Alcaraz tested, Sabalenka transformed: What to watch on Wimbledon Day 7
World number one 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:
Win or lose 'in the right way' for Rublev
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 number 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.'
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka plays a forehand return to Britain's Emma Raducanu during their women's singles third round match on the fifth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon July 4, 2025. — AFP pic
Pressure-proof Sabalenka a 'new person'
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.'
Britain's Sonay Kartal plays a backhand return to France's Diane Parry during their women's singles third round match on the fifth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon July 4, 2025. — AFP pic
Kartal enjoying the spotlight
After the exits of Raducanu and world number four 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
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Swiatek ends Tauson's run to fly into Wimbledon quarter-finals
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 7, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek in action during her round of 16 match against Denmark's Clara Tauson REUTERS/Isabel Infantes LONDON (Reuters) -A deluge of double faults dictated early terms before Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a soaring 6-4 6-1 victory over an out-of-sorts Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson on Monday. The cold and blustery wind swirling around Court One was clearly not to Swiatek's liking as she opened her account with two double faults en route to dropping her serve to love. While the former world number one immediately got the break back, her serve kept misfiring as she produced two successive double faults to drop her serve again in the third game. But from then on the Polish eighth seed barely put a foot wrong in a match that was over in 65 brutal minutes. "The beginning was pretty shaky with the double faults but I managed to play solid. I'm not sure if Clara was feeling that well, she said she didn't sleep well and I hope she has a good recovery," Swiatek told the crowd. "It's never easy to keep your focus. Sometimes when you're not feeling well you let go of everything and it can give you a boost. I hope she's going to be fine. "It's pretty amazing, this is the first time I've ever enjoyed London. Sorry guys... I mean I've always enjoyed it. I feel good on the court when I feel good off the court." Swiatek had been prepared to face a barrage of aces from Tauson, who came into the match having served the most aces in this year's women's tournament. Her tally of 27 aces meant she was averaging an impressive nine per match during her run to the fourth round, which included a win over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina two days ago. However, instead of adding to her count, Tauson surrendered the first set with a double fault and from then on her game fell apart as Swiatek won eight of the last nine games to reach the last eight for the second time in three years. Swiatek will face Russia's Liudmila Samsonova for a place in the semi-finals. (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Clare Fallon)
New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Djokovic stays on track for Wimbledon glory under Federer gaze
LONDON: Novak Djokovic said it was "good to break the curse" in front of Roger Federer after recovering from a set down to beat Alex de Minaur and reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday. Djokovic was lethargic and unusually tentative in the early stages of his last-16 match against the Australian 11th seed on Centre Court, but eventually found his rhythm to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. It keeps the seven-time champion on track for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, which would be the crowning achievement of an astonishing career. If he wins the crown on Sunday, the 38-year-old Serb would also draw level with Federer's record of eight men's titles at the All England Club. Retired Swiss great Federer watched from the royal box as his long-time rival was given his toughest test of the tournament so far. "It's probably the first time he's watching me and I've won the match," said Djokovic. "The last couple I lost, so good to break the curse. "No, it's great, obviously, great to have Roger, a huge champion and someone that I admired and respected a lot. "We shared the stage for so many years, and it's great to have him back." Sixth seed Djokovic was broken in the first game and conceded two more breaks as De Minaur ran away with the first set. The Serb committed 16 unforced errors, including four double faults in the opener. Djokovic broke immediately at the start of the second set but then became bogged down in a game lasting nearly 19 minutes, which De Minaur won on his sixth break point. Both players struggled to hold onto their serve in an attritional battle but Djokovic, pleading for support from the crowd, held his nerve to level the match, letting out a roar as De Minaur went long. The third set went with serve until the ninth game, when De Minaur skewed a forehand wide to concede the crucial break. De Minaur found new inspiration in the fourth set, surging into a 4-1 lead but crumbled at the pivotal moment as Djokovic fought back, reeling off five games in a row to seal the win in three hours and 18 minutes. "I'm still trying to process the whole match and what happened on the court," he said. "It wasn't a great start for me, it was a great start for him obviously. "I was just very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one." Djokovic's tally of 16 Wimbledon quarter-finals is second only to Federer's total of 18 in men's tennis. He will play Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli in the last eight, with a potential semi-final looming against world number one Jannik Sinner.
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-England itching to get back on pitch at Euro 2025, Stanway says
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - England v Portugal - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 30, 2025 England's Georgia Stanway celebrates after the match REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo ZURICH (Reuters) -England midfielder Georgia Stanway said the time for talking was over and their game against the Netherlands on Wednesday could not come soon enough for the defending European champions. England face the Dutch in a must-win game at the Women's Euros after their shock 2-1 loss to France on Saturday, and the 26-year-old said she and her teammates were itching to get back on the pitch to put things right. "We want to stop talking. Hence why I didn't want to do the press conference today, because I'm fed up with talking now, it's time that we focus and we want to put things on the grass," Stanway said at a press conference at England's base camp on Monday. "We want to make sure that we put things right on the pitch, we want to create action from what happened on Saturday, and the only way to do that is in the game on Wednesday. And yeah, I think we're all just dying for the game to come around as fast as possible." If England lose on Wednesday, their only chance of reaching the knockout round is if France lose to Wales. One thing they have taken from all the talking since Saturday is that they need to get back to being "proper England". "We want to go back to what we're good at, traditional style of football in terms of total tackles, getting back down to the roots and remembering why we're here, remembering playing for the little girl that wanted to be here," Stanway said. England's midfield was one of their weaknesses against France, and the Bayern Munich midfielder was particularly disappointed with her own performance on Saturday. A friend put it in perspective. "I had a message from somebody, and it was: 'It's just like a bad night out, and you want to forget it as much as possible,'" she said, to laughter from journalists. Stanway had knee surgery in January and there were questions about whether she would be fit for the Euros, but she sees the enforced break from playing as a blessing in disguise. "It was the first time I'd missed games for 10 years, it's my first injury in 10 years," she said. "I've done many rehab sessions, many sessions to get fitter, faster, stronger. "That's the time when you're able to work on things in the gym that you haven't had time to work on before. I've got test results now that I've not seen in the last two years, because they've never been that good before." Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Lauren James also recently returned to the squad after lengthy injury layoffs. (Reporting by Lori Ewing in Zurich; editing by Clare Fallon)
