By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Donna Vekic praised Pam Shriver’s influence on her career after reaching a maiden Wimbledon quarter-final
- Carlos Alcaraz spoke about mental toughness and overcoming dips in concentration after reaching last eight
- Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev preview their Wimbledon quarter-final
LONDON, ENGLAND – Donna Vekic spoke about the benefit of Pam Shriver’s influence on her career after reaching her maiden Wimbledon quarter-final on day seven.
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Donna Vekic praises Pam Shriver after reaching maiden Wimbledon quarter-final
The Day seven talking points start with Donna Vekic after the Croatian battled past Paula Badosa in three sets.
It was a match that started the day and finished in the early evening as Vekic had to overcome three rain delays and a resilient performance from Badosa to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
Speaking after the match Vekic detailed what went on during the rain delays and spoke about the influence Pam Shriver has had on her career since joining her team in San Diego last year.
“There was three rain delays. Each one was very different,” Vekic stated.
“After the first one, I was up 5-2, 30-Love, so I was pretty relaxed. The second one I was losing 5-1 in the second. I was freaking out. But I was in a way happy that it rained because she was really on a roll. She was playing so well. Then in the third set, at 4-3, I was like, Okay, just stay focused, stay warm, be ready to go out there.
“Actually, just before going out in the last rain delay, she said — the first time we met it was plenty of rain delays in San Diego. She said, Just trust yourself on this one. You know how to deal with it.
“It’s been great having her in my team the last almost two years. She’s an amazing person, amazing mentor. I’m really proud to have her in my team.”
Vekic’s partnership with Shriver has clearly worked having made a significant rise up the rankings as well as performing in the big events.
The Croatian’s quarter-final performance at Wimbledon is now her third Grand Slam quarter-final of her career.
However, despite Vekic’s grass court qualities the Croatian had never done so well at Wimbledon in previous years and explained if anything’s changed this year in comparison to previous years.
“I don’t know. The only thing that’s been different is I played the week before,” Vekic said in her press conference.
“I did really well in Bad Homburg. I made the final. I was not here the whole week what I usually do. That kind of brings up the tension a lot.
“Last year I was playing really well, as well. I lost in the third round to Vondrousova who went on to win the title. That was pretty heartbreaking for me. I feel good. I feel good on the grass. It suits my game. Hopefully I can keep winning.”
Now Vekic will hope this year is the year she can finally achieve her Grand Slam breakthrough as she aims to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final when she takes on qualifier Lulu Sun on Tuesday.
Should Vekic win the Wimbledon title this year, it would be a dream come true for the Croatian as she explained to finish her press conference.
“It’s been my dream since I started playing tennis, a dream and in a way a goal, to win a Grand Slam,” Vekic revealed.
“It’s the reason why I play tennis, why I keep training and pushing myself every day. If I believe, yes, of course I believe. I would not be here otherwise. But to win a Grand Slam, a lot of things have to happen. Hopefully one day it will for me.”
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Carlos Alcaraz speaks about mental toughness after reaching quarter-finals
Next, it’s time to hear from defending champion Carlos Alcaraz who reached the last eight at Wimbledon once again.
However, it was far from easy as he needed four sets to overcome an inspired performance from Ugo Humbert.
After the match Alcaraz spoke about his happiness at reaching the quarter-finals as well as detailing the mental toughness needed to beat a resilient Humbert.
“Yeah, it’s always great qualify to the quarterfinals. I’m feeling great on the court. I think I’m getting better and better every match that I’m playing. Feeling really comfortable on the court, hitting good points, good shots. Hopefully keep going,” Alcaraz started his press conference by saying.
“Well, I think I stayed at a really high level of focus during the whole match. Probably in the third set it was kind of difficult for me. I mean, the second game, Love-30 for me, a few points played with a few mistakes from my side. Then he broke my serve. I think he started to play better and better. Was a certain point that I couldn’t find my good read on the serve. I felt like he was reading my serve, he was reading my shots very, very well in every point that we were playing. It was difficult for me to find the solutions in that moment.
“But tennis is like this. I had 40-Love down in the fourth set. A few serves that I did pretty well. Saved that game. It was kind of I increase my tennis, increase my intensity, and got the win at the end. Yeah, really happy that it didn’t affect me at all, the third set, and the problems that I had in the fourth set and I stayed really strong mentally.”
The Spaniard has had to work hard for his place in the quarter-finals and will be hoping to save his best tennis for the latter stages of the tournament.
If Alcaraz wants to do well then he will look to feed off the Centre Court crowd like he did against Humbert.
“Well, as I say many times, the crowd is really important part for me. Obviously when they are not cheering you up, you have to forget it and think about your tennis or think about yourself,” Alcaraz explained.
“But having the crowd supporting you every time is really helpful to put your best tennis. If there are difficult moments on the match, they help you a lot to push you up, try not to miss a lot of games, let’s say.
“After that third set they didn’t stop supporting me in the fourth one. I thought that I have to fight, I have to give them the good match, the good points. Yeah, it was a really let’s say helpful support.”
Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev preview last eight clash
In the quarter-finals world number one Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the semi-final.
World number one Sinner overcame an epic third set tiebreak to defeat Ben Shelton in straight sets on Court One.
Ahead of Tuesday’s clash, Sinner spoke about how every match is different and how excited he is to face Medvedev again.
“No, I still think that every match has its own story, especially I felt like in Australia we had two different matches in one match,” Sinner recalled his maiden Grand Slam title win earlier this year,” Sinner said.
“It’s going to be tough for both of us. I practiced with him earlier in the week. He was playing really good. So it’s going to be tough. I’m looking forward to it. Again, it’s a big challenge for me. But this is what I practice for. Hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”
Meanwhile Medvedev led Grigor Dimitrov 5-3 in the first set before the Bulgarian was forced to retire due to a groin injury.
After his match Medvedev spoke about what the reaction to Sinner was like when the Italian first came to the tour.
“He plays better. He misses less. When Jannik came on tour, straightaway everyone was a little bit, not shocked but like how strong he hits, how he can run fast and hit strong from every position of the court,” Medvedev claimed.
“But he was missing a lot and hence, losing a lot some matches. As soon as he stopped missing less, well, now it’s very tough to beat him for anyone. Not only for me. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. I do think, if I’m not mistaken, by statistics I usually play better against No. 1s in the world than maybe some other guys. Let’s see if it helps me against Jannik.
“But, again, yeah, he misses less, serves much better. His serve was not as good before. Small details makes big difference in tennis. It’s definitely tougher to play him now than before. Again, as I said, the matches were close. I had my chances. I’ll try to use them better this time.”
Medvedev leads their head-to-head 6-5 although Sinner won their previous meeting at a Grand Slam when he came back from two sets down to claim the Australian Open title.
Jasmine Paolini spoke about dealing with social media trolls
The final word Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini after the Italian advanced to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon after Madison Keys retired at 5-5 in the final set.
After the match the Italian spoke about dealing with social media trolls and staying in the zone when it comes to competing at Grand Slams.
“Of course, if you win more matches, you are more exposed, no? But it’s tough to say. I mean, it’s good to be more exposed, but I think also can hurt you a little bit,” Paolini admitted.
“You have to find a balance to show yourself because you have to do it. We are in the position that we have to share ourself, and it’s nice. But also, too, I think it’s important to keep your little bit of privacy and to have around the people that loves you.”
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