History made twice at the All England Club

History came to the All England Club not once but twice on Day Four of the 2010 Championships. The Queen, as Patron of the Club, made her first visit since Ladies' Final Day in 1977, when she presented the Venus Rosewater Dish to the champion Virginia Wade. On this occasion it was a little too early in the tournament for any champions to be crowned, but the excitement her visit generated was a unique additional thrill for a generation or two of tennis fans.

25 June 2010, 12:00am

2 min read

Her Majesty watched just one match from the Royal Box on the Centre Court, with her subject Andy Murray and the Finn Jarkko Niemenen given the honour of playing before her. Murray made short work of the task, to the approval of the home crowd. If the Queen's schedule had allowed her to stay, she might have witnessed Rafael Nadal come through in five sets against the Dutchman Robin Haase. But of course that would have made an exceptionally long day for the Queen - although nobody anywhere on Planet Tennis can claim to have had quite such a long few days as John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.

This heroic duo finally finished their extraordinary record-breaking marathon just over an hour after resuming for the third day. The impact of defeat on Mahut was visible, and he did not feel able to face a press conference for the remainder of Thursday. Isner, buoyed by victory, was for his part splendid value. It is impossible to overstate how stunning is the chapter these two men have written these week in the history of their sport.

Elsewhere in the tournament the chief shock of the day was the defeat of 2009 Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the number 19 seed here, to Australia's Anastasia Rodionova. Daniela Hantuchova also fell, to Barbara Zahlavova-Strycova. All the other women's seeds came through safely. Caroline Wozniacki crowned a day on which she was presented to the Queen by beating Kai-Chen Chang in straightforward fashion. Maria Sharapova's victory over Ioana Raluca Olaru was slightly prolonged in the second set but did not get as far as a third. Serena Williams rounded matters off late in the day with a comprehensive demolition of Anna Chakvetadze.

On the men's side Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a five-set adventure against Alexandr Dolgopolov, taking it 10-8 in the decider. Sam Querrey and David Ferrer both came through in four sets. Robin Soderling's progress was untroubled, while Gilles Simon had it easiest of all with a walkover.

Finally, those who stayed late at Wimbledon witnessed the sight of Nicolas Mahut out on - where else? - Court 18, embarking on a doubles match. Give the man a rest.