Andy Murray once again takes centre stage in the British media, while the Australian press focuses on the controversial departure of Bernard Tomic.
With defending champion Murray up against his friend and one-time Rafael Nadal conqueror Dustin Brown, the British media are still on hip watch.
“Andy Murray willing to play through pain to defend his Wimbledon title,” headlines The Guardian, adding the top-ranked Scot has been struggling with his hip since his early 20s.
Almost every British paper touches on the tale of Jack Sock’s missing towel. After beating Christian Garin on Court 18, the American threw a towel to a young fan in the stands, only for an older man to wrestle it away from him, Metro reports.
After seeing the video, Sock tweeted: “If anyone knows the kid that unfortunately had the towel ripped out of his hands...tweet his name at me and I'll be sure to get him one.”
Another day, another warning for a young Australian player from former Grand Slam winner John Newcombe. After a lacklustre straight-sets defeat to Germany’s Mischa Zverev, Australia’s Tomic confessed to being “a little bit bored out there.”
Tomic, who has won more than $5 million in prize money and lives in Monte Carlo, then turned down suggestions to hand back his 35,000 pounds prize money for losing in the first round, saying “we all work for money.” But Newcombe, a three-time winner, told The Australian: “The money goes away pretty quick and it's easy to get in big trouble especially if he doesn’t get sponsorship. If he keeps going the way he is, within a year it could all dry up.”
Big-serving American CoCo Vandeweghe hired 1987 champion Pat Cash as her coach just before Wimbledon. Turns out he’s not just teaching her about forehands and backhands. "Well, he's introduced me to a lot of '80 rock bands, which before I wasn't quite familiar with,” the AFP news agency quoted her as saying after winning her first round. “I keep having to remind him I was born in '91."
Richard Gasquet’s shock defeat is the biggest Wimbledon story in the French media. His loss to David Ferrer marked the first time he’d been beaten in the opening round since 2006. The stylish Frenchman had been in form on the grass, reaching the semi-finals of Halle, Germany and Eastbourne, but he told French newspaper La Croix he had run out of energy against the Spaniard. “I felt heavy in my legs, the tournament last week [Eastboure] was tiring,” Gasquet said.
