The shock defeat of Rafael Nadal to Gilles Muller dominates the international media while the German press sees a silver lining to Angelique Kerber’s loss.
Newspapers in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where Muller is from, are full of praise for their 34-year-old compatriot. “It was a completely crazy match,” writes Luxembourg newspaper Le Quotidien. The Luxembourg minister of sports, Romain Schneider, tells the Luxemburger Wort newspaper Muller’s victory is “a historic performance for Luxembourg tennis.”
A popular player on the men’s tour, the Daily Express reveals Muller had sushi with British player Aljaz Bedene the night before their third-round match at Wimbledon.
The Guardian focuses on Nadal, who hasn’t advanced beyond the fourth round since 2011. “Rafael Nadal fought like a lion but, for once, the lion was tamed,” says The Guardian. “Twelve years after he stunned Nadal when the Spaniard arrived at Wimbledon after his first Roland Garros triumph, this was an even better performance and a bigger shock, such was the manner in which Nadal, 31, had reached the last 16 without dropping a set.”
Nadal’s departure is also a big story in the Germany, but the defeats of women’s top seed Angelique Kerber and rising star Alexander Zverev take centre stage.
Although Kerber’s three-set loss to former finalist Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain means she’ll lose the No.1 ranking next week, Oberbayerisches Volksblatt headlined: “Defeat with a silver lining.” Yes, she may lose the top spot, the paper pointed out, but the manner in which she battled Muguruza was reminiscent of the Kerber of old who won two grand slam titles last year.
“It is so frustrating,” Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted Zverev as saying after losing to Canada’s Milos Raonic. “I am done learning,” said Zverev, who has long been touted as a future No.1 but has so far come up short in the Grand Slam events.
Rafael Nadal fought like a lion but, for once, the lion was tamed
Jo Konta’s run to the quarter-final, the first British woman to do since Jo Durie in 1984, has impressed the British media.
“There is an implacable calm about Johanna Konta,” writes The Daily Telegraph. “She likens herself to Jason Bourne, in honour of her three passports – British, Australian and Hungarian – but she also shares the rogue agent’s skill for poker-faced concealment of an explosiveness beneath.”
Tennis is an international sport, with players employing coaches from all over the world. Sometimes, stuff gets lost in translation, such as during the match between Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova and Petra Martic of Croatia. The Guardian Diary overheard this exchange between Rybarikova’s coaching staff: “Loose!” one shouted at the tense 28-year-old. “Lose?” answered his colleague. “No! Loose!” came the answer. In the end, Rybarikova won to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
