WIMBLEDON semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut is one of two Spaniards still standing in the penultimate round, along with world number two Rafa Nadal – but he was supposed to be on his stag break in Ibiza from this Thursday.
“I was expecting to have been knocked out before the semis, so I arranged my stag do for this week,” Bautista, 31, admits.
His mates will be celebrating their absent friend's last days of singlehood on the White Isle, whilst the groom-to-be remains in Surrey awaiting his duel with Serbian star Novak Djokovic, for a place in the final.
“I'd planned to be in Ibiza right now. We had everything organised already. My friends, six of them, are all there.”
But missing his stag party is a small price to pay for the pleasant surprise of finding himself in the semi-finals.
“It feels better to be here in London,” Bautista admitted.
That said, it could be the show may not go on without him after all – Bautista suspects his six friends may fly to the UK on Friday to celebrate with him there, whether he wins or loses.
Although on Wednesday night, he spoke to his friends on live radio, who wished him all the best from Ibiza and begged him to hold a repeat stag party nearer the date of his wedding, in November.
So it could be the 'stagless do' will continue as planned in the Balearic Islands, albeit without the groom.
Joking, one of Bautista's best friends said from Ibiza: “I've dropped everything to be here; I've been waiting for this moment for years and now I'm here all alone – well, I've got good company, it's not a bad crowd I've got with me, but not even my worst enemy would have done this to me!”
Before they ended the call on COPE radio's El Partidazo show, the stag crowd chorused, “Ramming on until the end,” and “long live the groom.”
This is the first time Bautista has made it this far at Wimbledon, where he missed out playing altogether last year.
But he said he was 'really, really motivated' to compete at the All England court in summer 2019 and 'wanted to play a good tournament'.
“Well, everything worked well,” Bautista said, unnecessarily.
The best he has done so far at the UK's huge Grand Slam championship has been getting into the fourth round, in 2017 and 2015.
After beating Guido Pella on Wednesday, Bautista – who will marry his long-term fiancée Ana Bodi Tortosa in the autumn – will play world number one Djokovic on Friday, whilst his compatriot Rafa Nadal plays Switzerland's Roger Federer, world number three.
Winners of these two matches will face each other in the grand final.
The three players remaining alongside Bautista in the tournament are literally the best on earth, being the top three in the ATP rankings.
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