Wimbledon 2025: Sabalenka stands tall, Norrie survives to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals
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NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka Headline Action In Wimbledon Quarter-finals
Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and women's number one Aryna Sabalenka headline the first day of quarter-finals at the All England Club on Tuesday. AFP Sport looks at the match-ups ahead of the last-eight ties. Carlos Alcaraz v Cameron Norrie Carlos Alcaraz has not had it all his own way at Wimbledon but he has stepped up a gear when it matters most. The two-time defending champion has dropped four sets during his run to the last eight, giving his fans palpitations before raising his level each time. The Spaniard produced his best tennis of the tournament so far against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev in the last 16, rallying from a set down to set up a quarter-final against Britain's Cameron Norrie. Alcaraz is aiming to join an elite group of men who have won the tournament in three straight years in the Open era -- Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The charismatic Spaniard has taken on Federer's mantle as the darling of Centre Court. But he will have competition on Tuesday, when large sections of the crowd will be behind Britain's Norrie, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022. "He's going to use the crowd to his side," said Alcaraz, who has beaten Norrie four times in six meetings. "I have to be really strong mentally and focused to play good tennis if I want to beat him." Aryna Sabalenka v Laura Siegemund Aryna Sabalenka looks unstoppable as she chases a fourth Grand Slam title but a first Wimbledon crown. The Belarusian top seed, who has never been past the semi-finals at the tournament, has yet to drop a set as she prepares to take on Germany's Laura Siegemund, ranked a lowly 104th in the world. Sabalenka, who lost in the finals of the Australian Open and French Open, is the only remaining woman left out of the top six seeds. She said she relished the support of the crowd during her last-16 win against Belgium's Elise Mertens, during which she won her 14th consecutive tie-break. "We all dream the same, holding the trophy, that winning moment," said Sabalenka. "It's always been my dream. I mean, I haven't achieved it yet. I had a lot of disappointments here." Siegemund, 37, who has lost both of her previous matches against her opponent, is under no illusions about the task facing her in her second Grand Slam quarter-final. "She's one of the greatest players that we have and one of the most aggressive also. The only good thing about that match is that I have absolutely nothing to lose," she said. Taylor Fritz v Karen Khachanov Taylor Fritz came to Wimbledon with form on grass after winning titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne but he had a gruelling start to his campaign at the All England Club. The US fifth seed was taken to five sets in his opening two matches but he barely worked up a sweat in his last-16 match against Jordan Thompson, with the Australian forced to retire halfway through the second set. His quarter-final opponent Karen Khachanov, ranked 20th, has won both of their previous two meetings, though they have not met since 2020. "We practise all the time, so we're pretty familiar with each other's games," said Fritz. "But I think I have improved a ton and have become a much, much better player since the last time we played." Amanda Anisimova v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had to overcome the distraction of a potentially costly glitch in the electronic line-calling system in her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal, which became a major talking point at the championships. The Russian, 34, is playing in her 65th Grand Slam -- only Victoria Azarenka, in this year's women's draw, has more appearances (68). She has a tough task against 13th seed and Queen's finalist Amanda Anisimova, with the American beating her on all three occasions they have met.
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Wimbledon 2025: Teenager Andreeva sets up quarterfinal clash with Bencic
Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva powered her way into her first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-2 6-3 win over American 10th seed Emma Navarro on Monday, becoming the youngest player in the last eight of the women's singles since 2005. The 18-year-old looked at home on Centre Court, using her booming serve, regularly above 110 miles per hour, and power from the baseline to book a meeting with Swiss Belinda Bencic in the next round. In doing so she matches the feat of compatriot Maria Sharapova in 2005 at the exact same age - 18 years and 62 days at the start of the tournament. ALSO READ | Djokovic battles back against De Minaur to stay on track for Wimbledon glory With a light breeze swirling around the showcourt, Andreeva took an early break in the match thanks to a fine backhand past her 24-year-old opponent who was looking to reach a second successive quarter-final at the All England Club. Navarro struggled to return the Russian's serve, with Andreeva not giving up any points on her first serve throughout the first set. The American surrendered another break by hitting into the net from a fierce Andreeva forehand for 4-1. Navarro saved two set points but Andreeva converted the third courtesy of another unreturnable serve, taking the lead in the match after little more than half an hour of play. The second set brought an upturn in form for Navarro as the pair traded breaks and continued to slug it out from the baseline. However, Andreeva held on to a break advantage over her opponent and executed a beautifully weighted lob on her way to bringing up three match points. The teenager needed only one thanks to a fortunate net cord but had obviously lost track of the score as she lined up at the baseline again before apologising and running to the net to shake hands with her beaten opponent. 'Honestly, I kept telling myself I was facing break point and was trying to tell myself I'm not the one who is up on the score, I'm the one who is down and in the end I completely forgot the score. I happy I did it, otherwise I would have been three times more nervous on my match point,' she said on court. 'I felt like my serve was not bad today... happy that (coach) Conchita (Martinez) gives me nice advice and my serve keeps working,' added Andreeva.
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First Post
5 hours ago
- First Post
Kasparov feels Gukesh not yet ready to conquer Blitz after sudden loss of form in Croatia: 'Something is wrong...'
D Gukesh endured a miserable run in the Blitz leg of SuperUnited Croatia after shining in the Rapid games to surrender the title to Magnus Carlsen and finish third on the overall standnings. read more Garry Kasparov had earlier heaped praise on D Gukesh for his victory over Magnus Carlsen in the Rapid leg of SuperUnited Croatia. Image credit: Grand Chess Tour/Reuters Legendary Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov felt reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh isn't ready for conquering Blitz chess just yet, especially after his poor performance in the format at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia event that concluded on Sunday. Gukesh enjoyed a superb run in the Rapid section of the event, where defeated world No 1 Magnus Carlsen for the second consecutive time after beating him at last month's Norway Chess and finished top of the standings with 14 points. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The third event of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour, however, was one where the winner would be decided by the total points accumulated across the Rapid and Blitz legs of the it was in the latter where Gukesh undid all of his hard work in the Rapid games, enduring a horrid run that saw the 19-year-old end Day 1 of the Blitz leg with seven defeats in nine rounds, including the first five on the bounce. Though Gukesh put up an improved display on the final day of the tournament, it wasn't enough as he finished third on the overall standings in 19.5 points, behind Carlsen (22.5) and Wesley So (20). 'We didn't see the tenacity' Former world champion and world No 1 Kasparov felt the solid victory over Carlsen had a psychological impact on the 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster which, together with his struggles in the Blitz format, led to his torrid run in the last two days of the event in Zagreb. 'I thought Gukesh's games were feeble yesterday and today. Because it's very fast, and he's probably not ready to show his skills in Blitz,' Kasparov had said after the conclusion of the penultimate day of the tournament. 'In Blitz, every gram of your energy that is being wasted on something else just has a very negative effect.' 'The games he lost today, some of them were just terrible. Losing to Magnus I understand, anybody can lose the game. But even in this game, we didn't see the tenacity. 'Something is wrong with Gukesh. Yesterday was not a great day. His games were very feeble. Yes, he beat (Wesley) So, but his game against (Anish) Giri was a sign of trouble for me,' the 62-year-old added. Thanks to Gukesh's sudden drop in form, Carlsen surged ahead in the Blitz games and finished top of the standings despite claiming he produced his "B-game" in Zagreb. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
