
Norrie survives to reach quarter-finals
Sabalenka ruined home favourite Emma Raducanu's dream in the previous round but had the Centre Court crowd cheering her on as she beat Elise Mertens 6-4 7-6(4) in a high-quality duel on Sunday.
Wimbledon's new automated line-calling technology came under fire after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last-16 victory over Britain's Sonay Kartal on Centre Court.
Spaniard Alcaraz came through a ferocious firefight against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 to stay on course for a third successive title.
"Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. He forces you to the limit on each point," Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court.
The 22-year-old second seed extended his current winning streak to 22 matches and will take on Norrie for a place in the semi-finals after the unseeded Briton soaked up 46 aces from towering Chilean Nicolas Jarry to win a feisty Court One battle 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3.
While Alcaraz seeks a Wimbledon hat-trick, Sabalenka is eyeing her first title on the London lawns after missing last year's tournament with injury and the 2022 edition due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and the 27-year-old made a fast start against Mertens.
Sabalenka, who claimed doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open partnering Mertens, was then put through the wringer before raising her level to prevail.
The victory improved her win-loss record against Belgian Mertens to 11-2 and she said the growing adoration of the crowd made a big difference after fans were on the other side of the fence when she met Raducanu on Friday.
"I definitely felt the support. It was so amazing playing and feeling the support. I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me," said Sabalenka, who will face the 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.
"What can be better than that? I really enjoyed it. I hope it can stay the same all the way, and they help me energy-wise to stay strong and to face all of the challenges."
HEAVY SHOWERS
Siegemund, the second-oldest player to start in the women's draw this year, swatted aside plucky Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory in a Court Two match interrupted by the heavy showers that prompted organisers to shut the roofs for the day's play on Centre Court and Court One.
While Sierra was the first lucky loser to reach the last 16 in the professional era, Siegemund created her own slice of history by becoming the oldest woman to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
Explaining her run, Siegemund said it was simple.
"It's like you have an opponent. Either you find good solutions and you execute well, you go forward, or you don't, and you don't go forward. So it's very simple," she said.
Sierra's fellow South American, Jarry, fought back brilliantly against Norrie after saving a match point in the third-set tiebreak but fell short in a needle match.
Jarry seemed irritated at times during the heat of battle and the players exchanged words at the end.
"Cameron played unbelievable. Not unbelievable, played great. He did his job. He plays like that," said qualifier Jarry, whose total ace count reached a tournament-leading 111.
Asked what happened, Norrie said there had been no problem.
"I think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal. Honestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. I guess we both really wanted to win."
Norrie, a 2022 semi-finalist, is the last British hope after the unseeded Kartal's run ended with a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by experienced Russian Pavlyuchenkova.
American fifth seed Taylor Fritz marched on after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting.
Up next for Fritz is a meeting with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov who thumped Poland's Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3.
Fritz is not the only American to reach the quarter-finals, after 13th seed Amanda Anisimova beat Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the day's final action.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Djokovic sets up Sinner showdown
Novak Djokovic's pursuit of yet more career milestones continued unabated as he reached a record 14th Wimbledon semi-final and a showdown with world number one Jannik Sinner. The 38-year-old Serb recovered from a set down to beat Flavio Cobolli 6-7(6) 6-2 7-5 6-4 on Wednesday and is now only two victories away from an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title. Blocking his path next is a rather more formidable Italian in the form of Sinner, who eased any worries about an elbow injury to beat American powerhouse Ben Shelton 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4. In the women's quarter-finals, Poland's claycourt specialist Iga Swiatek broke new ground by reaching her first Wimbledon semi-final, beating Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 7-5. The eighth seed will face Switzerland's unseeded Belinda Bencic who edged out Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva 7-6(3) 7-6(2) to also reach her first semi-final at the grasscourt slam. By reaching a record-extending 52nd Grand Slam semi, Djokovic also kept alive his hopes of equalling Roger Federer's men's record eight Wimbledon singles titles. It remains a tall order even for a player widely regarded as the greatest of all time, especially with top seed Sinner and Spain's holder Carlos Alcaraz, the two new powers in men's tennis, most people's bet to contest the final on July 13. But no one should be writing off Djokovic, who has won 44 of his last 46 matches at the All England Club, and seems to know every single blade of grass on the historic Centre Court. "It means the world to me that at 38 I am able to play in the final stages of Wimbledon," the Serb, who suffered a nasty slip on match point but appeared unscathed, said. "Competing with youngsters makes me feel young, like Cobolli today. I enjoy running and sliding around the court. Speaking of the young guys, I will have Sinner in the next round so I look forward to that. That is going to be a great match-up." SINNER INJURY Sinner may well have been back home in Italy had Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov not damaged his right pectoral muscle and retired with a two-set lead in the fourth round on Monday. The three-times Grand Slam champion also sustained an elbow injury early on in that match and there was some doubt about his physical state ahead of his clash with 10th seed Shelton. But he produced a clinical performance, reeling off seven successive points to win the first-set tiebreak and then pouncing in the 10th game of the next two sets to match his run to the semi-final two years ago when he lost to Djokovic. Sinner, bidding to become the first Italian to win a Wimbledon singles title, wore a protective sleeve on his right arm but was rock solid against the big-serving Shelton. "I had quite good feelings in the warm-up today," Sinner, who dropped only six points on his first serve, said. "I put into my mind that I'm going to play today. So the concerns were not that big if I would play or not. It was just a matter of what my percentage is. Today was very high, so I'm happy." MUM BEATS TEEN Swiatek appears to have finally overcome her grass court demons and the four-times French Open champion could not hide her delight at reaching the semi-final at the sixth attempt. "Honestly, it feels great. I have goosebumps after this win. I am super happy and super proud of myself and I will keep going. I worked really hard to progress here on this surface." Former Olympic champion Bencic became the first Swiss woman to reach the semis since Martina Hingis in 1998 after stunning 18-year-old seventh seed Andreeva on Centre Court. "It's crazy, it's unbelievable. It's a dream come true," the 28-year-old mother said. "I'm just speechless." Bencic will face Swiatek on Thursday after top seed Aryna Sabalenka takes on 13th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova. The first silverware of this year's tournament will also be decided on Thursday when Dutchman Sem Verbeek and Czech Katerina Siniakova face Britain's Joe Salisbury and Brazil's Luisa Stefani in the mixed doubles final on Centre Court.


NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Lions Tour 2025: Ian Foster wants AUSNZ XV side to play in New Zealand in 2029
Former All Blacks coach Ian Foster has thrown his support behind the AUNZ XV initiative and says he'd love to see the team reunite for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 2029. The AUNZ XV team have been brought together for the first time since

RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
UK: Macron meets the King
UK correspondent Hugo Gye talks about the pomp and ceremony of the French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit, where he used a speech to push for a more aggressive distancing of Europe from the US. A new report by the Office for Budget Responsibility finds the outlook dire for British finances, forecasting national debt to grow to 270 percent of GDP by the 2070s if nothing is changed. And Wimbledon is drawing to an end, but not before temperatures are set to hit the 30s again. Hugo Gye is Political Editor of The i Paper