Sabalenka reaches 11th straight major quarterfinal at Wimbledon
Sabalenka fell behind briefly 3-1 in the second set after a Mertens break, but quickly returned the break to pull back to even on the grass court in London.
Much of the match was vintage Sabalenka. She picked up points on 84 percent of her first serves compared to 67 percent for Mertens. And while both players had 18 unforced errors, Sabalenka tallied 36 winners — double the amount of her friend Mertens.
"I'm super happy with the performance. It was a battle. She always brings great tennis on court and I'm happy I was able to get this win," Sabalenka said of Mertens.
"I mean, it's tough to play against someone you're quite close to, and she's a great player, a great person. It's tricky facing her. I know how smart she is. I know that she's going to fight till the very end and she'll be trying to find something. She really challenged me today so it's tough."
Sabalenka, the world No. 1 from Belarus, has not dropped a set this tournament. She is 3-for-3 in tiebreakers thus far and has qualified for her 11th consecutive quarterfinal in a Grand Slam.
In that quarterfinal, to be played Tuesday, Sabalenka will meet Laura Siegemund of Germany, who advanced after defeating lucky loser Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-3, 6-2. At 37, she is the oldest player remaining in the women's draw and had never advanced beyond the second round in London.
She has played in one prior Grand Slam quarterfinal — the 2020 French Open.
Also advancing was Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who advanced to her second Wimbledon semifinal by defeating home favorite Sonny Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4.
For a time, the match was shrouded in controversy when, while serving at 4-4 in the opening set, the electronic line caller did not activate on a point that clearly belonged to Pavlyuchenkova. Despite her protest, the point was ordered to be played over, and Kartal went on to win the game.
The Russian fell behind 5-4 but came back to break Kartal's serve and send the match to a tiebreaker.
The 34-year-old was able to shake it off and was thrilled to advance. In her only other experience in the quarterfinals, she lost 6-4, 6-4 to Serena Williams in 2016.
"I always thought I was not good enough on grass so this is incredible for me," Pavlyuchenkova said. "Especially with me getting older, I am so impressed and proud for competing with the younger girls.
"My mental toughness is getting better," she continued. "I am learning to fight point by point."
In the next round, Pavlyuchenkova will meet No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova, who was a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 winner in the final match of the day against Czech 30th seed Linda Noskova.
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