Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em at SW19
With Serena Williams an early departure, it’s Germany’s Tatjana Maria flying the flag for working mothers. The world No 103, who beat the fifth seed, Maria Sakkari, on Friday, has her two daughters in tow – eight-year-old Charlotte, and Cecilia who was born in April last year. Maria hopes reaching the fourth round for the first time will raise issues around childcare for tennis pros. “Now maybe more people are listening to me,” she said. “At the beginning when you come back as a mum it is not so easy to get help.”
Tomljanovic smells a rat
Ajla Tomljanovic discovered just what her father thought of her prospects when she made it through to the second week – and found she had nowhere to stay. “My dad booked my house until Friday,” said Tomljanovic, explaining why she had to make a last‑minute move to a hotel. “I was like: ‘You thought I’d lose second round?’” Her father apparently responded: “Hungry rats swim the fastest.” “I’m like: ‘Well, I’m not a rat and I’m not hungry! Maybe you should just believe in me a little more.”
Kubler knocks socks off in qualifier epic
The who-wants-it-most award goes to Jason Kubler, who faced Jack Sock in a five-set epic on court 18 that lasted four and a quarter hours. The last time two qualifiers competed against each other in the third round was 38 years ago and, given the stylish exhibition they put on, you’d barely have known they had already played 10 matches between them already in these championships. When Kubler was asked about the lack of ranking points in qualifying, he told interviewers he was just happy to earn himself $10,000. His latest victory brought him $230,000 (£190,000), which he says will be “a life changer”.
