Carlos Alcaraz still has his magic.

And if he maintains it for the next week, he probably will win a second straight Wimbledon title.

Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are certainly capable of bringing home the big trophy next week, of course, along with the great Novak Djokovic. But can any one of this foursome handle the magical shots that come off of the Alcaraz racket?

THE CROWD CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF ALCARAZ

Alcaraz looks for real with his magical play. One day, the Magic Man could be challenging Djokovic’s Grand Slam records.

The crowds can’t get enough of the Alcaraz smiles. His opponents never seem to get upset by those moments.

Who could get mad about his smiling celebrations? He’s not bragging. He’s just celebrating with the crowd.

WHAT ABOUT EMMA?

And what about Charleston’s Emma Navarro on the women’s side? She dominated a four-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, in Wimbledon’s second round, then defeated Bad Homburg champion Diana Shnaider to earn a spot in Wimbledon’s round of 16.

If Navarro can take out Coco Gauff in their round of 16 match, Navarro looks capable of winning a major title this early in her career. Just name the surface. Grass, clay or hard courts, Navarro is at home. Just like Alcaraz.

Navarro grew up on her father’s clay courts in Mount Pleasant, S.C., but won a collegiate national singles championship on hard courts.

Don’t rule out Wimbledon’s grass. I was there in 2019 at Junior Wimbledon when Navarro played so spectacular in advancing all the way to the semifinals. She handled the grass on the outside courts like a pro.

A PICTURE OF CONSISTENCY

Navarro’s game is a picture of consistency. The 23-year-old is one of the most consistent players in the women’s game. She plays an almost error-free game, complemented by her movement and athletic play.

And she’s certainly not a pusher. She’s an aggressive, intelligent player.

She looks capable of going all the way in this Grand Slam tournament. She just has to deal with Gauff’s power.

If that’s successful for Navarro, Gauff will commit enough mistakes and unforced errors to allow Emma to have a shot at an upset.

With Iga Swiatek eliminated by unpredictable Yulia Putinseva in the round of 16, and Aryna Sabalenka having to pull out of Wimbledon and Jessica Pegula losing early, the door is wide open for a player as talented as Navarro.

—

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award  for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray at Wimbledon due to a wrist issue. 

The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Raducanu won her third round match in straight sets over Maria Sakkari in what was only her second win over a player currently ranked in the top 10 on grass. It is understood that the reason for her deciding not to play was ‘soreness’ in her wrist and as it currently stands she will still be playing her singles match on Sunday. 

“Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist this morning, so therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight,” Raducanu said.
“I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.”

Raducanu has previously experienced issues with her wrists before. In 2023 she underwent surgery to remove growths of bone – called carpal bosses – from her hands that were causing constant wrist pain during practice. At the time she also had ankle surgery and missed the second half of the season. 

The implications of the withdrawal means Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career has come to an end. The two-time champion has stated that this year will be his last appearance at The All England Club as a professional player before retirement. On Thursday evening he lost his opening match in the men’s doubles tournament alongside his brother Jamie. After that match, a special presentation was conducted to mark his career. 

“I would love to keep playing, but I can’t physically. It is too tough now. All of the injuries, they’ve added up. … They haven’t been insignificant. But yeah, I want to play forever,” Murray told the BBC.

“I love the sport. It’s given me so much, taught me loads of lessons over the years that I can use for the rest of my life. But yeah, I don’t want to stop, so it is hard.”

According to journalist James Gray, Murray doesn’t have the chance to re-pair with another player in the tournament as it is against official rules.

Replacing the British du in the draw will be Katie Volynets and Rajeev Ram.

Alex de Minaur has sealed his place in the last 16 at Wimbledon for the second time in his career in unfortunate circumstances. 

The world No.9 was set to take to the court on Saturday to play qualifier and former top 10 player Lucas Pouille. However, the Frenchman has been forced to pull out of the tournament due to an abdominal injury. Making it the first time in this year’s tournament that a singles player has won a match without playing a point as the result of a walkover. 

Fears about Pouille’s fitness started earlier in the week when he received medical treatment during his second round meeting against Thanasi Kokkinakis, who coincidentally retired from the third set of that encounter after slipping and injuring his knee. 

“I called the physiotherapist, he put two tapes on me. I told him to put on the thing that holds the most,” Pouille said after his match against Kokkinakis on Thursday. 
“I don’t know what I have, we’re going to do the exams and treatments to give ourselves a chance to be as good as possible and, above all, on the court on Saturday.” 

Sadly for Pouille, he wasn’t able to get fit enough in time for today’s match. 

Meanwhile, de Minaur has become the third active male player from Australia to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon on multiple occasions after Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic. Coming into this year’s draw he has experienced mixed results on the grass after winning his ninth ATP title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch before losing in the first round at Queen’s. 

“What’s driving me this Wimbledon is that I need to put up a decent performance here on the grass because I don’t want to be classified as a clay court specialist,” joked de Minaur who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open earlier this year.
“So I’m pushing hard. I’m trying to keep on going. Hopefully I can have a better result.”

The ninth seed will next play either Arthur Fils or Roman Safiullin.