I managed to get Wimbledon tickets via the returns for day 5 of the 2025 Championships. We got lucky with the weather – no rain and not too hot! And it was a great schedule culminating in my longest ever day at Wimbledon. I’m grateful for what we saw although the scheduling at Wimbledon still has its issues – a little rant later on!
Day 5 Matches
Amanda Anisimova d. Dalma Galfi 6-3 5-7 6-3 (R3, Court 3)
Please let me start with this public announcement – Amanda Anisimova’s backhand is an absolute dream! Anisimova’s groundstrokes are gorgeous to watch live. Anisimova is in my top five favourite players so I was pretty invested in this match and chuffed to see her win the match and go onto reach the final.
I thought Galfi played a decent match. She was fast out of the blocks and immediately put Anisimova under pressure. Galfi was knocking on the door for the double break. Anisimova managed to settle and then ran away with the set, winning 15 of the last 19 points. Galfi’s level fell off a cliff. To Galfi’s credit, she steadied herself in the second set. She upped her first serve percentage from 54% to 72% and served exceptionally well. Both players had opportunities on each other’s serves in the second set yet managed to hold on. Anisimova eventually buckled with scoreboard pressure serving at *5-6 – a double fault at 15-15 was telling.
Anisimova was visibly frustrated and you could see the emotions bubbling under the surface – she had to exercise self control not to take it out on the grass. Anisimova let out some ear-piercing screams during the match. At one point, we could hear her say to herself “stop fcuking [this up]. Anisimova said she didn’t play her best tennis in her post-match interview – I thought she was harsh on herself and actually held it together remarkably well after losing the second set. Galfi was not able to maintain the high level that she produced from the second set as her first serve percentage dipped to 45% in the third set which presented more opportunities for Anisimova to strike. Anisimova looked relieved at the end.
There was a nice atmosphere on Court No.3 and it was mostly full for all three sets in the unreserved sections of seating. There was some support for Galfi but the majority was with Anisimova. Funny moment of the match – there were multiple champagne openings and they always seemed to happen just as a player was about to serve! After it happened for a second time, Anisimova voiced her displeasure out aloud (“why would you open it right now”?!) which prompted the umpire to warn the crowd – BBC Sport shared the moment. Corks popping is just a classic Wimbledon sound.
Taylor Fritz d. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-4 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 (R3, Centre Court)
I’d always had a general meh feeling towards Friz. I have warmed to him in recent years and he’s someone I respect which is not something I can say about many ATP players. His recent interview on Caroline Garcia’s podcast was a good listen. I think it might be the first time i’ve watched a Fritz match live and quite frankly I was just relieved that we avoided Zv***v who probably would have been on the schedule if he’d made it that far.
It was a bit of a frustrating watch with so many stoppages – we knew it was going to be a long day! A spectator fell ill and Fritz took over a bottle of water. Fritz needed treatment after he re-cut his arm following a crazy dive (he did EXACTLY the same in his second rounder against Diallo where he also needed treatment – stop bloody diving man!). ADF was on the deck after one point – nothing new! Fritz needed another medical time-out to re-tape his foot. And to top it all off, Fritz blew his lead in the third set and wasn’t able to serve out the match at *5-3 in the third set. I was so pissed at the time!
I didn’t watch the end because because I was bitter about Fritz delaying the schedule by an hour . I was relieved to see him wrap up the fourth set quickly. Fritz was always the better player and served extremely well. ADF had his moments and there were some fun rallies in the second set as he went toe-to-toe with Fritz. Even after winning a set, I never felt like ADF was really in the match.
Carlos Alcaraz d. Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 (R3, Centre Court)
One of the reasons for picking Friday was Alcaraz being guaranteed on the schedule and most likely on Centre. I’d only seen Carlos play live once at Roland Garros and it wasn’t much of a spectacle as it was before he really started to dominate on tour. I wanted the full Carlos experience! To be honest this wasn’t a classic although it did improve after a lacklustre start. Alcaraz managed to win the first set, 6-1, despite being well below par.
Struff was awful at the start and just having a bad day. He improved significantly to win the second set from a break down. Struff’s game is made for the grass – a booming serve that was increasingly potent and a keenness to finish points at the net.
We took a mid-match break to get some food after the pair split sets. It took a while for the crowd to really get involved and the highlight of the match was the end of the fourth set when Alcaraz finally pounced on Struff’s serve in a frenetic five-deuce game. Alcaraz has become the crowd favourite and everyone wanted a shot of him.
Aryna Sabalenka d. Emma Raducanu, 7-6(6) 6-4 (R3, Centre Court)
I was so relieved that Alcaraz wrapped up his match in four sets. Had it gone five sets then I was fearful the final match on the schedule (the one I was waiting for!!!!) would be moved to Court No.1. I’m still reeling from Sabalenka-Raducanu. I think this was the best atmosphere i’ve experienced for a match at Wimbledon and the first set was the most exciting and dramatic set i’ve ever seen live.
The first set had so many twists and turns. The crowd were invested right from the first point as Raducanu made an encouraging start and secured the first break of the match to lead *3-2. It was clear that Sabalenka was rattled at the beginning. Raducanu initially consolidated the break but then lost her way with a rather poor game as her shots started to sail long. She said later in her press conference about having issues with her racquet tension due to the conditions playing under the roof. Raducanu sent for some new racquets. Interestingly, Sabalenka said in her presser about having the same issues but being prepared following an issue during the 2023 French semi-final against Muchova where she wasn’t playing with the right tension. Her team now always carry racquets with higher and lower tension to be prepared for this situation.
Raducanu’s service game at *4-5 was wild! It was a 13-minute game where Raducanu somehow managed to save seven break points. The noise under the roof when Raducanu held was immense. Sabalenka missed so many of those set points with returns into the net or long. Credit to Raducanu for pulling out decent serves. It was bamboozling though to see Sabalenka not able to make Raducanu play and it felt like with each miss, the stress, nerves and scar tissue was building for the world number one. It was absolute pandemonium in the next game at 5-5 as Raducanu hit a couple of wicked passing shot winners to break Sabalenka’s serve – there were multiple standing ovations in this game.
Raducanu was not able to serve out the set as Sabalenka steadied the ship. The first set went to a tiebreak and I was frankly struggling to breathe – my bro said his fitbit watch told him twice that he had had a demanding day and needed to rest . Everyone around us was on the edge of their seats. Raducanu had a set point in the first set tiebreak at *6-5. Sabalenka saved it with an audacious drop shot before finally converting on her eighth set point.
I was so impressed with how Raducanu came out at the start of the second set and maintained the high level from the second set. Sabalenka was pretty poor and it gave me French Open final vibes at how she managed to squeak out a tight first set but then tailed off. I don’t know how Emma did it – I had a huge comedown and energy drop at the start of the second set!
Raducanu was peaking when she hit a gorgeous backhand down-the-line winner leading 4-1 in the second set. She even had a break point for 5-1. There were multiple racquet claps from Sabalenka. Resilient as ever, Sabalenka got out of the 4-1 game and from then on, she played some of her best tennis as she stamped her authority on the match. The ending was rather anticlimatic as Raducanu seemed to fade. To be honest, I was surprised how long Raducanu stayed with Sabalenka because it was such a mentally draining and demanding match.
I wasn’t that impressed with Sabalenka’s level for much of the match as she struggled to string good points together. However, she was clutch in the key moments. Her resilience and ability to bounce back from disappointment is unrivalled on the tour. Raducanu well exceeded my expectations with this performance. Some of her recent losses to Gauff and Swiatek have been one-sided and this was anything but. I really hope she can build on this. I think she’s had a decent year up till now. I hope she plays a fuller schedule during the summer hard court season compared to last year. This is a match that I will never forget and my ears were still ringing the next morning. Sabalenka said it too in her post-match interview.
Practices and outside courts
We didn’t make it to the practice courts on this trip to Wimbledon. The only practice we saw was Sonay Kartal warming up on court 7 with her team. Kartal seemed really chill and was hitting the ball beautifully. I was not surprised at all to see Kartal win later that day over Diane Parry on No.1 Court, 6-4 6-2.
Around the grounds
Entering the grounds was straightforward – we went through Gate 11A and queued for about five to ten minutes. Once our tickets were scanned, the security took barely a few minutes. The grounds seem to get more gorgeous every year and the blue hydrangeas were next level.
We went into Court No.3 at 10:50am so ten minutes before play and had no trouble getting a pair of seats in the unreserved section. We managed to avoid the hectic crowds pre-Centre and No.1 starting as we were on Court No.3 until 1:30pm. The grounds felt as busy as usual.
Our seats on Centre Court were in Gangway 302 and row N. We seemed to be in a debenture section as most people around us had wristbands and were dressed up! I guess the seats we had were sold back to Wimbledon for returns – not sure how it works? They were great seats with an awesome view.
Queues at the bar next to No.1 Court just after 1:30pm were not that bad and we barely waited five minutes for a Pimms. If you’re buying Strawberries then eat them quickly – we didn’t get round to eating them immediately and experienced a few emergencies. Our bags still smell of cream!
FPAs
I’m always on the hunt for FPAs (famous person alert) and compete with the bro to see who can score the most. The Royal Box was particularly celeb-laden and I was impressed that Mary Berry was still there at the end of the Sabalenka-Raducanu match! Around the grounds, Marion Bartoli and Hannah Fry walked past us. The bro said Ben Ainslie was walking behind us as we walked down Wimbledon Hill towards the grounds.
Snap of the day
I liked this shot of Amanda during her post-match interview – I think she was being asked here about her ear-piercing screams!
Rant
There’s always time for a rant… I wish Centre Court would start earlier than 1:30pm. I put it on the feedback form every year but I know nothing will change because it’s all about the esteemed guests getting their fancy lunches. I also don’t agree with a women’s match being played after two best of five men’s matches. They should not have to wait for the men to take all bloody day. I hate best of five . I think Wimbledon probably got what they wanted as Sabalenka-Raducanu ended up in primetime on Friday night. It provided a great atmosphere but it was avoidable to finish so late. I think it was the first time we’ve left Wimbledon in the dark.
Highlights
