WIMBLEDON COURT REPORT: Taylor Fritz finally enjoys an easy day's work as the Royal Box gets a golden glow
It was a day that saw reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz and Great Britain's last hope Cam Norrie win to set up a quarter-final showdown on Tuesday.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka also beat Elise Mertens in straight sets to book her place in the last-16.
Mail Sport's JAMES SHARPE was on hand to recap some of the things you may have missed.
Fritz finally gets an easy days work
Taylor Fritz finally got the chance to put his feet up. After coming through two five-setters and a four-setter in the first three rounds, the American fifth seed reached the quarter-finals when Australian Jordan Thompson retired at 6-1, 3-0 due to back pain. No player has won more
Tour-level matches on grass since 2020 than Fritz's 35. 'From the first time I played on grass in the juniors, I was excited,' he said. 'I felt it would be good for my game.' He was right.
Now Sabalenka has the crowd on side
Emma Raducanu's conqueror Aryna Sabalenka continued her march with a straight-sets win over Elise Mertens — and has picked up some new fans on the way. The world No 1 was the Centre Court villain two days ago, but was roared on by the same crowd on Sunday.
'I didn't have to pretend they were cheering for me this time,' said Sabalenka, who now faces Laura Siegemund, the oldest player to reach their maiden Wimbledon quarter-final at 37.
Ben can bank on his lucky charm
When American Ben Shelton made it through to the fourth round, he made an on-court plea to his sister Emma's employers Morgan Stanley to give his 'lucky charm' extra time off to keep supporting him.
Hours later, Emma posted a video on Instagram to confirm she'd been given just that. Who'd have thought it — investment bankers do have a heart.
A golden glow to the royal box
It was another golden day on Centre Court as more Olympic and Paralympic champions packed the Royal Box.
The guests on Saturday boasted 83 gold medals between them and another 54 were on show on Sunday, including the British 4x200m freestyle swimmers Tom Dean, James Guy, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards.
Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara was also in attendance — how England could have done with some of his batting as they slumped to defeat at Edgbaston.
Mimi shows brawn as well as brains
British teenager Mimi Xu, beaten by Raducanu in the first round, got her juniors campaign under way as she fought from a set down to beat American Thea Frodin.
The 17-year-old brainbox, who completed her maths A-level two years early, was 5-3 down in the decider, but dug deep to triumph. 'This (Wimbledon) is a special place to be,' said Xu.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Wimbledon briefing: Day seven recap, Monday order of play and technology woe
British singles hopes at Wimbledon rest on Cameron Norrie after his gruelling five-set win followed Sonay Kartal's defeat on Sunday. Kartal's loss to Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova included an embarrassing malfunction of Wimbledon's new electronic line-calling system on Centre Court. The singles quarter-final line-up will be completed on Monday, with Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek all on the schedule. Here, the PA news agency looks back at Sunday's action and previews day eight of the Championships. Norrie mania returns Cameron Norrie kept the British flag flying at Wimbledon by taking down qualifier Nicolas Jarry in a five-set marathon to reach the quarter-finals. The 29-year-old had a match point in the third set, but was taken to a fifth by the towering Chilean before getting over the line after four hours and 27 minutes. Norrie, a semi-finalist in 2022, is only the third British man to reach the last eight more than once in the last 50 years, after Tim Henman and Andy Murray, and is the last home hope remaining in singles after Sonay Kartal was beaten in straight sets by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Technology fail Wimbledon officials had to apologise to Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal after an embarrassing malfunction of the new electronic line-calling system on Centre Court. Organisers admitted the technology was turned off in error on a section of the court for a game, with the mistake only becoming apparent when a shot from Kartal that clearly missed the baseline was not called out. Had the call been correct, it would have given Pavlyuchenkova a 5-4 lead in the first set, but instead umpire Nico Helwerth ruled the point should be replayed, with Kartal going on to win the game. A Wimbledon spokesperson later said the technology was 'deactivated in error on part of the server's side of the court', the 'chair umpire followed the established process' and both players had received an apology. Sabalenka and Alcaraz progress Women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka beat Elise Mertens in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals for an 11th successive grand slam appearance. The victory was her 46th of the season – way ahead of any other player, with only four women managing more wins in the whole of 2024 – but having lost in the Australian Open and French Open finals so far this year, she is desperate to win Wimbledon for the first time. Meanwhile, reigning men's champion Carlos Alcaraz remains on course for a third successive SW19 title. The Spaniard dropped the opening set against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev, but he fought back to extend his winning streak to 22 matches. Match of the day Alex De Minaur has been forced to wait for a crack at seven-time champion Djokovic. The pair were scheduled to meet in the 2024 quarter-finals before a devastated De Minaur withdrew ahead of play due to a hip injury sustained in his previous round win over Arthur Fils. Twelve months on, the Australian has an opportunity a round earlier. Order of play Centre Court (from 1.30pm) Novak Djokovic (6) v Alex De Minaur (11)Mirra Andreeva (7) v Emma Navarro (10)Jannik Sinner (1) v Grigor Dimitrov (19) Court One (from 1pm) Ekaterina Alexandrova (17) v Belinda BencicBen Shelton (10) v Lorenzo SonegoIga Swiatek (8) v Clara Tauson (23) Weather Heavy rain changing to sunny intervals by late morning, with a maximum temperature of 23C, according to the Met Office.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Wimbledon star forced to borrow shorts from her coach after breaking strict rule
The All England Club has long had a strict dress code, and Wimbledon star Anna Kournikova famously fell foul of one of its rules It's not just on Centre Court where you can get in trouble for breaking strict dress code rules at Wimbledon - it can happen on the practice court too! Infamously, Anna Kournikova once had to borrow a pair of shorts from her coach during a practice session after violating the All England Club's strict dress code. At SW19, players are almost always required to wear all-white. There have of course been exceptions. For example, this year, players were allowed to wear black armbands to pay tribute to tragic Liverpool star Diogo Jota following his death on Thursday. But mostly, players have largely had to wear nothing but white on court down the years. And that's something which, before the 2002 tournament had even begun, Russia ace Kournikova fell foul of. At the time she was ranked No.54 in the world and was competing at SW19 for the final time in her career. But she found herself reprimanded for turning up to practice in a pair of black shorts. Before she could even step onto the court, Kournikova was sternly informed by tournament officials that she needed to change her attire. Unfortunately, she did not have a pair of white shorts on her person and had to resort to another option. Thus, she borrowed a pair from the legendary late coach Nick Bollettieri in order to comply with the rules and stay on court. In 1963, rules were implemented requiring all competitors to dress 'predominantly in white'. Then 32 years later, the wording was altered to 'almost entirely white.' This rule applies both during matches and on the practice court. Kournikova isn't the only one who has skirted the regulations and she did make sure to don all-white for her opening match against Tatiana Panova - although, she ended up losing in three sets. She did reach the women's doubles semi-finals that year however, before falling to eventual champions Serena and Venus Williams. Andre Agassi famously skipped the tournament from 1988 to 1990 in protest of the all-white clothing rule, later expressing in his autobiography: "I resent rules, but especially arbitrary rules. Why must I wear white? I don't want to wear white. "Why should it matter to these people what I wear? Above all, I took offence at being barred and blocked and made to feel unwanted." Nick Kyrgios caused a stir when he stepped onto Centre Court in 2022 sporting a red cap and red trainers, and he has recently urged the tournament to scrap the all-white dress code to allow players more freedom to express their individuality at the Grand Slam.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Tennis legend drops bombshell about the sport's surprising drug problem: 'Everyone's on them'
Tennis great Goran Ivanisevic has spoken out about tennis stars' troubling reliance on antidepressants, claiming mental health issues in the game are so widespread and serious that 'everyone' is on the medication. Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon singles champion who now coaches Stefanos Tsitsipas, has lifted the lid on the mounting psychological pressures he sees elite athletes facing. His comments come in the wake of Alexander Zverev 's recent admission about his mental struggles where he described himself as empty, joyless and needing therapy as he crashed out of Wimbledon. 'When I listen to players, everyone's on antidepressants, Zverev says he's in a bad place,' Ivanisevic told Clay magazine. 'I don't know why they [the players] put so much pressure on themselves. Maybe it's outside expectations, society's expectations - they can't handle it.' Tennis icon Novak Djokovic believes social media is to blame for a lot of problems facing athletes today. 'Social media is extremely present and largely dictates the mood and daily rhythm of an athlete - especially young ones, but older ones too,' he told Sportklub. 'Everyone is on social media, and you can get lost there, get too attached to comments, to what someone types on a keyboard or phone… and that hurts. 'It's not trivial. That's something we need to talk about seriously.' The 38-year-old star also spoke of the the pressure of social media on young athletes. 'Kids are pushed too early into strict professionalism before they've developed emotional intelligence, which is part of psychological preparation for life,' he said. 'If a player gets a bit lost in that, it can strongly affect their psyche and how they live their life.' Zverev's brave admission following being knocked out in the first round has revived the conversation around mental health in tennis. 'I feel very alone out there at times,' he said. 'I struggle mentally ... I'm trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way. 'I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.
