Wimbledon: Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz continue great run
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.
Sabalenka picked up points on 84 per cent of her first serves compared to 67 per cent 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.'
World No1 Sabalenka has not dropped a set this tournament. The Belarusian also qualified for her 11th consecutive major quarter-final.
In that last-eight clash, 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.
Also advancing was Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated home favourite Sonny Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4.
In the men's section, Carlos Alcaraz came through a ferocious fourth-round match against Andrey Rublev to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court and keep his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on track.
The Spanish second seed stuttered in his opening three rounds but found his best form to eventually subdue an inspired opponent who once again came up short against the very best.
Alcaraz stretched his winning streak in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 18 matches – and his current unbeaten run across all events to 22.
Rublev rocked Alcaraz by roaring into a 4-1 lead only to be pegged back but the Russian produced some astonishing tennis to snatch the tiebreak and move ahead.
Alcaraz never looked ruffled though and levelled the match after Rublev double-faulted on a break point. Rublev continued throwing everything in his arsenal at the champion in the third set but paid for not taking some early break points as Alcaraz found another gear.
Alcaraz looked impregnable in the fourth set and a single break of serve was enough to seal a 22nd successive match win and set up a last-eight clash with Britain's Cameron Norrie.
'Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. It's really difficult to face him, 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.
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