Follow The Athletic’s Wimbledon coverageWelcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.On Day 4, one of tennis’ more familiar rules took hold, American hopes were set for the July 4 weekend and the upsets of last year gave way to chalk.Why is tennis so prone to comedowns?Perhaps it should be known as the law of beating Rafael Nadal.Between 2012 and 2017, Nadal suffered seven shock defeats at Grand Slams before the quarterfinals. On not one of those occasions did the person who beat him go on to win another match at that tournament.It’s a tale as old as time. In tennis, players have no chance to celebrate after a huge win, unless it comes in a Grand Slam final. Instead, they are asked to go back on court a day or two later and try to back it up.On Thursday at Wimbledon, a couple of players were unable to do so, succumbing to Nadal’s Law.Three storylines to watch at WimbledonMatt FuttermanFirst there was Maya Joint, who found herself thrust into the limelight Tuesday night against the returning Serena Williams. Joint, a 20-year-old from Australia, won a blockbuster match under the Centre Court lights in what was far and away the biggest occasion of her career. On Thursday afternoon, she was tasked with going again and backing it up against the fast-rising No. 29 seed from the Philippines, Alexandra Eala. For a set, Joint looked like claiming another impressive win, but she suffered a big letdown thereafter, ultimately collapsing to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 defeat.Otto Virtanen also recorded the biggest win of his career on Tuesday, beating the No. 4 seed Ben Shelton in a fifth-set tiebreak. Virtanen, a 25-year-old from Finland ranked No. 140, has struggled to close out matches, so this felt like a breakthrough victory.His next assignment appeared far more straightforward — up against Britain’s Arthur Fery, a man ranked more than 100 places below Shelton and with only one Grand Slam match win to his name before this week.But Virtanen, perhaps also feeling the effects of three qualifying matches in his legs, slumped to a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-3 defeat.He and Joint weren’t the first to suffer a tennis comedown, and they certainly won’t be the last. — Charlie EccleshareHow has Wimbledon aligned for July 4?Happy July 4 weekend to all who celebrate.Wimbledon has gifted Americans a veritable buffet of U.S. tennis to watch as the long weekend begins, with eight American women left in the draw heading into Friday and seven American men.Among the women, the group representing the stars and stripes are tightly bunched in No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina’s half of the bracket, with No. 7 Coco Gauff slated on Friday to take on qualifier Claire Liu, a fellow American and the 2017 Wimbledon girls’ champion, and No. 6 Amanda Anisimova and No. 26 Madison Keys set to play Saturday in a match of two classic grass-court style players with huge serves and groundstrokes.Anisimova, who walloped three aces and hit four unreturned serves to get out of a third-set tiebreak and beat Sofia Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(10-3) in a tight match Thursday, always looks forward to facing opponents with a similar game style to hers. Maybe because the matchups feel straightforward — “when I’m playing someone scrappy, I adjust my game,” she said in a news conference — or maybe she feels personally challenged to dole out more aggression and more power than whoever’s standing across the net.