Wimbledon: Splitter: Dominic Thiem as croquet specialist – Simona Halep alone at home

The 132nd edition of Wimbledon, short and ultimate “The Championship”, has not yet begun. And yet there are already lots of colorful splinters of the sacred lawn.

By Ulrike Weinrich from Wimbledon

Dominic Thiem was not asked twice. With his classic blue slider cap, the Austrian made a fantastic figure on unknown green terrain. Not only during two practice sessions on Sunday in Aorangi Park (once with Roger Federer), but also during a croquet interlude on the terrace in sight of the most famous Centre Court in the tennis universe.

Thiem immediately managed to manoeuvre the ball through the U-shaped metal goals with the typical hammer bat and in a given order. The seventh in the world rankings was more successful than, for example, his British colleague Andy Murray or sand court king Rafael Nadal from Spain, who is said to have the best touch in player circles.

Thiem will play old master Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus on Tuesday. “He is not an easy opponent and was already number eight in the world. On grass he can make his opponent feel uncomfortable,” said Domi coach Günter Bresnik about Baghdatis, number 84 in the ATP ranking. If Thiem plays tennis as determinedly as Croquet on the second day of the tournament, Baghdatis can dress warmly.

Speaking of Croquet: Andrea Petkovic took part in a photo shooting organized by the highly respectable daily The Times on the fringes of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Together with Grigor Dimitrov, Fabio Fognini and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the woman from Darmstadt posed in stylish clothes – and once again one had to acknowledge without envy: The “Petko” can carry anything! Even long skirts!

Roger Federer: Worshipped and loved everywhere. Apparently also with some female journalists from Asia. The nice lady introduced her “question” at the PK with the “Maestro” as follows: “They become more and more attractive over the years…”. Federer, who appeared in fine twist, grinned and replied: “Now I feel great”. P.S.: The media representative is not wrong in her statement…!

Simona Halep must have felt like in the wrong movie at her All Access Hour, the press conference of the top players before the tournament. The industry leader sat beaming on the podium at the weekend and answered all questions. The English, at least. When the presenter asked to change to Halep’s mother tongue, it turned out that no Romanian journalist was present. The French Open winner, who recently suffered from Achilles tendon problems, took it with humour: “I won Roland Garros. Now they don’t take any more notice of me…”

And again Andy Murray: Because Wimbledon is simply “his” Grand Slam. Sir Andy, tournament champion of 2013 and 2016, was almost punctually seated at the press conference on Saturday, although the final phase of the Round of 16 of the World Cup between France and Argentina (4-2) took place at the same time.

Question Time in the “Main Interview Room” was repeatedly interrupted by loud calls from the nearby press centre. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here not watching this game,” Murray said smiling.