Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame a crisis on Sunday to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals, while world number one Jannik Sinner reached the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
An injured American Madison Keys retired in tears from her round of 16 match against Jasmine Paolini one game from victory, while Donna Vekic overcame three rain interruptions to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
Alcaraz, ranked third in the world, beat 16th seed Hugo Humbert of France 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to reach his ninth Grand Slam quarterfinal in just 14 appearances.
But it was another unpleasant afternoon for the Spaniard, who needed five sets to beat Francis Tiafoe in the third round.
His shaky performance on Sunday saw him drop his serve five times and make an uncharacteristic 33 unforced errors.
The 21-year-old, bidding to become just the sixth player in history to win consecutive French Open and Wimbledon titles, won the first set comfortably on Centre Court before saving four crucial break points in the fifth game of the second set.
Humbert fought back hard, breaking the champion’s game three times in the third set as Alcaraz was spectacularly out of form.
Alcaraz twice failed to hold a break in the fourth set and had to fend off three break points in the eighth game to stay tied at 4-4.
The left-hander then lost his way in the 11th game, conceding a break of serve and Alcaraz made the most of it to quickly level the score.
– “Fight until the last ball” –
“I’m going to fight until the last ball,” said Alcaraz, who is seeking his fourth Grand Slam title.
Alcaraz will face either 12th seed Tommy Paul of the United States or 36-year-old compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut, who reached the semifinals in 2019.
On Court 1, top seed Sinner beat 14th seed Ben Shelton of the United States 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9) to reach the quarterfinals.
Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open, will face fifth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in a rematch of the Melbourne final for a place in the semi-finals.
Sinner’s best performance at Wimbledon came in 2023, when he lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic.
“It was a tough match, especially in the third set. I had to keep saving the set points. These matches can sometimes go long but I’m glad I was able to finish it in three sets,” said the Italian.
Medvedev, who reached the semifinals last year, reached the final after 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov retired in the first set with a knee injury.
“Jannik has beaten me five times but this will be the first time we play on grass,” Medvedev said.
“It’s going to be an interesting match and I’m going to give 100 percent.”
Keys, the 12th seed from the United States, was one game away from reaching the third match of her quarterfinal at the All England Club before being forced to withdraw from her match against Paolini.
After dropping the first set to the seventh-seeded Italian, Keys fought back to tie the match at 3-6, 7-6 (8/6).
The 2017 U.S. Open runner-up was leading 5-2 in the final when he injured his left foot in the eighth game.
She took a medical timeout at 5-4 and returned with a bandage on her left foot, but with severely limited movement and openly weeping on court before retiring at 5-5.
Paolini will face either reigning U.S. Open champion and second seed Coco Gauff or 19th seed Emma Navarro for a spot in the semifinals.
– ‘sad’ –
“I feel so sorry for her, it’s sad,” said Paolini, the French Open runner-up who had never won a grass-court match until two weeks ago.
Three years after her historic US Open victory, Emma Raducanu is bidding to become Britain’s first women’s Wimbledon champion since 1977.
Currently ranked 135th in the world, the British star will face Lulu Saint, the first New Zealand woman to play in the fourth round since 1959.
If she gets through that, she will face world No. 37 Donna Vekic of Croatia, who beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
Vekic and Badosa battled through three rain interruptions on Court No. 2 before the Croatian’s decisive 33-point victory.
“We’ve been here since 8:30 this morning and it’s almost 7 p.m. It’s been a very long day,” Vekic said.
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