Wimblemedia, Day 4: “Of Dreadlocks, Hormones and Hot-Heads”

Wimblemedia is TTI’s daily wrap up of Wimbledon with all the entertaining, fun and fascinating moments from the Championships.

A dread-locked Wimbledon for Nadal

Wimbledon continues to deal Rafael Nadal rough cards. Over the past few years the Spaniard hasn’t made it past the fourth round and this year is no different, falling to Dustin Brown in the second round. The German is known for his unpredictability and on Thursday evening his relentless net-charging and big serving paid off against a rattled Rafael Nadal, whose forehand looked a shadow of the weapon it was in previous years.

A grassophobe slugfest

Neither Benoit Paire nor Roberto Bautista Agut are known for their expertise on the lawns — but despite his recent complaints about the surface, the Frenchman got off to a good start in his first two sets against his much higher ranked opponent. Both men struggled with their movement occasionally but Bautista Agut started raise his level from the third set onwards.

Things went even more Paire-shaped in the fourth set when the Frenchman rolled his ankle and ended up losing his 2 set advantage:

It didn’t stop him from taking out his frustration at a chair in the final set, earning him a code violation shortly before losing the deciding set 3-6.

Oh Benoit….

Cornet dramatics

Alizé Cornet was unable to defend her fourth round points from 2014 as she went out to Olga Govortsova in three sets, somewhat struggling with her left calf at times — but trust the Frenchwoman to make it a dramatic and entertaining exit.

“Oh my God — No, No, NO! NO!”

Fabio Fognini vs. Mo Lahyani…again

Just like last year, Fabio Fognini found himself losing early at Wimbledon but he certainly didn’t do it the quiet way — as he got into it with chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani right from the get-go. After the first set, things quieted down though as Lahyani was fed up fairly quickly and had the supervisor come to sit courtside.

Always the same with you, eh, Fabio?

(Tatjana) Maria survives a thriller

In a contrast of styles, Tatjana Maria made it through a tough match out on Court 11 against Eugenie Bouchard’s conquerer Duan Ying-ying. The German sliced and diced her way into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, withstanding a barrel of heavy groundstrokes from her Chinese opponent and clinching the final set 10-8.

My nerves…

Federer’s outrageous tweener

Roger Federer cruised through his second round match against Sam Querrey after a competitive start, and never really looked troubled.

He also hit this shot.

Oh. Yes. He. Did.

#KulichkovaKhronicles

The hard-hitting Russian had a strong Grand Slam debut in the first round — saving a match point to defeat Yanina Wickmayer — but Madison Keys’ power proved too strong for her own on Thursday.

The Russian’s frustration led to a few brain cramps — from untimely net touches:

to, well, this.

#howdoyoutennis

Jankovic, Asderaki and a Superfan

Jelena Jankovic won yet another three-set match — this time against Evgeniya Rodina — booking her ticket for the third round where she’ll meet Petra Kvitova.

A sob subplot of the past few years, the Serb and chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore were at it once again — the two had lively conversations about coaching, language and Jankovic taking her time between points.

Everything nearly spun out of control for Jankovic, as she trailed *1-3 in the third:

But in the end, the Serb turned the match around and made her roaming super-fan (according to Anne Keothavong) very happy with food and drinks.

You be you, JJ.

What a day!