London: Aryna Sabalenka maintained her stranglehold over Belgian Elise Mertens with a hard-fought 6-4 7-6(4) victory on Sunday to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals as she bids for a maiden title at the grasscourt Grand Slam.
The Belarusian top seed came into the match on Centre Court having beaten Mertens 10 times in 12 meetings - the most for her against any player on the WTA Tour - and the one-sided rivalry looked set to continue after she made a strong start.
That impression would change, however, as Sabalenka dropped her level and wasted a 4-1 lead but the three-times major winner recovered quickly and claimed the opening set with a break on the back of a searing backhand crosscourt winner.
Sabalenka followed up with a cheeky volley that clipped the net cord in the opening game of the next set but her former doubles partner responded with solid returning in the next to break and surge ahead.
Her momentum did not last long, though, as Sabalenka drew level after six games and the world number one stepped up again at crucial points in a see-saw tiebreak, which she finished with a forehand volley to book a last-eight meeting with Laura Siegemund.
Seasoned German Laura Siegemund, the oldest woman left in the Wimbledon singles draw, ended the remarkable run of Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory to storm into the quarter-finals on a rain-hit Sunday.
Unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova recovered from being robbed of a crucial point by an automated line-calling malfunction to beat Britain’s Sonay Kartal 7-6(3) 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the second time.
In men’s section, second seed Carlos Alcaraz faced some challenges from 14th seed Andrey Rublev, but managed to reached the last 8 stage by winning 6-7 (5) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
After losing first set in tie-break, Alcaraz managed to break Rublev’s serve once in next three sets to ensure the hard fought victory.
Taylor Fritz advanced to his third Wimbledon quarter-final after Jordan Thompson was forced to retire due to injury during their fourth-round clash on No. 1 Court. The American, seeded fifth, was leading 6-1, 3-0 when the Australian brought the match to an abrupt end.
Fritz, who arrived in London riding the momentum of a record fourth Eastbourne title, had endured a physically demanding path to the last 16. He survived a five-set battle against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round and another marathon against Gabriel Diallo in round two, before defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four sets. Having already logged nine hours and 43 minutes on court, the 26-year-old spent just 40 minutes in his fourth-round encounter.
“It is not the way I want to go through. Jordan has been battling out here. He played a long doubles match yesterday. I have a lot of respect for him for even coming out to play,” said Fritz.
Fritz, currently 12th in the ATP Live Race To Turin, will next face Karen Khachanov as he pushes to break into the Top 10 and secure a return to the Nitto ATP Finals. Khachanov, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2021, eased past Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, striking 44 winners in a dominant display.
Briton Cameron Norrie came through a severe mental and physical examination from big-serving Chilean Nicolas Jarry to beat him 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3 in a classic match under the roof on Court One to reach the quarter-finals.
Norrie, the world 61, a semi-finalist in 2022 and now the last home player left in the tournament, scrambled brilliantly to snatch the first set with what proved to be the only break of the first four.
He took the second on a tiebreak and had match point in the third-set tiebreak, only for towering Chilean world number 143 Jarry to save it and force a fourth set, which he sealed with an ace. Jarry, who came through qualifying, banged down 46 aces to take his tournament-leading tally to 111, but Norrie returned superbly to break early in the decider, save three break points in the next game and close out victory after four and a half hours. Agencies
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