Wimbledon briefing: Monday recap, day nine order of play and ‘nightmare' Norrie
Here, the PA news agency looks back at Monday's action and previews day nine of the Championships.
Djokovic wakes up to down De Minaur
Novak Djokovic had to overcome a shaky start (Mike Egerton/PA)
Novak Djokovic recovered from his worst first set at Wimbledon to battle past Alex De Minaur in four sets and reach a 16th quarter-final in SW19.
The seven-time champion made 16 unforced errors, including four double faults, and dropped serve three times as he lost the first set 6-1.
Bu the Serbian remains on a semi-final collision course with Jannik Sinner, who appeared to be heading for an early exit before Grigor Dimitrov suffered a heartbreaking injury.
The 34-year-old Bulgarian was two sets up and playing some inspired tennis when, at 2-2 in the third set, he clutched his chest after serving an ace and was forced to retire injured.
World number one Sinner, who helped Dimitrov pack his rackets away and carried his bag off court, said: 'I don't take this as a win at all. This is just a very unfortunate moment to witness for all of us.'
In the zone
Mirra Andreeva did not immediately realise she had won (John Walton/PA)
Mirra Andreeva was so focused on continually winning the next point that she did not realise she had won.
The 18-year-old Russian swatted aside Emma Navarro in straight sets to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
But, in front of her hero Roger Federer, she was oblivious to the fact the umpire was announcing her as the winner.
'I kept telling myself I'm not the one who is up on the score, I am the one who is down,' she explained. 'That helped me to stay focused and in the end I completely forgot the score.
'I'm happy that I did it because I think I would have been three times more nervous on a match point.'
AI here to stay
Umpire Nico Helwerth on the phone after the line-calling technology failed on Centre Court (Adam Davy/PA)
Wimbledon bosses are 'deeply disappointed' by Sunday's electronic line calling failure but insist it will not happen again.
All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said: 'We did a full review of all of our systems and processes to check all of those kinds of things and to make sure that, both historically and moving forward, we have made the appropriate changes that we needed to make. So we're absolutely confident in the system.'
Organisers later clarified the changes that have been made, with a spokesman saying: 'Following our review, we have removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking. This error cannot now be repeated.'
Match of the day
Cameron Norrie takes on the defending Wimbledon champion in the quarter-finals (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Cameron Norrie faces the ultimate Wimbledon challenge as he aims to dethrone defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The British number three is through to the quarter-finals for the first time since he reached the last four in 2022, which was the last time Spanish superstar Alcaraz lost a match in SW19.
Since then Norrie has dropped from eight in the world to a low of 91 while Alcaraz, 22, has won two Wimbledons, two French Opens and a US Open.
But Alcaraz is taking nothing for granted, insisting facing Norrie on home soil is 'almost a nightmare'.
Order of play
Centre Court (from 1.30pm)
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Laura Siegemund
Cameron Norrie v Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Court One (from 1pm)
Taylor Fritz (5) v Karen Khachanov (17)
Amanda Anisimova (13) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
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Sunny with highs of 25C, according to the Met Office.
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South Wales Argus
13 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Aryna Sabalenka was ready to book tickets home before quarter-final comeback
The runaway world number one and three-time grand slam champion had not dropped a set on her way to the quarter-finals. But then she came up against 37-year-old Laura Siegemund, the world number 104 from Germany who had never previously been beyond the second round. And Siegemund almost produced one of the all-time Centre Court upsets after taking the first set and then twice leading by a break in the decider. Sabalenka was a set behind a a break down in the third (Ben Whitley/PA) 'She pushed me so much,' said Sabalenka. 'After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, 'book the tickets, we are about to leave this beautiful place'.' When Siegemund, a former US Open doubles champion who has rarely caused a ripple in singles, broke for 4-3 in the decider she was two games from reaching the semi-finals. But Sabalenka broke straight back and then let out an almighty roar after sealing a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory with a smash. Siegemund is a master of the darker arts of tennis and regularly kept Sabalenka waiting to serve. The world number one hit back to reach the semi-finals (Ben Whitley/PA) But the 27-year-old from Belarus kept her cool – even if she had a face like thunder while standing idly at the baseline. 'I think I was really well-prepared for her game, for the way she's taking time and everything,' she added. 'But of course, inside I was struggling because she was playing a really smart game. At the beginning I was missing a lot. I felt like I was rushing. 'So I'm really glad that after the first set, I was able to kind of like reset a little bit and change my tactic a little bit and get the win. Siegemund had never previously been past round two (Ben Whitley/PA) 'But about her game, I wasn't really annoyed. What can I do? It was great play, smart play.' Sabalenka said she was determined not to repeat the mistake she made during her acrimonious French Open final defeat by Coco Gauff last month. 'Honestly, I think there's a big possibility that I would have lost this match if I didn't learn that lesson at the French Open,' she said. 'In some moments I was just keep reminding myself – which it's probably a little bit crazy – 'come on, it's the quarter-final of Wimbledon, you cannot give up, you cannot let the emotions just take over you and lose another match.' Sabalenka's 10th semi-final from the last 11 grand slams will be against American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova, who beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6 (9). Anisimova was joined on court afterwards by her nephew Jaxon, who will celebrate his fourth birthday on Thursday, the day of the match. 'My nephew has never seen a match of mine in my life, so it was super special,' she said. 'Especially for the first time to be here at Wimbledon, and to get the win also on top of that is just an incredible experience. 'I feel like everything has been kind of clicking for me, and I've been feeling more and more confident with each tournament I've played this year. 'So I feel like my confidence is pretty high. On top of that, I'm just enjoying every moment.'
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Cameron Norrie backs ‘unreal' Carlos Alcaraz to win Wimbledon again
Cameron Norrie backed Carlos Alcaraz to win a third successive Wimbledon title after British singles hopes were ended in ruthless fashion on Centre Court. Norrie had hoped to become just the third home player in the open era to defeat a men's title holder in SW19 after Roger Taylor and Tim Henman but succumbed to a 6-2 6-3 6-3 quarter-final defeat in just an hour and 39 minutes. It was Alcaraz's 19th consecutive win at the All England Club and 23rd in a row overall, and Norrie said: 'It was a good experience to play probably the best player in the world at the moment, most confident player, on his best surface. 'I think he is the favourite, for sure. His level was unreal. I felt like a lot of the time, if I didn't do enough with the ball, he was going to punish me with a lot of his different options, with power. He's got the drop (shot) as well available. 'So I think I was missing a little bit more because I was pressing a bit more than usual, but I think that's credit to him – his physicality, his movement and power.' It has nevertheless been an excellent fortnight for the 29-year-old, who almost dropped out of the top 100 earlier this season three years after reaching the semi-finals here and has shown he can be a factor again. Norrie will climb back to around 43 in the rankings following the tournament and, having been out for three months last summer with an arm injury, missing the US Open, he has a good opportunity to make further significant gains. He was particularly proud of his fourth-round win over Nicolas Jarry, having withstood the Chilean's comeback to triumph in five sets, and he said: 'I think it's all kind of coming together. 'I told you guys that I was hitting the ball well all year. I wanted it to happen. I think actually winning the matches and actually going through these experiences, you can take so much confidence from this. 'I want to just continue to play with confidence. I feel like I've been through a lot of tough moments in this week and a half and a lot of different kind of players and being the favourite, being the underdog in different scenarios. I think I've tested myself in all different aspects of the game, which is huge. 'I really feel like I'm enjoying my tennis a lot. I think that's most important.' Norrie's progress meant he finally had to move from his favoured Court One on to the main stage, where he had lost four of his five previous matches, including against Alexander Zverev last year and Novak Djokovic in the last four in 2022. Against Djokovic he had taken the first set to conjure dreams of a home finalist but here, with Lord of the Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen watching from the first row of the Royal Box, the wizardry came from Alcaraz. Once the Spaniard had saved four break points in the second game, he reeled off five in a row, and Norrie never got close to him again. Alcaraz served brilliantly whenever his opponent had the sniff of an opportunity and eased through to a semi-final clash with American fifth seed Taylor Fritz on Friday. The 22-year-old was delighted with his performance, saying: 'Today was a great, great match. I think the best match so far in the tournament. Just really happy to see myself keep going, keep improving after every match, each day.' Alcaraz now has two days to prepare for his clash with Fritz, but his first priority is to try to set up a round of golf with Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, who was at the All England Club on Tuesday. 'There are some videos of him playing golf,' said Alcaraz. 'I would say he could beat me. But I would love to play against him. For me it would be such an honour. Let's see if he will be available, and we'll tee it up.'
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘He was too good': Norrie upbeat despite Wimbledon exit at hands of Alcaraz
Cameron Norrie said he leaves the All England Club proud of his performances and fight after falling 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to an imperious Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Tuesday afternoon. 'Amazing, amazing experience,' said Norrie. 'He played a very high level. I think if you asked him, he would agree with that. It was good fun. Those are the kind of matches that you want to think about and you want to play. You do all the hard work, you do extra stuff with your coach, you do extra fitness, and you do all these things to get ready for matches like this. I wanted to just go out there, no excuses, just play. I did that. He was too good today. I fought till the last point, so I can be proud.' Alcaraz, the second seed, is attempting to become the fifth man in the Open era to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. The 22 year-old has been in some of the best form of his life recently, winning the French Open last month and establishing a 23-match winning streak. Alongside his usual excellence with his groundstrokes and variety of shots, Alcaraz served brilliantly against Norrie, losing just six points on his first serve in the entire match. 'On grass when you're serving great or you feel you're serving great, then playing from the baseline or playing the return games, you just have more confidence and play calmly and think clearly,' said Alcaraz. 'So I think feeling great in the serve, it gave me a lot of calm to play great tennis from the baseline. ' Norrie, a former British No 1 who rose as high as eighth in the ATP rankings in 2022, has been on the comeback trail after a difficult period on the court due to poor form and injury. He fell as low as No 91 in May but he will return to the top 50 on Monday at No 43. 'I really feel like I'm enjoying my tennis a lot,' said Norrie. 'I think that's most important. Obviously I didn't play at all from this period onwards last year. I can just keep pushing kind of for my ranking. My level is there.' Alcaraz will face Taylor Fritz, the fifth seed, in the semi-finals after the American defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4).
