The semi-finals are set. The 2nd day of quarter-finals was played on day 10 and the matches weren’t as close as day 9 but they were still amazing matches to watch. Day 10 started with 27th seed, Collins, up against unseeded Cornet. A tough first set between the 2 ladies which Collins took 7-5. From there the American could dominate as she easily took the 2nd set 6-1 and booked her spot in the semi-finals. The next quarter-final was another ladies quarter-final and it was between 7th seed, Swiatek, and unseeded Kanepi. Kanepi played a great first set and was rewarded with a 1 set to love lead over the 7th seed. Thankfully for the 7th seed, she managed to survive a tight second set which ended in a tiebreak. The 7th seed used her momentum and took the third set 6-3 to book her place in the semi-finals where she will play 27th seed, Collins. The first men’s match was between 11th seed – Sinner – and 4th seed, Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas brought his game today and showed his class as he pushed aside the Italian. Tsitsipas won in straight sets and played his best tennis of the tournament so far. The last match on was between 2nd seed Medvedev and 9th seed Auger-Aliassime. The Humid conditions helped Felix who managed to play at an outstanding level in the first 2 sets. Medvedev had no answers and found himself 2 sets to love down and 1 set away from being knocked out. Queue a tight third set which eventually made it to a tiebreak. Medvedev took a 2-1 lead and then the rain hit. A small delay while the roof closed helped Medvedev because when he came out, he knocked off two unreturnables and lead 4-1. Medvedev took the tiebreak 7-2 and we headed into a 4th. Both players held well in the third until Medvedev served at 4-5 and found himself match point down. Thankfully for the 2nd seed he found a first serve and managed to hold. He then broke and held which meant we headed into a 5th. At the beginning of the 5th, Medvedev, once again had to save break points. He held and then converted his own break point opportunity and he lead for pretty much the first time in the match. This break turned out to be very important as the 2nd seed sealed the 5th and the comeback was completed.

‘Magic Team’ remain in 1st but their lead is 0 because they are tied with ‘To immunity and Beyond’ for 1st place. ‘Novax Needed’ stays in 3rd. ‘Pats Pick’ moves back into the top 5 and sits 4th. There is still a tie for 5th but its now between ‘FD Fantastics’ and ‘Nodjok’.

Day 10 saw the loss of 2 teams – ‘Another Snob 2’ and ‘Meerkat’. This means we have a wooden spoon winner for the first grand slam of the year. The Wooden Spoon goes to – Meerkat.

Matches on Day 10:

• Collins(27) beat Cornet – 7-5;6-1
• Swiatek(7) beat Kanepi – 4-6; 7-6(2); 6-3
• Tsitsipas(4) beat Sinner(11) – 6-3; 6-4; 6-2
• Medvedev(2) beat Auger-Aliassime(9) – 6-7(4); 3-6; 7-6(2); 7-5; 6-4

Ladies Semi-finals:

• Barty(1) vs Keys (10:30)
• Collins(27) vs Swiatek(7) (11:45)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.