Alcaraz faces reformed Rublev as Sabalenka eyes Wimbledon glory
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the big favourite for the women's title ahead of her meeting against Elise Mertens, while British hopes now lie in the hands of Sonay Kartal and Cameron Norrie.
AFP Sport looks at the matches to watch on day seven of the tournament at the All England Club:
---------------------------------------------
Alcaraz has yet to hit top gear in south-west London after dropping three sets in his three matches en route to round four.
Yet, Rublev is aware he has to be at the top of his game to cause an almighty upset and break his curse of never progressing beyond a Grand Slam quarter-final.
The world No. 14 has reached the last eight on 10 occasions without ever making it to a semi-final.
"You cannot show any weaknesses," said Rublev on the challenge of facing Alcaraz.
Rublev has already enjoyed a much happier time at Wimbledon than 12 months ago when he repeatedly smashed his racquet over his own leg during a shock first-round exit.
But he has credited the influence of two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin, himself a notorious hothead in his prime, for bringing some calm to his game.
"There are two options," he added. "Try to go deeper. Or if I lose, to lose it in a mature, adult way.
"That would be success as well, to lose it in the right way."
---------------------------------------------
Sabalenka is the only woman left standing of the top six seeds, and is keen to make up for lost time at the All England Club.
The three-time Grand Slam champion missed last year's Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury and was excluded in 2022 as part of a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Sabalenka overcame a stern test of her tennis and temperament to end British favourite Emma Raducanu's run in the third round in arguably the match of the tournament so far.
After losing control of her emotions in defeat to Coco Gauff in the French Open final last month, the Belarusian said she feels like a "different person."
She added: "Whatever happens on the court, you just have to be respectful, you have to be calm, and you just have to keep trying and keep fighting.
"I was just reminding myself that I'm strong enough, and I can handle this pressure."
---------------------------------------------
After the exits of Raducanu and world No. 4 Jack Draper, Kartal and Norrie are tasked with maintaining British interest.
South Africa-born Norrie, a Wimbledon semi-finalist three years ago, will fancy his chances of progressing against Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry.
Kartal, meanwhile, is enjoying the spotlight after reaching her first ever Grand Slam fourth round, where she will face Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
"I enjoy it. I think it's an honour. Obviously you've got a lot of attention on you, it means you're doing good things," said the 23-year-old.
"I feel like I'm going to go out on the court in the next round kind of with nothing to lose at the minute. I'm going to go swinging," she added. - AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
'Stole the game': Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions
Umpire Nico Helwerth checks on a line call as Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova plays Sonay Kartal of Britain during a fourth round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. — AP LONDON: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was "stolen" from her after Wimbledon's electronic line-calling system failed at a key moment in her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal on July 6. The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat the British player 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre Court. But the glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by other players about the technology. A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, ending nearly 150 years of history. On Sunday, a tight first set between Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal was marred by a computer failure that could have proved pivotal. At 4-4, Pavlyuchenkova, who had saved two break points in the game, held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline but no call came. Chair umpire Nico Helwerth shouted "stop, stop" to halt play. Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: "We're just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call." After a telephone call, he said the electronic system "was unfortunately unable to track the last point so we will replay the point". Kartal went on to break for a 5-4 lead. Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "They stole the game from me, they stole it." Bu the Russian world number 50 broke back and won the tie-break to take a firm grip on the match, breaking twice in the second set to progress to the quarter-finals. The All England Club released a short statement on the incident. "Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question," said an spokesman. "The chair umpire followed the established process." Automated line-calling technology has become standard across tennis, with all events on the men's ATP Tour and many WTA tournaments using it. The Australian Open and the US Open are fully automated but the French Open remains an outlier, sticking to human line judges. Britain's Emma Raducanu said she was unhappy about one call in particular during her defeat by Aryna Sabalenka on Friday. Jack Draper, the men's fourth seed, queried the accuracy of the system after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic. Wimbledon chiefs have said they are confident in the technology. "Live electronic line-calling technology is now widely used week in and week out on tour," a spokesman said on Saturday. "The technology goes through a rigorous certification process and meets the (agreed) standards... so we can provide maximum accuracy in our officiating." Pavlyuchenkova will play Linda Noskova or Amanda Anisimova in the last eight. The 34-year-old was diagnosed with Lyme disease in February and has spent several months struggling to recover her form. – AFP
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Under-strength Brumbies eye 'big opportunity' against Lions
CANBERRA: Coach Stephen Larkham said Monday the ACT Brumbies have a "big opportunity" against the British and Irish Lions, but admitted they face a tough task with a team stripped of key Wallabies. The Brumbies are the strongest of Australia's four Super Rugby sides and will take heart from the Lions' struggles to grind past an under-strength NSW Waratahs 21-10 at the weekend. They were also the only provincial team to beat the tourists when last in Australia in 2013, stunning Warren Gatland's men 14-12. But they will take on the might of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales in Canberra on Wednesday without their top players. Eight Brumbies were in the Australia matchday squad that needed a late-gasp try to beat Fiji 21-18 on Sunday, and seven of them will not feature. They include veteran forwards James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa, along with first-choice Wallabies backs Noah Lolesio, Len Ikitau and Tom Wright. Only lock Tom Hooper, who came off the bench, will play. "The boys have been back in training for a couple of weeks and they are aware of how big an opportunity this is for them to take on the Lions," said Larkham. "We're under no illusions of the challenge that lies ahead, they are an incredibly strong and powerful side." Hooper's brother Lachie was also included in the Brumbies squad, with the pair set to play together for the first time in a professional capacity. Prop Lington Ieli, flanker Rory Scott, scrum-half Ryan Lonergan, centre David Feliuai and wing Corey Toole all start after recently being involved in the Wallabies training camp. Lock Cadeyrn Neville will face the Lions for the second time, having played for the Melbourne Rebels during the 2013 tour. ACT Brumbies (15-1): Andy Muirhead; Ben O'Donnell, Ollie Sapsford, David Feliuai, Corey Toole; Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan (capt); Tuaina Taii Tualima, Rory Scott, Tom Hooper; Cadeyrn Neville, Lachie Shaw; Rhys van Nek, Lachlan Lonergan, Lington Ieli
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Rugby-Sleepless nights ahead for Schmidt as first Lions test looms
Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - England v Australia - Allianz Stadium Twickenham, London, Britain - November 9, 2024 Australia head coach Joe Schmidt before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers SYDNEY (Reuters) -Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt woke up on Monday morning to reviews of his team's last-gasp win over Fiji that ranged from lukewarm to savage and the knowledge that the first test against the British and Irish Lions was only 12 sleeps away. Despite dominating all but the last minute of the first half, Australia trailed the Pacific islanders by four points going into the final couple of minutes before skipper Harry Wilson wrestled his way over the line to snatch a 21-18 win. Schmidt accepted it was not a display that would have the Lions camp quaking in their boots and conceded he had a "myriad" of things to keep him awake at night over the next two weeks. "We haven't been together for six months, and to have five trainings and to be seamless would be an expectation that I hoped for, rather than believed would immediately happen," the New Zealander told reporters in Newcastle. "So now we have another short runway to try to improve from where we were today." Injuries are always high on the list of concerns for coaches and particularly for Schmidt given the paucity of experienced players in key positions he was bequeathed when he took over a year ago. Noah Lolesio, the flyhalf Schmidt has started in 13 of the 15 tests in his time in charge, left the field on a stretcher and was taken to hospital after suffering whiplash when he slammed his head on the turf in a tackle. Schmidt did not rule out calling up an experienced playmaker when he names his squad for the Lions series even if he felt 17-cap replacement flyhalf Ben Donaldson had done a decent job. "If you have a look what Ben Donaldson did, I'm not sure that he didn't do exactly what was needed to do," he said. "He put us into the corner. He did what was needed to make sure that we were in the game at the end and got the game done." EXTRA MUSCLE Australia blew two strong attacking positions against Fiji when they were pinged for inaccurate lineout throws, so a concussion suffered by hooker Dave Porecki will be another worry for Schmidt. A bigger overall concern will, perhaps, be how the Fijians took control of the match in the second half once they got their big, backline ball-runners firing. But for the inaccuracy of some of the Fijian play and the idiosyncrasy of some of the officiating, the visitors could easily have been out of sight by the time Wilson touched down. The absence through injury of hulking lock Will Skelton and standout loose forward Rob Valetini did not help and Schmidt will be hoping to have them both fit to face the Lions in Brisbane on July 19. Fiji's Australian coach Mick Byrne thought that with a bit of extra muscle up front the Wallabies could compete with the Lions. "I think there's a couple of key players missing today," he said. "The Lions are going to be an attritional team. I think if they can hang in there, in those attritional parts of the game, their outside players can be pretty exciting." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
