is no sun. He is shaking his hips. Horrible

overhead shots one after the other. And then a loose forehand. He was

hitting those so well three or four minutes ago. It's amazing how things

suddenly, it is like a flick of a switch. It wouldn't surprise me if

he calls for the trainer if he were to lose this set.

That is too good. He was a little off balance on one backhand. It

seemed like it was a bad bounce, or the spin or whatever caught him off

guard and he could never really recover in the rally.

That is beautifully played. That is the way to hold the shot, he gets

the racket head back early, holds, and waits until Agassi... Agassi!

And told Novak Djokovic moves down the court. Comes down the box and

says, "Give me that racket!" Once he was that far out of court,

Mannarino, Djokovic had all the aces.

That was a horrible mis-hit from Djokovic, which he acknowledges.

It's very hard to play those back, isn't it, with spin going

everywhere? So, after 37 minutes of what has been hugely entertaining

Tuesday lunchtime fare, set point. Mannarino goes long. Djokovic goes

one set up. SUE BARKER: Djokovic takes the first

set comfortable, you just wonder if those two five set back-to-back

matches for Mannarino and how much it has taken out of him. We will be

back on Centre Court in a moment. Over on Court Number Two Jamie

Murray and Martina Hingis, top seeds in the Mixed Doubles, have taken the

first set, going well, that is the feature match on the red button.

Judy Murray is out there watching as well. And Venus Williams is out on

the practice court at Aorangi Park, the only former champion left in the

draw. Last won the title here nine years ago. But always looking good

and serving well. This is Coco Vandeweghe might look at this. I

love watching her play. She throws everything into every rally and a

beautiful natural volleyer. And there he is, the famous headband,

it's Pat Cash. Let's see how quick he is moving. Coco will learn a lot

from Pat and we enjoyed listening to him talk about the technique and

getting into the mind of a champion. You can do better than that, Pat.

You see, you never lose it. There you go. Coco will hopefully be on

Court Number One later to face Rybarikova. Andy Murray was here

earlier. I was surprised as I drove in at 8:30am he was in the car

behind and I thought that was only to come in when not playing but he

would have watched Carol Kirkwood on breakfast TV and seen the rain was

coming and wanted to get the practice on the grass court because

when the rain comes down you are sent on to the indoor courts and

that is really not the thing you want to do when you want to come out

tomorrow. I hope that is not coming. Some dark sky around here but no

trouble on Centre. We have the roof and that is where we are going back

under now. UMPIRE: Second set, Novak Djokovic to serve.

Well, Adrian Mannarino knew that he had an uphill task when he walked on

Court an hour or so ago and he knows it for sure now.

I'm quite surprised given the fact he has been flexing that hip muscle

so much, his hip basically for the whole match, that we have not had

the doctor called. I agree. That was a bad bounce, pure and

simple. The first case of the match for

Novak. -- ace. Tomas Berdych will doubtless be

watching this with interest somewhere, whether here on the

complex or at his hotel because he's waiting for the winner of this in

the quarterfinals. Well, he almost got himself out of

jail there, Mannarino. What a great volleyer. And also in this half of

the draw is Roger Federer after that demolition job on Grigor Dimitrov

last night. A lot of neutral observers would like to see a

Djokovic- Federer in the final. That is on Friday and there is a lot of

tennis between then and now. There was a spot on the court Djokovic

didn't like around the service line. I'm not sure exactly what it was but

he was not happy with something. Were you surprised by the Agassi

linkup? Well, it was when it happened was a bit surprising to me.

But Agassi has been untapped. He should be out there in some role or

another. He's a genius. Over the years I've been lucky to

sit next to Agassi a couple of times when he's been talking about

players. He can dissect a player's game in about five minutes. He's

brilliant at it. Djokovic was lucky that he managed to get him.

I also like the way Djokovic is very close to the baseline on a lot of

these rallies, very Agassi like, Agassi had this territory from about

a foot from the baseline and he commanded that area and moved his

opponents around. A shriek of frustration but he's

moving Mannarino around all over the court. Maybe he senses, a bit like

the wounded prey, that Mannarino is not 100%. Keep him moving all the

time. That was a fabulous rally. It was

superb, wasn't it? Both players hitting pretty flat, particularly

Mannarino. But even Djokovic in that rally, not much are on the ball,

very flat and through the court but it's so accurate. -- not much arc.

Break point for the Serb. Frustration for Mannarino. Maybe

it's just the relentlessness of the pounding. That leads to mistakes

like that. Does it matter that Agassi is not there on a full-time

basis, that he comes and he goes? I think it would be better if he was

here for longer but we don't know what the arrangement is yet. It was

curious to appoint him at the French Open. It is not exactly something

you would in a ideal world. Agassi is a busy chap. I think as much as

we can get him, let's take him. Djokovic has also added Mario Ancic,

a Croatian player I'm sure you will remember, to his coaching panel. A

lot of gardening work going on from Novak today. He's not happy with the

condition of Centre Court. He is looking at the court again.

I'm not sure the court was to blame for that one.

That was like a computer game, wasn't it? Just brilliant striking

of the ball. He isn't happy about the court, he

seemed like a batsmen who wants to go and prod down the pitch marks.

Alastair Cook is in the box today, perhaps he could help him out. But

that doesn't look good, just inside the court.

He took his discontent with the caught out on the ball there. -- his

discontent with the court. I'm not sure how great a horticulturalist

you are. At this stage, if there are bits of the court that aren't great,

and he is shaking his head, at everything, really. Is there

anything you can do about it at this point? I'm not sure you can. There

is no time to rest the court, and you pay attention to it when winners

are talking about it. He is getting run all over the place. Djokovic

hasn't moved more than three metres either side. Trying to get Djokovic

to move finally, but it didn't work. That is a tremendous performance

really, so accurate. You saw Federer play last night, in periods. How

would you compare where Djokovic is at the moment compared to where

Federer is? It is tough. You see how well Federer is playing. Djokovic,

you feel like he is fighting his way into.

As if on cue, the former England captain.

S so the second set has followed the exact pattern of the first. S that

is that slow backhand slice that he uses sometimes. When Novak can get

back into the middle of the court and get that position he wants on

the baseline. A good change of pace on that backhand sometimes.

Djokovic isn't like Raonic, Querrey, Anderson. One break of serve and

it's over. Where would you place him in the men's league at the moment?

His serve is a different type of serve. He is a placement server, he

has got power as well but he uses it to get himself set up for the second

strike. It is an excellent serve, I wouldn't put it in the top five, but

it is still a fine serve. That is fabulous tennis, just

brilliant. You don't see that very often. Here

we go again. He will have a trowel in his bag for

the quarterfinal. And a rate! That really is brilliant. What a

great game from the number two seed. He looked like a 12 times Grand Slam

champion there. Did he ever. I hate to keep talking about the Agassi

situation, you can't work on that shot but that is the sort of shot

that Agassi, look at that, his knees almost touching the ground, and that

wasn't a fluke when he hit it down the line there, you have to have

such perfect timing. Look at the course to Bill to you there. Yes,

look at how low the ball was, nice and firm, eyes on the ball, heads

doesn't move at all and the pose at the end. Or maybe he just took a

long time getting up. That would be you! I would still be down. The

thing for me about where he is in his game, the game is still there,

it has been there. It is the mind that hasn't been there. I like the

explosions he has had when he is missing balls, that to me shows me

that he wants this. He's back. There were times in the French Open when I

wasn't quite sure he was, particularly in that last set

against Thiem. He does seem distracted by the condition of the

court here. But Mannarino has other things on his mind, like the

scoreboard which shows Djokovic a set and a break to the good. It was

a very late night! A bit upright Matt Foreman, is it

the hip the back? We are heading towards one hour.

This is a very nice match, but is it unfair to say there is only one

winner? You are exactly right. That ball checked a little. S we

have had some great points, but you just can't see how Mannarino can get

back into this. UMPIRE: Mr Mannarino is challenging

the call on the right far sideline. The ball was called out.

The crowd think it was all right. But it wasn't.

UMPIRE: The call stands. Mr Mannarino has to challenges

remaining. A magnetic attraction to the Mannarino overhead, for in a row

and he has hit the ball straight back to him. There is an"! ".

That slow backhand slice from Djokovic is causing a bit of

trouble. Djokovic shaking his head in

frustration. That was a pretty ambitious shot he tried from that

position on the court. He is taking a lot of time here,

Novak. This is a bad couple of points he

has played here. That is his first double fault today. And the crowd

are enjoying this match, and so to that end, they would quite like the

Frenchman to break here. That was just 106 mph, but it was

impeccably placed. That is just a sensational rally,

such thoughtful shotmaking, a beautiful execution from the

Frenchman, and he breaks back. A lot of the crowd on their feet. Because

they want to see this for at least another couple of sets. That was

great stuff. There is Mannarino, 29 years old, 51 in the world or

thereabouts, but he has been hovering there for many years. What

is happening in the men's game that we suddenly have a third of the draw

who are over 30? It is the whole physicality of the players now. What

goes in behind their treatment. The people that they have, the trainers,

the diet, all that sort of stuff has come into play, they are taking care

of themselves a lot more. It is amazing, the longevity of careers

now. But it is also incredible how players hit peaks at different

points in their careers, if you look at Gilles Muller last night, it's

almost like it has taken him this long to work out what his peak is.

There is one of the greats, Henri Leconte. And talking about

longevity, this is Djokovic's tournament, he hasn't missed a Grand

Slam for effectively 30 years. He is trying to get into his 39th Grand

Slam quarterfinal today. He is looking so good, Novak

Djokovic, you couldn't really see how the Frenchman would get back in.

And then he gave away two cheap points.

This looks comfortable game, but it isn't often that you comfortable

games when you play against the best players.

So we do find ourselves at four each.

What a fantastic bonus this is for the Centre Court crowd today. Two

women's quarterfinals later on, and Jo Konta in action. Is Novak

changing his racket again? I think he is. Jo Konta is the second match

against Simona Halep, after Venus Williams against Yelena Arzhakova.

If -- Yelena Orlova to and if you have just switched on and

wonder why we are playing under the roof, we have had some rain, and

more is threatened the later. So if discretion is the better part

of anything else, and obviously this match had to be completed early. To

get the quarterfinals finally sorted out.

So the pressure is on Mannarino now to come out and serve to stay not

just in this second set, but you would suspect, the match as well. S

you have got to give the Frenchman a lot of respect for the way he has

hung in there, this looked like it was going to be a comfortable two

sets to love the Djokovic, but he Han Ying, and a couple of errors

from Novak and it is back on serve. There is not much happening on the

outside courts, but the covers have come off.

Someone has just whispered in my ear that the rain has started again.

What they will want to do definitely is get the four women's

quarterfinals done, so Garbine Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova,

Rybarikova and Coco Vandeweghe, it isn't impossible that we could play

all four women's quarterfinals back to back here on Centre Court and

finish at 11 o'clock tonight. The authorities will be hoping that

this does not go to 15-13 in the fifth.

Fantastic! Vat was like a game of chess, and then Mannarino just

turned the ball over. I'm surprised he had any energy left, he had to

hit a winner there or he was done! What control and what accessories

and he put into that last backhand. That was a very solid and

occasionally spectacular hold by the Frenchman.

Mannarino has got his rhythm back. He is playing so well. Novak is

puffing, he is getting runaround. One of the great things about tennis

is that there are so many different ways to play the game. If people are

watching now who were in grossed in the Nadal/ Muller match last night,

both players were shaping the ball, it clears the net by so much, but so

much more flat hitting here. There is no defined way about which is

better. You find the way that you want to play the game. But it does

mean that a match like this, the contrast in style between if you

were playing Nadal or Djokovic makes the game eternally fascinating,

doesn't it? It does. This is why winning a Grand Slam is so tough,

you play different people, different speeds, different ways that they

play, different service coming at you. This match, Mannarino is one of

the flattest hitters I have seen in a long time, there is almost no arc

to the ball. He is like Jimmy Connors in a lot of ways. A very

distinguished group of guests in the Royal Box. We saw Virginia Wade a

few moments ago. 40 years on from her triumph here. When Max Robertson

on BBC radio famously said, Virginia Wade take tea with the Queen.

If Jo Konta got to the final on Saturday... Is there any

suggestion... That the Queen is going to come? Is that what you were

about to say? I haven't heard that. They are hitting the ball so well,

when someone makes an error like that, it's like, why did he do that?

Well, because they have too every now and again.

That's an unusual error there. 30-15, second serve. Well, a couple

of points for Mannarino to take us into a tie-break.

Well played. The potential for calamity there was huge.

UMPIRE: Tie-break. Each player now receives one additional tie-break.

Because we don't have a colossal big server here, this is a very

interesting tie-break. It is so good. Great start from

Mannarino's point of view. How well did he take charge of that? Opened

it up here, got Novak out of position and pushes down on the

accelerator on the forehand. What a start.

Three points against the serve at the start of this tie-break.

That was a very tentative second serve from Djokovic. 83 mph. Four

points against the serve in a row. UMPIRE: Mr Djokovic is challenging

the call on the right far sideline, the ball was called out.

This is very close. But it's very out. The call stands. I think that

challenge was a bit tactical from Novak. I think he just wanted to

sort of reboot, get his mind back into the game here.

It is possible to hold serve in this tie-break and Mannarino has the

edge. This is a classic shot. It comes up

and you think he's going to hit this really hard, and there it goes,

pushes it in short. His hip seems to have got better. It seems to be

remarkably better now. This is breathtaking stuff, it

really, really is. He is... Novak must be thinking this fellow is a

real pest down the other end of the line. He just refuses to go away.

He's moving so well. We always have those stats about how far players

run during a match. It would be fascinating to see those.

After all that we are back on serve now.

That was a tense shot. You could feel the tension in that rally. Just

slightly came out of that ball, just lifted up when he went to hit it.

You can always tell when Djokovic is tense because the ball gets bounced

more and more before the serve. And those last two points you can tell

Mannarino is tense too. But it is still on serve. This is a big point.

A bit wild of there. Almost got impatient.

So, three errors in a row from Mannarino and after an hour and a

half two set points for Djokovic. UMPIRE: Mr Mannarino is challenging

the call on the right side line. Djokovic isn't bothering with the

challenge from Mannarino, as far as he is concerned that ball was in. He

is in complete charge now. That is the third shirt change of the match

so far. The mannerisms have been strange today in some ways.

Sometimes you have heard him shout, then he's moaning about the court,

he gets a bit angry, and you think he seems to be a bit off his game.

And he wins a couple of points, then he starts smiling. The bottom line

is, you can see how focused he is and that's what you love to see.

When he's in this kind of frame of mind you know that he's back

mentally. That's what has been missing from his game in such large

areas through the last year. If Mannarino had one that second set it

might have been a very interesting match. But it's a very long way back

now for him. Very long way back. You can see on the stats, Djokovic

getting hurt when he misses his first serve, that's very impressive.

Djokovic only winning 44% of his second serve points. Mannarino

handling his serve really well. The unforced errors, Djokovic has toured

a half times as many winners so very aggressive. Djokovic lost his

concentration when he was up the break and played a couple of sloppy

points and ended up losing his serve. All credit to the Frenchman

to hang in there. When that tie-breaker was being played he knew

that realistically the Frenchman had to win that tie-breaker to stay in

this match. At 2-0 you cannot see it. He played three bad shots in a

row. After it was all square in the tie-breaker. Djokovic played one

tie-break against Ernests Gulbis in the last round. He has still yet to

lose is set at Wimbledon 2017. This is the first set that Mannarino has

served first in. If he can hold serve here throughout this set the

pressure might build on Djokovic. He has to hang his hat on that at

least. Djokovic doing to him what he did to

Djokovic. I don't think Novak was too

impressed with that. That was a contentious swat at the end. What

was that!? He didn't like this, if you look at the look he gave him, he

gave him the cold stare down. Mannarino surely had to come in on

one of those shots. Yes, he had a couple of opportunities and didn't

take them and then paid the price. He's lost his opening service game

in the first two sets and is in danger of completing an unwanted

hat-trick here. With played for an hour and 37

minutes, Mannarino has struck two volleys.

It's safe to say he's happier at the back the court.

It's also an indication, perhaps, of the changing nature of the sport. 20

years ago he wouldn't have gone through a couple of rounds playing

this kind of style of tennis, would he? No.

I thought Djokovic was in this rally and then bosh.

He was helped by a couple of errors from Djokovic's racket but that is a

really solid hold from the Frenchman.

He did well there, actually. Mannarino. I thought when he played

that vastly exaggerated... Whatever that shot was, that fly swatting

backhand drop shot which he basically gave the point away with,

he thought the match was over but he fought back. A couple of errors from

Djokovic but he is an entertainer, that's for sure. Mannarino has been

fun to watch. The crowd have loved him. Max Whitlock amongst the great

and the good in the Royal box today. Two gold medals in the time it takes

some tennis players to get a time violation.

The first very obvious sign of frustration from Novak. He was

looking, again, as you can see from that, at the condition of the court,

especially on the baseline. That is where he is particularly unhappy

about the state of the court. Ambitious. This may be a ridiculous

thing to say but on a grass court has a player ever asked for a role

to be brought out midway through a game? I don't know but I think it

would be a first. It would be a classic if he did.

There is another of those super ambitious shots from Mannarino. But

Djokovic almost missed it. I think Mannarino thought he had.

The entertainment level remains high.

Lots of little subplots here. Djokovic's unhappiness with the

state of the court, some really extravagant attempted drop shots by

the Frenchman, some of which are more successful than others, and

Djokovic 2-0 and 1-1 in the third. Oh! What was that? What was that

exactly? Talk me through that shot. It looked like he would kick the

ball. He thought it would be out and then he realised it was not and he

very nearly had to go to A It is the wonder of the scoring

system in tennis that in 20 seconds, 0-30 on the Mannarino serve, and

suddenly this could be the game right

SUE BARKER: We are leaving this match on BBC Two but don't worry it

continues on BBC One, so if you want to continue watching this match you

can, it's over on BBC One. They are enjoying the tennis under the roof,

I think it will be one of those days where the play will be on and off,

they've had the covers on and off for the last couple of hours or so

but the good news is it is dry at the moment and we could have a

fairly dry spell for the next hour or two, we certainly hope so. Play

is about to get under way on the outside courts. Everyone is still

enjoying their Wimbledon experience, they are on the hill watching the

drama unfold on Centre Court but I'm pleased to say those with a ticket

on number one Court have got some tennis at last. It was supposed to

start at 1pm but they only walked on a short time ago and this is Garbine

Muguruza, a former finalist here, up against Svetlana Kuznetsova, a

two-time Grand Slam champion who has only dropped 21 games en route to

the last eight. It is 1-1, it is dry, that's the good news, let's

join our commentators for this one. Annabel Croft is alongside Gigi

Salmon. The longest rally of the match in

game three, a bruising encounter between the two. That was just

wonderful ball striking from both girls. It was Kuznetsova who had the

opportunity to come out a little earlier in the rally. She eventually

got up there but terrific dipping ball from Muguruza made that volley

difficult. 17 shots in that last rally.

Well, look at that, dancing around that ball, getting something on this

and a lot of wrist action in the forehand swing. Drops the racket

head, wraps it around the strings and then creates incredible angle.

Accelerating that racket head. Lovely from Kuznetsova, her first

break point of this quarterfinal. She is hitting a lot of balls into

the forehand corner of Muguruza. No player particularly likes going that

way. They preferred to move off to the left. But it's causing quite a

lot of damage. For someone so tall, Muguruza, she

is over six feet tall, she gets down to this one really well, bends her

knees, beautiful backhand through the court.

Have another look at this. Again, really well balanced, gets that body

weight through the court, really transferring it, plants those feet

and stays very low throughout the swing.

So, from double break point down, Muguruza, a former finalist here at

Wimbledon, 2015. It felt like there was a little bit

of a breeze, it has got inside Court One, you can hear it on the

microphones, you can see it on Conchita Martinez's hair.

So that means extra footwork. You will probably find that both of them

might not go for so much. They might both need to pull their

margins and a little bit. Good hold for Garbine Muguruza. Her coach,

1994 champion Conchita Martinez, watches on. We are in the early

stages. That was another very good game to get under her belt, under

immense pressure there, and she didn't blink. She just came up with

some big hitting from the back of the court, both of these players

very powerful ball strikers, heavily struck ball, they will both go for

depth and precision to try to out play and get that first hit in. Both

have already looked to come forward. And in the absence of Serena

Williams, and Maria Sharapova not being here, every player knows they

have a chance, especially at this stage, down to the last eight, this

is a golden opportunity for some of these players to take a first Grand

Slam title, some a second or third. I don't know how much of a as a

player you feel that, but it is a good opening. It is a very good

opening when you consider four out of the eight have Grand Slam titles,

and the other player who doesn't, Simona Halep, has been in two Grand

Slam finals, but so much at stake, so much opportunity, and it is who

is going to handle that and the pressure and the nerves and the

anticipation, who will handle that the best.

Svetlana Kuznetsova number 32 -- 32 years of age, currently sits number

eight in the world. She has altered her service motion

over the years, she had some shoulder problems awhile back.

Sometimes she goes for broke on the first serve. I feel as if she is

with the wind down this side, that one flattened out of it, she needs

to put some more spin on the ball. That last serve only 86 mph,

sometimes she pulls back and goes for complete spin, so you have to

keep guessing what she is going to go for.

And from holding to love, Svetlana Kuznetsova has been broken to love.

Well, Muguruza standing up to the challenge there, both of them

hitting with the speed and acceleration of the racket head out

here, but Muguruza standing up to it and she created the angle with the

last forehand, opened up the angles on the court. So she is being a tiny

bit braver, but waiting for the right ball to strike out with.

There you can see the looped take-back, and that is on that

forehand. Muguruza by contrast is the lower

ranked player at number 15, having dropped out of the top ten, once the

2000 points she got for the French Open last year dropped off. She

could go back into the top ten with a win here.

And I'm also happy to say, Annabel, it looks a bit brighter out here. I

didn't want to say, but it does. The clouds have lifted. Not sure how

long for, but for now. Very clean ball striking from

Muguruza. This is just such a simple combination, get your opponent out

wide on the return of serve, a short reply, look at the intensity and

movement, great footwork getting that ball in front. No hesitation on

that forehand. A little bump of the fist from

Garbine Muguruza, she has held and consolidated her break to take a 4-1

lead in the first set. It is quite a pacey match, 18 minutes gone,

already five games played, and a little bit of extra breeze in the

air today, so players having to adapt to that and be quite

versatile, but they also need to get the intensity of the footwork going

so that if balls swell around, you can adapt to it. Everyone was

talking about the victory over Angelique Kerber in the last round,

but it is how they both played, and you said you popped down to the

court towards the end, and the crowd were giving Muguruza a standing

ovation for the quality of her tennis that day. They were, she got

a massive standing ovation, and she was out in the middle of the court

for quite some time, soaking it all up. They just appreciated the tennis

she played. It was a terrific contest, tight match, but she came

through it 6-4 in the final set. She does have a special connection here

with Wimbledon. She has been in the finals before, people like the way

she plays, and she has incredible poise on the court.

She does say she is still surprised at the success she has had on grass.

I think she takes the ball incredibly early, particularly off

return of serve, she tries to stay up on that baseline, particularly on

second serves, she will really move forward, and the backhand side is

really effective. This is just incredible ball

striking, and you can see getting her opponent off balance, and then

stepping it in an flattening it out down the line, great balance once

again. That is an incredible replay, and gives you an indication of the

strike. A fairly comfortable hold for

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian who has had one final this year, her

40th career final, just to highlight the experience that Kuznetsova does

have. Kuznetsova did so well together

back, that was squashed defensive shot, relatively new in tennis, but

so effective, particularly on grass, it stayed really low and that was a

difficult shot. And we just saw a very pensive looking Kuznetsova

coach, the Spaniard Carlos Martinez. Long-term relationship, had a brief

spell apart, but decided they were better off together.

She is building momentum on the service games, getting a lot of

points behind serve. She is keeping Kuznetsova guessing which way she is

going to go, and it is a big serve. UMPIRE: The call stands. Miss

Kuznetsova has two challenges remaining.

Just looking really strong on server the moment, Garbine Muguruza.

Applauded by her coach, she is one game away from the first set. We are

rattling through these games. I don't know whether they have looked

ahead to the weather and see that this is only a small window. They

have decided not to faff! Muguruza, when she zones, she is lethal on any

surface. She is, because of that power that she possesses, and you

were talking about why does she think that she is good on grass, but

the things that are so important on a grass court, you need to serve

well and you need to return well, and another Spanish player, she has

been out injured for a while, but she is coaching Jelena Ostapenko,

Korea -- Guerrigez, she said that it is

the person who has the most courage on grass, and get in early. Perhaps

they are both doing that. S UMPIRE: Let, first service. The on

court chats can be very entertaining if you understand the language.

Sometimes it can be dipping into a bit of a soap opera as well, quite

entertaining. We should say that this is a fifth

meeting between these two, second this year. Kuznetsova picked up her

600th career match went last time. Muguruza does lead the head-to-head,

but this is the first time they have met on grass.

Well played, Kuznetsova. This is good tennis, isn't it? Outfoxing

Muguruza on that last point, slight change of tactics, going to the

sliced backhand a few more times, mixing up the rhythm, waiting for

the right ball to strike out. Well played, Kuznetsova, second love

hold, and a happier Carlos Martinez, coach of Kuznetsova, but it is

Muguruza who is now in a position to serve for the first set. An

excellent game from Kuznetsova, an hard court you would be able to hear

that footwork around the court. Well, she will be disappointed with

that. You can see she is getting exasperated with herself. That was

an opportunity, a floated second serve sitting there in biting you to

be hit, she didn't connect with it. There is another free point of that

serve. She finds it difficult to read some of the Serbs, she has

mixed it up well today. Once again, that kind of whipping

action, the acceleration of the racket face through the court.

Fantastic rally, and there is the reaction from Garbine Muguruza. A

clean set of tennis, a happy coach in Conchita Martinez. The crowd

enjoyed that, a set to the good, 6-3. That was a fabulous last point,

a Battle of two strong minds in the last rally. Muguruza the one who

hung in there, and held her position. It was brave stuff, she

was just biding her time, both of them really going hell for leather

in that last rally. That was a great final points to finish off this

first set. They are so similar in the way they are constructing the

points out here. It is about trying to wait for the right ball, but

being brave, both of them with great backhands from what we have seen

today. Kuznetsova with a little more spin on that left-hand side, but

under the roof, let out an enormous roar, that is what that last point

meant. As did Conchita Martinez. Yesterday she was getting really,

really uptight in the support camp, tying her hair up, then letting it

down, then tying it up, then letting it down again, holding her head in

her hands. Taking a look at the statistics from the first set. Just

one double fault and peace. Fairly high serving from Kuznetsova,

winning a higher percentage behind the second serve points, and the

break points, she created two of them but wasn't able to convert on

any of them. So, Garbine Muguruza is set away from her Wimbledon

semifinal. If she could have had one, what

would have been the coaching chat to Kuznetsova at the end of that first

set? Very good question. She is taking her game to Muguruza, just

Muguruza has done it a little bit better. I would say perhaps to bring

in some of that variety that we saw that we are starting to have a

little more impact. She maybe needs to introduce that a little bit more.

A prime example was that last rally. There were about two or three shots

when it was a mid-court ball, she could have struck it into the corner

and moved forward, there was even one shot where she slightly

hesitates, she thinks about it, takes half a step forward, and then

I think that was the last forehand winner.

There is a little hesitation where you don't feel she wants to move

forward. Kuznetsova got to the final here at Wimbledon in 2005, she was

moving forward well then. Earlier on in Muguruza's career, she played a

lot of doubles with Carla Suarez Navarro, and decided to focus more

on the singles, but I think it stopped her from moving forward.

We are seeing some lovely rallies from the back of the court. We talk

so much about the players and the latter stages of their career, Roger

Federer, Venus Williams, but Svetlana Kuznetsova, she is 32 years

of age, and people forget she is a two-time Grand Slam champion, I know

it was 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and she has got herself in the

last couple of years back into the top ten. Yes Chris she had her

moment out on the tour where she didn't enjoy her tennis and lost a

little bit of form and confidence, just didn't really enjoy it any

more, then she decided to go and live back in her home country of

Russia, and she started to find life away from the courts, and just

reinvigorated herself, and then decided that she did miss playing

tennis and tried to inject some extra energy into it.

That is great ball striking, and it is admirable that she has been ever

such a long time, now started to play some of her tennis again.

That is outstanding. That was never coming back.

That is that third ball of the rally that has become so important in

tennis, not willing to be pushed behind the baseline after that first

strike on the serve, take the ball on the rise.

Are you surprised that Muguruza didn't kick on as well as she could

or would have done after winning the French Open title last year? It

isn't the first time we have seen that, where players breakthrough,

get their first Grand Slam title or gets to world number one, and then

suddenly that feeling of hunting down things and then becoming the

hunted, it is a different feeling, and players take time to adjust to

it. He didn't catch it! We won't have

him in the cricket team. Well, this just proves how good she

is up at the net, beautiful feel, held her nerve up at the net, great

control. Break point opportunity for Svetlana

Kuznetsova. Hasn't had one of those since the third game of the first

set. She is up to her level, the intensity level has gone up another

couple of notches. There is a sense of urgency, good footwork.

Looking to really strike out on the return of serve, very aggressive.

What a terrific backhand this was. You can see the early preparation,

right in for the drive volley and a clever wrong-foot. No hesitation in

there. That would have felt good. That was even better.

She had to save the break point and does so, closes out the game, both

players on the board in the set two but Muguruza leads 1-0. You only

have to look at the way that she walks around the court, it is kind

of a struct, but it is a sense of purpose, it is a sense of belonging,

and a real sort of sense of belief. I think since she has played this

event without Sam Sumyk, her official coach, here at the

sidelines she just focuses on herself.

Too good from Kuznetsova. I think in the past when he has been sitting

there, if things aren't going well, you see this massive connection

where she is constantly turning around to him and looking sort of

exasperated. But there is a feeling she is really taking responsibility

for herself out here. She has done well.

They do have quite a volatile relationship. Very much so.

Sometimes those on court exchanges, he speaks in English, sometimes she

goes into Spanish, and he says sort Dominic stopped speaking in Spanish.

It is gripping. But maybe not that productive.

I think she has made that. Again, it is Kuznetsova this time he doesn't

want to go behind the baseline, she is hugging the baseline, bending the

knees and absorbing the pace and almost guiding that one down the

line. There is the hold for the Russian, a

little fist pump from the seventh seed and world number eight. She

stays ahead on serve. So, Svetlana Kuznetsova just going

through the full process of what she needs to do, how she needs to do it.

She is such a great, colourful character, Svetlana Kuznetsova. When

you Peter Hirst she will laugh and recently said that while your coach

your family, are your support network but she also relies on it 23

kilo American bully hound. I'm not really a dog person and I don't know

if that means something to you but I imagine at 23 kilos, I have a child

who is half that and is pretty heavy. Is that a big dog. Yes, it is

a big dog. She says he is like my emotional support, if you are with

your team they are a little bit sad if you lose and if you win they are

a little bit happy but with the dog it is always the same. It is a

welcome relief. She is so nice and so popular and she is a fun

character, she has always been good to interview. I think she's been a

very popular part of the tour. She is quite straightforward, isn't she?

There is not too many frills attached to her, not too many

dramas. She works hard and she has had a terrific career. I can't help

but think about the tour finals last year when in the middle of the match

against Radwanska she got some scissors and cut her ponytail off. I

remember that, it's quite funny. You never really get a sense that

Muguruza worries about what the scoreline was. Obviously she needs

to keep the score line tight in the second set and keep up that level

but she appears to play every point on its merit and goes for broke and

doesn't hold back. Muguruza is a very clever player.

She is a great ball striker but she is trying to outmanoeuvre Kuznetsova

and get the first hit and look to move forward. Not too many unforced

errors. She is trying to play with aggression but consistency and that

is always a difficult balance. Well, she looked across at her coach

them, Kuznetsova, with a little bit of a wry smile on her face because

that was an opportunity because she had Muguruza on the defensive at

full stretch. She had the ball where she wanted it.

That is quite a sight to see her in full flow. I am sure the

photographers got a great shot of the backhand, she almost had both

feet off the ground and launched into it. Muguruza is such an elegant

player. More frustration from the Russian.

It is high intensity from Muguruza's racket at the moment. She is not

holding back and putting enough spin on the ball just to control it. Not

too many unforced errors. Really going after her. Crikey, that shot

sums it up, doesn't it? With that Muguruza has her first

break points of the second set. Conchita is a little tense. She was

very tense up there. She is playing every point from that support box.

Great touch at the end from Kuznetsova. Brave break point down.

She took charge in the last point, didn't she? You can see she had

Muguruza on the defence, full stretch, beautiful view again. She

seems to have had a lot of success when she has gone up there. She has

gone up there sparingly that when she does she has so much control and

feel. To good. To good from Muguruza.

There is the break machine needed just the one break of serve in the

first set. Will it be the same in the set two? She edges ahead with

the break. So, we are eight minutes shy of an hour on court. It is a bit

head scratching as to what Kuznetsova can do apart from try and

come forward a little more. As you said, when she has come forward she

looked in control, she has good touch and could feel the weight of

the shot from Muguruza is just not giving her those opportunities. It

isn't and that's why I felt when she threw in a couple of sliced balls,

and spices for any play on a grass court, we see Roger Federer using it

effectively and Andy Murray uses it all the time, it mixes the rhythm of

the match and if the ball stays very low you cannot thunder balls through

the court the way she's hitting it now because she's in her rhythm and

she is comfortable with the pace of the match, you have to start coming

up the back of the ball. Sometimes when you use the slice a lot it can

create an opportunity for a shorter ball to then attack. She does seem a

little hesitant to come forward, Kuznetsova, whereas Muguruza doesn't

actually. She is playing with an awful lot of confidence at the

moment, the Spanish player. Runner-up here in 2015. Would go

back into the world's top ten with a win here. You feel that Kuznetsova

has gone a little bit too much into the backhand side because her

backhand is phenomenal from Muguruza. If you were going to try

and mix it up, I don't know, I feel she has maybe gone into that

strength a little bit too much. Early on in the first set she was

kind of targeting and pulling her out wide on the forehand side and it

was working quite well. What a change up this was, we

haven't seen too much of this kind of play but going backward when she

plays it but wonderful feel, enough height over the net look at how the

ball dies. Really stunning. That would have felt really good.

Gosh, not sure what happened there, she lost her balance on the return

of serve. There is the split step and you can see the ball got too far

out in front and ended up reaching for it.

You can see she is just indicating to herself to calm down. A little

bit over anxious on the forehand and that's the first sign of a few

jitters on the forehand. Turned the racket face over to early in the

swing. Giving herself a little hand direction of calm down.

That was the right idea. She had done everything right until the

final shot. It was the right shot but she just didn't execute it well.

She was berating herself at the end of that point. Having to work so

hard for the points out here. Frustration on the face of Svetlana

Kuznetsova who looks up to her coach, Carlos Martinez, because my

Muguruza moves to within two points to being back in the Wimbledon

semifinals. Eight points. Eight points doesn't sound a lot if you

looked at it like that. How different it feels mentally when you

are playing a match. Well played. She has such great

touch and feel when she is around the net. This is a beautiful

half-volley pick-up. Look at that, great timing, and there is the split

step ready for the next one. Oh dear. It is a little too much for

him. Having a little rest. The pressure is firmly being applied

by the Spanish player. She is playing with more and more freedom

and she really has had her foot on the accelerator right from the word

go and hasn't really looked back. That is stunning. At the moment it

needs to be that quality to win the point. It does. All three of those

ground strokes of Muguruza didn't really come out of the centre of the

strings. She was slightly missed connecting with it and was off

balance when hitting her ground strokes, Kuznetsova really took

advantage on the last one. Well, I think she feels she's got to

do something different, and taking the bull by the horns there, nicely

controlled volley. Those are not easy around that mid-court area.

Very, very important hold for the Russian player who is in her fourth

Wimbledon quarterfinal, but her first since 2007. It is still

Muguruza with the break in the second. You feel as if she had to

change something up because Muguruza was just so in her rhythm, so in her

comfort zone, and those last couple of points in that last game maybe

put an element of doubt in Muguruza's head. Maybe she will

change things up, she might come forward a bit more and it adds a bit

of pressure on the next service game. Weather-wise, what do we think

of those clouds? It doesn't look that good. You could try and be a

bit more positive. It is looking a bit bleak. They are rattling through

this one, just over an hour on the clock. It's amazing, take somebody

like Serena Williams, a legend of the game, and how things open up and

the opportunities here for these players through to the quarterfinals

to be the trophy on Saturday. That is the thing, as you mentioned

earlier, all of them know there is a massive opportunity in this draw.

Serena Williams is not here this year. She is expecting her first

child and all of the players in the field left field they can probably

beat anybody who is in the draw. So, you know, there are going to be a

few extra nerves but from what we've seen of the evidence of Muguruza,

she seems incredibly composed and really contained ten is out here. --

contained tennis out here. You could see her working her way

forward, trying to get that Sean Paul. Once again she had done all

the hard work, it was just finished that short ball. Muguruza used the

left hand to get the ball dipping. I think Kuznetsova fell she had done

enough to make that, she was surprised to look up and see she

hadn't got the ball over the net. More good defence from Muguruza. She

has moved really, really well. I think it's a massive improvement in

her game. She has had her injury problems over the last couple of

years and it has prevented her from being as fit as she would like but

this year she looks really different. She's moving as well as

I've ever seen her move. She just got a little bit tight on

it, and sometimes those balls that look relatively simple suddenly feel

pretty horrible. The ball just slightly moved to one side as she

went to hit it but even so she will be very disappointed she didn't mail

that. Maybe she changed her mind. -- didn't nail that. She didn't change

her mind on that one. She didn't. She knew what she wanted to do

coming in on the shorter return. Brings up two gain points to put her

one game away to the Wimbledon semifinals.

There is the point, there is the game and there is the fist pump. The

2015 finalist here. Kuznetsova now is in a position to serve to stay in

the Championships. That would have felt good for

Muguruza to get that first point, try and play with even more freedom,

more aggression. She can really go for broke.

UMPIRE: Miss Muguruza is challenging the call on the left service line.

We didn't hear the initial call. I did not hear a call and I don't

think she did either. The umpire was right, re-corrected it. Marijana

Veljovic. They have been some bruising

encounters from the back of the court.

That was a lot of venom went into that last backhand. And the final

finish as well. It's almost a case of who can hit harder out here.

Good game, great game from Svetlana Kuznetsova. She holds to 15 ounces

to Garbine Muguruza, if you want that place in the semifinals it's

over to you -- and says. Where are the nerves really at? How much does

she believe in herself trying to serve this out? There has been no

letup so far. She has played an extremely high level, in so

incredibly focused with her eye line. She has not really lifted her

head and looked all around, she's just got on with the business. In

the last game I think Kuznetsova upped the ante and gave an extra

injection of pace throwing everything at the last game and

putting Muguruza under a little bit more defence and a bit more

pressure. Out hitting her opponent in the last game. Yes, Svetlana

Kuznetsova is so experienced, she's been on the tour four years, been

there, seen it, done it, owns a couple of Grand Slam titles. But

Muguruza is looking for a place back in the Wimbledon semifinals. She was

last there in 2015 when she went all the way to the final. She says in

her own words, not comfortable on the surface, don't know how to play

on this surface, you wouldn't know it from looking at her.

That would have felt fantastic and just getting that first point under

her belt. Garbine Muguruza moves to within two

points of the Wimbledon semifinals. She was going for big targets Meese,

Muguruza, still with the pace on the ball but certainly not going into

the corners. That's only the second forehand that

we've seen which has just rolled into the net, where she hasn't

struck through the ball. Well, well, well. Can you believe

it? She's played some of those drive volleys, so bravely, way more

difficult than this one. You can see the spin and the rotation on the

ball. She must have taken her eye off it.

I'm sure her heart is racing right now.

That will slow it down a little bit! Perfect way to bring up a match

point. Kuznetsova will challenge, though. It was good, which means

it's match point, Muguruza. And there it is! Garbine Muguruza is

into her second Wimbledon semifinal, and she's also back in the world's

top ten. Delight for the 1994 champion Conchita Martinez.

Disappointment for Kuznetsova, but today, it's about Garbine Muguruza.

She rarely put a foot wrong, it was a clean performance from the Spanish

player, who moves through to the Wimbledon semifinals. Yeah, she

really was the better player today. She did everything a little bit

better. Such focus and concentration. Yes, a few nerves

towards the end, but my goodness, what a serve to come up with in that

last game at 30-30. It was fabulous, and she's in contention for this

title, that's for sure. She really is. Disappointment for Svetlana

Kuznetsova, but Garbine Muguruza has been so good in this tournament.

Kuznetsova waits for her opponent, which is nice to see. I'm sure there

will be some signing of balls. You do get the sense that the crowds and

the fans at Wimbledon have really taken to Garbine Muguruza. She gives

the crowd that lovely smile and they really respond to her honourable

she's a very elegant player, wonderful to watch on court, and

she's dropped just one set, that was to Angelique Kerber in the last

round. She had only one break point against her today. The crowd maybe

thought they were not going to get any tennis today because of the

weather forecast, and they have had a whole match! It didn't last long,

either. Garbine Muguruza, through in straight sets. She's through to the

semifinals, and we can hear from her now. She's speaking with Rishi

Persad. Many congratulations, a straight sets win over Grand Slam

champion, in just bigger and 15 minutes - how well do you think you

played today? I think I played good. I was very clear what I had to do.

We've played a lot of tennis together. I'm happy that it worked

out. You looked like you were playing with a lot of aggression and

freedom, would that be fair? I think so. I'm trying not to think a lot,

go for it, play my game, and the rest is nothing. You were a finalist

here two years ago, how different a person are you today? Well, it seems

far away from the. It's not that far, but I think I'm a different

player, I've learned a lot of things, I know how to play more calm

now so I think it's a big change. What does it mean to you to be back

in the semifinal here at Wimbledon? It means a lot, my breakthrough was

here. To be back, hopefully going through to the finals, makes me so

happy. At this stage, does it matter who is on the other side of the net

in these late stages of the Grand Slam? Definitely. I think the

players who are now here are because they are playing well, so it doesn't

matter, because they're name great. You certainly played great today,

congratulations. SUE BARKER: She certainly did. She's

got a powerful, all court game which really thrives on a grass court. She

loves to come forward and to get into the net. She volleys so well.

There was a dip in form after the French Open last year. But really,

she looks to be playing her very best tennis right now, and coming

food at just the right time as she eases into the last four. Over on

Centre Court earlier today, Novak Djokovic, the number two seed, eased

through into the quarterfinals. This match was held over from yesterday

because of the long Rafael Nadal match. So this was an ex goal on

Centre Court today. And Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis are the top seeds

in the mixed doubles, and they came through in straight sets today. And

they are the overwhelming favourites, so much experience,

between Murray and Martina Hingis, winner of 17 Grand Slam doubles

titles! And the British team, the wild cards into the men's doubles,

they are through to the men's quarterfinals, their first ever

Grand Slam quarterfinal. In the last round, they put out the eighth

sides. Well done to them. The ladies fought a final acts on Centre Court,

Venus Williams is going well against the Jelena Ostapenko. This is the

oldest wherein the tournament, up against the youngest, Ostapenko.

That is now on BBC One. We are preparing for the next match on

Court No. 1. I hope those rain clouds stayaway. Here at the

Championships, the BBC have been celebrating 90 years of covering

this great Championship. We're going back 40 years now, and we have

picked out some of the stories from 1977. I think we'll see Virginia!

Sharma done it! A British victory at last, for the first time since Ann

Jones. Can't get over how Brown the Centre

Court was when Bjorn Borg was on it. Virginia Wade, was it really 40

years ago? Jo Konta, everywhere she has been over the last couple of

years, she has been breaking British records. It was Jo Durie, and if she

gets through today, we will start talking about 40 years and Virginia

as well! Play continues under the roof on Centre Court. Out on Court

No. 1, we have Magdalena Rybarikova up against Coco Vandeweghe, coached

by Pat Cash, and she certainly has a big game, suited to the grass

courts. She's been talking to John Inverdale.

All credit to the American - she has a game to take her further.

Semifinals in Australia, quarterfinalist here, do you feel

you are in the groove? I think this year has been my best year in tennis

so far, as far as results don't. Making the semifinals in Australia

was a huge stepping stone and validation for me that I could go

through, go one step further and achieve my dream is. Are you one of

those players who looks at the draw and thinks, maybe things are opening

up for me? No, I don't really look at the draw too much. I just look at

who is in front of me. I played Rybarikova in the French Open and

lost, so hopefully it is a different result this time around. The British

public probably don't know, why are you called Coco? I'm named after my

grandmother, who was Miss America. Everyone in my family has a nickname

all my siblings, none of us go by our real names. I would not turn

around if somebody called Colin at me. Your grandmother was Miss

America, how cool is that?! It is really cool, we have a trophy in our

house, my grandparents basically raised me, it was like a second mum

and another dad. The Wimbledon trophy would look very good next

door to it! Yeah, I think that's a great idea!

SUE BARKER: Such a bubbly personality, Coco Vandeweghe. And

here she comes on to court, with Magdalena Rybarikova, in her first

ever ran slam quarterfinal. Huge moment for them. Both players have

the chance to get deep into the Wimbledon Championships, a place in

the last four. We will expect some big hitting from these two players.

That's our next match on Court No. 1. We can hear from Rybarikova now.

Injuries, she only started playing again around February, to build up

her world ranking. She came to play on the grass courts at Surbiton,

semifinalist at Nottingham, she has prepared herself well for the

Championships. She has been talking to Lee McKenzie. You have had an

incredible Wimbledon, how are you feeling? I am speechless, I have to

say. It was my dream always to play well at Wimbledon. Before, eight

years in a row I was in the first round, so I was a bit disappointed,

and it was getting into my head, this tournament is not really for

me, but now, I'm a quarterfinalist. What do you think the difference is

with how you are playing now, maybe mental strength as well? I always

love it on grass, it's my favourite surface. When I was 20, I won my

first title in Birmingham. I had a few other titles on grass. I enjoy

it and I think it is good for my game. I was always hoping that I

would lay well at Wimbledon, and finally I made it, it's amazing.

Maybe it's because I hadn't played for seven months, and after last

year's Wimbledon, I had two surgeries, so maybe that's why I am

more relaxed in my head. You have beaten Coco Vandeweghe before, you

have beaten her already this year, but she's going to be tough? I think

she might even take the title this year as a mesh is the favourite. She

plays really amazing on grass. I hope I'm going to find some way, but

if not... Such honesty, saying you think your opponent can win the

title! She should be a bit more confident than that, she has a

lovely game, lovely sliced back hand, it takes you back a few years.

Let's get the thoughts of our commentators, Tracy Austin and Sam

Smith. SAM SMITH: So many injuries, Tracy,

and we always need a nice story at Wimbledon, someone that's had an

enormous amount of injuries, particularly over the course of last

year, two operations since she played here last year.

TRACY AUSTIN: Really a fairy tale for her. She had surgery on her left

wrist and on her white knee. Well, if you're going to have surgery, you

might as well get it all out of the way! But someone who is in really

good condition is Coco Vandeweghe, still only 25 years of age, from

Santa Fe. It sounds lovely. I've got a feeling the fact that Bill Gates

and Phil Mickelson live there, it probably is lovely! But she's a long

way from that California sunshine right now. She made the

quarterfinals here a couple of years ago. Fourth round in 2016, and said

that she flew back to California and was devastated at her loss to

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Tracy, you are a California girl yourself, this

is the one I think she really wants, Wimbledon? Absolutely. This is the

one she has set her sights on, because she knows her game matches

up so well for this surface. She's not lost a set along the way. She

beat fellow American Allison risk, also fantastic on the grass courts.

And Caroline Wozniacki yesterday, that was a real contrast in styles.

That was a real test against fifth seed, who's been playing so well.

And that was a big eye-opener for many of us watching the women's

four. We always knew the women's game was going to throw up anything

at this year's Championships but we did not exactly 28-year-old from

Bratislava to be one of them. I actually thought she had come in on

a protected ranking, because she had not played for seven months. But she

did so well on her restart, 453 back in February, to 87, an extraordinary

rise. Ilkley, do you know where that is? I don't, about four hours away?

Not bad, which direction, do you think, Tracy? North? Yes! It's up in

Yorkshire. Where they produce rate cricketers, but that's another topic

entirely. Her big one was taking out the Eastbourne champion Karolina

Pliskova. That was an astonishing comeback and it really opened up her

Wimbledon. Never beyond the third round. But this is something to

raise a few eyebrows. Vandeweghe goes in as the favourite but she has

a rather poor head-to-head and a grass court loss as well. That was

quite a long time ago, though. The French Open, that is by far Coco's

worst surface on the clay. The power of Coco defused on that surface and

enhanced on the grass. And power is a word definitely used to describe

Vandeweghe. I actually think this is a nice

contrast in styles as well. Rybarikova, she handled the power of

Pliskova extremely well in that 3-set win. Pat Cash, the 1987

champion here at Wimbledon. He has done a fabulous job. I think they

are very well matched. We will talk about that later. You see him

chatting to an elderly gentleman, that's Ian Barkley, who was his

coach about 30 ears ago, and they a big celebration. The team there of

Rybarikova, I'm sure they did not expect to be here in week two. This

match does not exactly spring out from the order of play, but it might

be one of those which surprises us all, if they both play well.

Absolutely. It's about handling the expect handling the moment and the

opportunity. Rybarikova, never been to a quarterfinal, obviously, but

she has backed up her big win over Pliskova nicely.

UMPIRE: First set, Miss Vandeweghe to serve.

The big question, how she will manage the Vandeweghe service power.

She has only been broken four times so far in the tournament.

Tracy, what do you feel the game will be for Coco? Now she's working

with Pat Cash, she has actually got a game plan! So what do you think it

will be, against a very tricky opponent? I think for Coco, it's to

give herself some margin, because she hits with enough power.

Nice recovery from 0-30 down in this opening game for Vandeweghe. I spoke

to Pat Cash yesterday, and he said that he really had to convince her

that you don't need to hit 20 winners from the back court in a

match. They don't have to be outright winners, you can hit with

power, you can hit with margin, and you can force the stakes.

Yeah, they started working together, her previous coach, Craig Carden,

was with her for about 18 months, and she actually worked with Martina

Navratilova, but he actually walked out after she lost in the first

round against Rybarikova, which is very unusual.

Will see both players with the odd serve-volley next in.

Coco looking a little nervous in this game.

Well, that's interesting. Rybarikova at the other end has not headed off

for her chair that quickly. A couple of doubles in the game for

Vandeweghe, and that is not an ideal start to her second Wimbledon

quarterfinal. Tracy, I think you are from a couple

of hours drive away? About an hour and 45 minutes. Use or Coco when she

was growing up - what did you make of her all those years ago?

Obviously, has always had tremendous power, comes from a very athletic

family. She's strong. Really didn't start taking tennis seriously until

she was a teenager, was playing other sports, basketball... She won

the junior US Open, and was kind of raw, rough around the edges.

She had the big weapons, like I said, but didn't always choose the

right shot. Particularly shot selection, but is becoming a smarter

player. She managed to lose in the first

round in her first eight Wimbledons! I'm not sure how she did that, with

her skills! Considering she won her very first tournament on grass, and

that was at Birmingham eight years ago.

Wow! Nicely done from Rybarikova. That takes a lot of skill and feel.

A ball that's coming at you this hard, to take all the pace out of

it. That ball is probably travelling at around 70mph.

Coco Vandeweghe looking very uptight out here. This means so much to her,

this tournament. Also because she realises this is a big opportunity.

Semifinalist this year at the Australian Open, lost in three sets

to Venus Williams. Coming off the court feeling, very much that was

one that got away. Beautifully done. Great balance

there. Always had a big forehand. The

backhand has improved over the last couple of years.

Sam, talking about the opportunity that Coco sees in this match,

playing against unseeded player, the only unseeded player left in the

quarters, ranked 87 in the world. Right now, it's getting in the way.

Let's see if she can settle herself down. Yeah.

This is something that Pat Cash has really tried to impress upon

Vandeweghe that she has the kills on the forecourt and on grass, so handy

to move forward. That was a rather dusty forehand

from Vandeweghe. ??LINE BREAK UMPIRE: Enter -- Pat

looking very even keeled. He's trying to make sure that Coco

improves her attitude on court. Not get distracted. Stay positive.

Vandeweghe we've got quite a quarter-final. It's Rybarikova wo

had leads 2-1 with the early break. Talk to me about pressure in tennis

matches and what sort of pressure is on Rybarikova? Well, I think her

pressure would be possibly thinking - this might be a rare opportunity,

ranked 87. I can't imagine that she'd be thinking at the beginning

of the tournament that she'd make the quarter-finals, but she's played

just splendid tennis. Oh. Oh. Well, she's almost the bionic woman, isn't

she, with that wrist surgery she had last year. But she was very pleased.

Her surgeon said my wrist will take four months, it took four months.

The knee, apparently he said it would take one month to recover, it

took four months. That was a longstanding knee injury. The wrist

she hurt in a tournament before Wimbledon last year? She played with

it for a while with a lot of pain. She says she's pain-free.

She does a terrific job of taking all of the pace out of the power.

The Vandeweghe with the powerful. Rybarikova, with that gentle slice

stays so low. It's not often you get in a

Wimbledon quarter-final two players for whom grass is their favourite

surface. It's not often you have two players

on the women's tour moving forward. Magdalena Rybarikova 114 times up at

the net. I feel like we're talking about a

different tennis planet. Yeah. Different solar system to the world

of the ground strokes. The last time I can remember two young ladies

approaching so much was was Henin and Marezo.

This will test Vandeweghe's composure here. She was not pleased

with missing that second serve. This is where Pat Cash comes in. He says

you have to have the mentality of a champion, play point by point. Gave

examples of Rafael Nadal and way back when, Jimmy Connors.

Wow. That is beautiful tennis from Magdalena Rybarikova. You saw the

short slice, the deep slice, topspin. Giving Vandeweghe lots of

looks. She doesn't seem too stressed. She's

enjoying herself out here. Meanwhile, down at the other end, in

stress city... Oh, dear. Dear. I always feel there's a lot of

pressure on Coco even if it's subconscious because her grandfather

Ernie, was an MBA - Legend. Played for the Nicks. Her mum is a two-time

Olympian. Her grandmother was Miss America! It's not exactly an

underachieving family, is it? She's named after her grandmother,

Colleen, shortened to Coco. Very close she is to her grandparents.

I used to see Ernie, her grandfather, at many of the

tournaments, couldn't hurt to have him around so often. He was very

competitive. What a mentor. Yes. Beautifully done. Just getting going

over here on Court 1. Vandeweghe down a break. Getting on top of

things in this opening set. I wonder what it's like to be from such a

successful family? You also can't mention Coco, can you, without all

the achievements of her family. Her mum, I mean, you must have seen her

around the tennis circuits. A big character, isn't she? She is. Yeah,

I mean, she's definitely an important figure in Coco's life. Her

parents divorced very early. It was her mother who was really the

driving force behind Coco's tennis. So supportive. Her mother was a

winner in the American team in 76 in Montreal. She was at her best during

the 1980, during the boycott. Can you imagine having your sporting

dream taking away from you. The swimmers and the runners get one

short every four years. You spoke about the mental part that

Pat has set her. He set her tricky aI signments. One was to focus on

the fist point of every game. He will be fuming at that return. --

first. Rybarikova came out with a clear

game plan, slipped there where there is not much grass left in the middle

of the baseline. There is not a lot of zen reflection

from Coco at the back of the court. It's not Maria Sharapova back there.

Nicely done there. Rybarikova is not giving Vandeweghe a lot of rhythm.

That's very purposeful. Doesn't want to try and just blast ground strokes

with Vandeweghe. That's actually what eventually in the previous

match. Her opponent then was the favourite for this event.

That last point was an example - hit hard with Coco a couple and then

threw in the slice, stayed down low and the short angle. Using the link

and the court as well. APPLAUSE

Better. She got the first point. Tennis is a problem solving game.

How does she counter act this slow balling tactic? She's got to have

really good foot work and get down low for those slices and give

herself more margin, build the point.

Much better. APPLAUSE

It's really about hanging in the point long enough, with good depth

until you can get a shot, middle of the court, with the forehand.

There is something sometimes rather lackadaisical about Rybarikova.

She's driven a lot of coaches to distraction. A really good service

game from Vandeweghe. Vandeweghe's the fourth ranked

American behind Serena, Venus and Madison. There were 15 of them in

the single draw. They are like buses, one coming after another.

Where have they all sprung from? I think there's a much better job of