Key events:
Immediately, Niemeier raises two break points, netting on the return to lose the first before Maria tamely dumps a squash-shot. Maria 0-1 Niemeier
And play!
The players are on court knocking up. We’ll be away shortly.
Niemeier, on the other hand, is at the start of her career and has power to burn. This is only her second Wimbledon, but she eliminated Anett Kontaveit, the number two seed, and being relatively unknown makes her tricky to gameplan for.
Getting us away we’ve Maria v Niemeier. Maria has ejected three seeds – Cirstea, Sakkari and Ostapenko – and is on the run of her life. Before Wimbledon, she’d never done better than round two of a major, but seeing her now, with her family – she’s a two-time mum – you can see she’s reached equilibrium, so even though she’s 34, it’s no surprise that she’s playing so well.
Kyrgios faces charge of assaulting ex-girlfriend
The 27-year-old Australian, who reached the quarter-finals on Monday, will appear in court in Canberra next month.
Preamble
Good afternoon and welcome Wimbledon 2022. Yes, the competition started last week and we’ve been enjoying our lives more ever since, but it’s today that we hit 88mph and see what Doc Emmet Brown called “some serious expletive”.
Previously, the second Tuesday meant women’s quarter-finals, but as of this year we’re getting two along with two men’s, then the same again tomorrow – a sensible adjustment that guarantees us two large helpings of lovely tennis.
And we waste no time at all in stuffing our faces with an absolutely jaw-convulsing dish of Novak Djokovic [1] v Jannik Sinner [10], who open proceedings on Centre. The former may be the top seed, but with Rafael Nadal halfway to a grand slam, he can’t sensibly claim to be the best player in the world … unless he can win here. And he’ll fancy himself to do just that, except Sinner is, as of Sunday, in the form of his life, taking Carlos Alcaraz apart with the might of his serving and returning. If he plays as well again, we’re looking at a potential classic.
And that’s not all! There’s no sport in the world less predictable and with more potential champions than women’s tennis, so picking which of Marie Bouzkova and Ons Jabeur [3], Tatjana Maria and Jule Niemeier will make the last four is an errand too foolish even for this blog – but all of them will know that this might just be the opportunity of their lives. On top of which, David Goffin v Cameron Norrie [9] will be a fascinating battle of spins, angles and intensity with all the potential to drag us the distance. Ooh yeah!
Play: 1pm BST on No1 Court, 1.30pm BST on Centre Court