Thompson defies injury for Wimbledon breakthrough

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Thompson defies injury for Wimbledon breakthrough

With Hewitt in his corner, Thompson battles through back injury to reach R4

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Jordan Thompson has played 14 sets to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time. By Jerome Coombe

Battered but unbroken, Jordan Thompson won’t soon forget the way he cracked the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

After retiring from his Queen’s Club opener last week due to a back injury, the 31-year-old Australian arrived at the All England Club with tempered expectations, unsure how far his body would carry him. Yet through sheer grit and determination, he has clawed his way through 14 punishing sets, defying both injury and odds to stand among the last 16.

“I think anyone that knows me knows that, if we’re playing a game of marbles or cards or whatever, I’m competitive,” Thompson told reporters after his third-round victory. “I want to win no matter what. That certainly helps. I’m not anywhere near 100 per cent and I’m still fighting my ass off for every point.”

With the help of a thick back brace and the support of Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, the World No. 44 Thompson has been patching himself together and playing through the pain this week.

Jordan Thompson celebrates reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time. Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

Yet Thompson’s run has been far from straightforward, which adds a layer of intrigue into his story. He rallied from two sets down to a memorable first-round win against Vit Kopriva and then also survived Benjamin Bonzi in five before fending off Luciano Darderi in four to equal his best result at a Grand Slam tournament.

Hewitt — known to many as ‘Rusty’ — remains the last Australian man to lift the Wimbledon singles trophy, and his experience has been invaluable alongside Thompson’s primary coach, Marinko Matosevic. Earlier this week, Thompson conceded that post-Wimbledon, he’ll “probably be on the sidelines”, a looming reality that’s only fueling his current charge at SW19.

“I’m grateful that Rusty’s there, because he’s done everything in tennis,” Thompson said of Hewitt, the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “He knows how I’m feeling, so sometimes he’s talking more than my coach, but I look at both of them. I’m with Marinko everyday but Rusty has been in this position so many times, so he knows how it feels.

“If I can’t get to a ball I would normally get to, I’ll just look over and go ‘This is shit’, it’s frustrating and it makes it very unenjoyable.”

However hard it may be, Thompson is wearing his heart on his sleeve and, while he’s never gone this far at Wimbledon before, his grass-court pedigree is established. He twice reached the final at the ATP 250 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, finishing runner-up in 2019 and 2023.

“Results have shown that grass is probably my best surface, and it hasn’t shown at Wimbledon so that’s pleasing to get my best result here,” said Thompson. “To do it under the circumstances at the moment is incredible.”

The war isn’t over yet, however, and Thompson will on Sunday face his biggest test so far: A fourth-round clash with World No. 5 Taylor Fritz, who arrives on a seven-matching winning streak after claiming his record-extending fourth Eastbourne crown.

Fritz, the only active player besides Novak Djokovic with five or more tour-level grass titles, thrives on the surface. But Thompson does not have to look far for confidence — he defeated Fritz at Queen’s Club last year, levelling their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.

“I’m not going on the court if I don’t think I can win, that’s a pathetic outlook if I go out there thinking I can’t win,” said Thompson. “I won last time and it was on grass, but it was very different grass, different circumstances. Serve and return [will be] the two biggest compartments of the game, and then if it does come back I’ve got to make him feel uncomfortable.”

With Hewitt in his corner and his warrior spirit on full display, Thompson’s Wimbledon fight is far from finished.

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