Archive July 2, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and the end of London’s tropical heatwave have ensured that a sense of normality has returned to the lawns of Wimbledon on day three of the tournament after two sweat-soaked days of shocks.

A stream of big names – including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev – have crashed and burned in the oven-like temperatures of the first round.

So when Alcaraz walked onto Centre Court on Wednesday in his quest for a third successive title against British qualifier Oliver Tarvet, the thought surely lurked somewhere in his mind that he could be the fall guy in the tournament’s greatest upset.

The 21-year-old second seed was not at his best, but after saving three break points in a nervy opening service game against a college student ranked 733rd in the world, he asserted his authority to win 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Sabalenka tops Bouzkova

Earlier on Centre Court, the women’s top seed, Sabalenka, battled to a 7-6(4), 6-4 win against Czech Marie Bouzkova.

“Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament in both draws, women’s and men’s,” Sabalenka, who is bidding for her first Wimbledon title, said.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to focus on myself. ”

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the sixth seed, also made it safely into round three, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2 while unseeded four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka eased past Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2.

Lower temperatures did not mean an end to the surprises entirely, though, as American world number 12 Frances Tiafoe became the 14th of the 32 men’s seeds to depart, going down 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 to Cameron Norrie, one of seven British players in second-round singles action on day three.

Sonay Kartal led the home charge by beating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-2, 6-2 to book her place in the last 32 for the second year in succession.

There was disappointment, though, for Britain’s Katie Boulter, who served 14 double faults as she went down 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-1 to 101st-ranked Solana Sierra, the Argentinian who lost in qualifying but has seized her lucky loser spot with both hands.

Alcaraz congratulates Tarvet

Alcaraz, bidding to do the French Open-Wimbledon double for the second successive year, needed five sets to get past Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in the first round and set up an intriguing clash with Tarvet.

Tarvet, who plays on the United States collegiate circuit for the University of San Diego, said he believed he could beat anyone, even Alcaraz, after winning his Grand Slam debut match against fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi of Switzerland on Monday.

He was clearly not overawed at sharing a court with a five-time Grand Slam champion, and had he taken any of the eight break points he earned in the first set, it could have been closer.

Alcaraz proved to be the better player on Wednesday, though, as he moved through the gears when required to keep an eager Tarvet under control.

Just as the Spaniard did in his first round when going to the aid of a female spectator suffering in the heat, Alcaraz again endeared himself to the Centre Court crowd.

“First of all, I have to give a big congratulations to Oliver. It’s his second match on the tour. I just loved his game to be honest, the level he played,” Alcaraz said.

Play on the courts without roofs was delayed for two hours by light morning rain, but once the clouds rolled away, the place to be for those without show-court tickets was Court 12 for Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca’s second-round match against American Jenson Brooksby.

The 18-year-old is widely tipped as a future challenger to Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and he showed exactly why during a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win that was celebrated by a large contingent of exuberant Brazilians.

Raducanu sets up Sabalenka tie

Facing a rival who has already experienced the joys of winning Wimbledon did not faze Emma Raducanu as the Briton rode out the “crazy pressure” heaped on her slender shoulders to defeat Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.

In a battle between two Grand Slam champions, both unseeded after years of trials and tribulations, Czech Vondrousova would have fancied her chances of knocking out Britain’s big hope.

After all, the 2023 champion had arrived at the All England Club fresh from winning the grass-court title in Berlin with victories over Australian Open champion Madison Keys and world number one Sabalenka en route.

However, it was Raducanu whose game sparkled on Centre Court as she produced the kind of carefree, yet potent shots that had carried her to the US Open title in 2021.

“Today I played really, really well. There were some points that I have no idea how I turned around,” a delighted Raducanu told the crowd.

“I knew playing Marketa was going to be an incredibly difficult match. She has won this tournament, which is a huge achievement. I’m really pleased with how I played my game the whole way through. ”

An eye-popping running backhand passing shot winner handed her the break for a 4-2 lead in the first set.

Although a sloppy service game gave Vondrousova the break back in the next game, the British number one wasted little time in regaining the advantage for a 5-3 lead after a forehand error from the Czech.

Moments later, thundering roars from the Centre Court crowd could be heard around the All England Club and beyond as Vondrousova surrendered the set with yet another miscued forehand.

Clearly unsettled, the errors started piling up for Vondrousova, who had previously admitted that she did not envy the “crazy pressure” Raducanu had to deal with day in and day out after becoming the first British woman to win a major in 44 years.

United States President Donald Trump’s big tax and spending bill has faced backlash from both Democrats and fiscal hawks in his own party. But one proposal that has received rare bipartisan support from the start — eliminating taxes on tips.

The Senate bill passed on Tuesday, which mirrors the House bill passed last month, would deliver this campaign promise from Trump and had also been proposed by his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The House plan lets workers deduct all reported tips from their taxable income, while the Senate version sets limits — $18,500 for individuals or $25,000 for joint filers — and phases it out for higher earners. The tax break would expire at the end of 2028.

If this bill passes, filers could deduct some or all of those tips starting in 2026.

Economists forecast that cutting tax on tips could increase the federal deficits by $100bn over the next decade.

Many restaurant workers continue to earn the federal tipped minimum wage, or subminimum wage, of just $2. 13 per hour nationally. It is slightly higher in places like New York at $3. 55 per hour. The law assumes that tips will bridge the gap to reach the $7. 25 federal minimum wage.

A survey cited by the White House and conducted by a fintech firm found that 83 percent of restaurant workers support a no-tax-on-tips policy. Trump’s plan has been endorsed by the National Restaurant Association.

“The inclusion of the No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime provisions recognises the value of our dedicated workforce. More than two million tipped servers and bartenders stand to benefit, while the overtime measure rewards the commitment of over 13 million hourly team members across the sector,” Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, told Al Jazeera in a statement.

The bill at the surface promises to put more money in the pockets of servers, bartenders, and other tipped workers. But it has been criticised by worker-centric advocacy groups and restaurant workers themselves, who caution against embracing it too quickly because it also comes with cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which workers in the restaurant industry disproportionately rely on.

“That is like one of like the biggest fears I have right now. I rely on SNAP myself. I rely on Medicaid. At one point, I didn’t have insurance because of the whole sub-minimum wage, ” Jessica Ordenana, a server at a Chili’s Restaurant in Queens, New York told Al Jazeera.

According to One Fair Wage, about 66 percent of tipped workers in the US don’t earn enough to pay federal income tax, so eliminating tax on tips wouldn’t help the majority of restaurant workers.

To put this in perspective, a worker earning $2. 13 per hour, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, would earn just $4,430. 40 annually. Employers are legally required to make up the difference if tips don’t bring workers to $7. 25/hour, totalling $15,078 per year. Federal income taxes must be paid by those who make more than $14,600 annually. Many workers still fall short due to inconsistent schedules and unreliable tipping.

Work requirements complications

Restaurant tipped workers overwhelmingly rely on services like SNAP and Medicaid, and will now face new work requirements to get them.

For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes a Medicaid work requirement that obligates able-bodied adults aged 19 to 64 to work at least 80 hours per month to remain eligible.

For many restaurant workers, this is simply not feasible. Not because of unwillingness, but because their hours depend on consumer demand.

According to Harvard Kennedy School’s The Shift Project, which studies workplace trends, one in five service sector workers reported having not as many hours as they would like and saw a 34 percent fluctuation in the number of hours week to week.

“I’m actually having a hard time at Chili’s because they went from giving me my full like four or five days a week, to now just one day a week. It really varies week to week,” Ordenana said.

“When I ask for another day on the schedule [the manager] tells me, yeah, yeah sure. And then they don’t even put me on the schedule. So last week, I didn’t work at all,”  Ordenana said.

Demand for eating out has started to slump as Americans tighten purse strings in the face of a slowing economy and uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s tariffs.

Consumer Price Index data showed that spending on eating out was flat for three months from February to April and has started to decline heading into the middle of the year.

Consumer spending is projected to drop by 7 percent over the middle of the year, according to KPMG’s Consumer Pulse report.

As a result, One Fair Wage estimates that 45 percent of restaurant workers currently enrolled in Medicaid could lose their health insurance because of the possible downturn in hours because of slumping demand.

“More tipped restaurant workers would lose their Medicaid than would gain small tax benefits. This is not the right solution,” Saru Jayaraman, founder of the advocacy group One Fair Wage told Al Jazeera.

“Why are these workers on Medicaid to begin with? Because they earn a sub-minimum wage and can’t afford to take care of themselves. ”

SNAP benefits face a similar threat. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, forecasts that the tax bill could lead to as many as 11 million people, including restaurant workers, losing access to critical benefits. The House bill would cut $300bn from SNAP over the next 10 years and the Senate bill would cut $211bn.

“Those cuts have to come out of benefits or eligibility. There is just no way that cuts to administrative costs, to streamline waste, fraud, and abuse, or whatever the talking points are about thinking. Those are benefits to eligible people. To achieve that kind of savings, you have to cut benefits to people. There’s no way around it. And that’s devastating,” Ed Bolen, director of SNAP State Strategies at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Al Jazeera.

Nationwide, 18 percent of restaurant workers rely on SNAP benefits, including Ordenana.