Sinner gets out of jail to reach last eight as Dimitrov retires at Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic continued his quest for Grand Slam glory at the All England Club with a battling victory over Alex de Minaur while five-times major champion Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly past Clara Tauson.
The drama was reserved for the evening clash on Centre Court as Dimitrov, who had pulled out injured in his last four majors, played exquisite tennis to go up 6-3 7-5 2-2 but then crashed to the ground after a big ace to hold serve.
Sinner, who had been hampered for much of the contest by a right elbow issue after slipping and falling to the turf early on, was left feeling sorry for his opponent who threw in the towel after a short assessment by a doctor.
"I don't know what to say because he's an incredible player. I think we all saw this today," said Sinner, who was by a tearful Dimitrov's side while the Bulgarian was attended to.
"He's been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He's an incredible player, a good friend of mine also and we understand each other very well off the court too.
"Seeing him in this position... if there would be a chance that he could play in the next round, he would deserve it. Now I hope he has a speedy recovery. Very, very unlucky from his side."
Sinner later told reporters he would have an MRI scan to check his own injury.
"It happened very early in the match, first game. It was quite an unfortunate fall. We checked the videos a bit, and it didn't seem a tough one, but I still felt it quite a lot, especially serve and forehand," he added.
Sinner next faces American 10th seed Ben Shelton, who beat another Italian in Lorenzo Sonego 3-6 6-1 7-6(1) 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time, as did Flavio Cobolli, who downed Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(3).
Djokovic marched into the Wimbledon last eight for the 16th time but the Serbian trod a rocky road before defeating De Minaur 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 to keep alive his quest for a 25th major title to surpass Margaret Court.
Watched from the Royal Box by another great in Roger Federer, the man whose record eight All England Club trophies Djokovic is trying to equal, the sixth seed surrendered the first set in 31 minutes before roaring back to win.
Federer's fellow Swiss and former doubles partner Belinda Bencic made her first Wimbledon quarter-final in nine attempts after dismissing 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4) 6-4 in a little under two hours on a breezy Court One.
The 28-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion shed tears of joy after she finally broke the fourth-round barrier 15 months since giving birth to her daughter Bella and she said she was surprised at her high level.
She will need all her battling qualities when she takes on seventh seed Mirra Andreeva, the Russian teenager who made short work of American 10th seed Emma Navarro 6-2 6-3 on her Centre Court debut with her idol Federer still in attendance.
Swiatek shrugged off a slow start to beat Danish 23rd seed Tauson 6-4 6-1 and set up a meeting with Liudmila Samsonova, who saw off Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5 7-5.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
2 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Imperious Alcaraz routs Norrie to reach Wimbledon semis
Carlos Alcaraz swept into the Wimbledon semifinals for a third successive year as the defending champion demolished Britain's Cameron Norrie in a Centre Court masterclass on Tuesday. Alcaraz needed just 99 minutes to thrash Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in his most commanding performance in this year's tournament. The Spanish second seed dropped four sets in a series of scrappy displays during his run to the last eight. But Alcaraz was back to his imperious best in the quarterfinals, blasting 39 winners to set up a last four clash with American fifth seed Taylor Fritz. "To be able to play another semifinal here at Wimbledon is super-special," Alcaraz said. It's going to be great. I'm really happy with the way I played against a really difficult player," he added. With world number one Jannik Sinner struggling with an elbow injury after trailing by two sets in the fourth round before his opponent Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire, Alcaraz looks like the title favourite heading into the closing stages of the tournament. Alcaraz is on a career-best 23 match winning run since losing to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April -- a superb streak which has brought him titles at the French Open, the Rome Masters and Monte Carlo. The Spaniard, who vanquished Novak Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, has won 34 of his 37 Tour-level matches on grass, while his last defeat at the All England Club came against Sinner in the fourth round in 2022. "Taylor is playing great. The grass season has been really successful for him so far with two titles and a semi-final here," Alcaraz said. "I have to be ready for that battle. I will try to play the same level as today. "I will rest up a little bit and enjoy the time with my team and my family. For sure I'm going to play some golf to switch off my mind a little bit," he added. Alcaraz is only the second Spanish man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals on at least three occasions after Rafael Nadal, who made eight appearances in the last four. The five-time Grand Slam champion is aiming to become the fifth man to win Wimbledon in three consecutive years in the Open era afer Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic. Alcaraz, who will be making his eighth Grand Slam semi-final appearance, is also bidding to become the second-youngest player in the Open era, after Borg, to win six major men's singles titles. Alcaraz wasted little time asserting his dominance with breaks in the third and fifth games of a one-sided opening set. The 22-year-old was equally commanding in the second set as the world number 61 struggled to stem the tide. Alcaraz was in total control and the third set followed the same pattern, with the decisive break coming in the sixth game as he sealed his victory in ruthless fashion.
Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Sabalenka survives Siegemund spell to reach Wimbledon semis
Aryna Sabalenka was dragged into a bygone era on Tuesday and tormented for almost three hours on Wimbledon's Centre Court before finally imposing her 21st-century power game to beat mesmeric Laura Siegemund for a place in the semifinals. The Belarusian needed all her powers of ball bludgeoning and belief to emerge from a befuddling battle, somehow the victor, 4-6 6-2 6-4. For much of the spell-binding contest it looked as though the world number one would find no answers to Siegemund's sorcery as the 37-year-old German veteran chipped, chopped and drop-shotted the world's best player to pieces, leaving the top seed's power game neutered on the turf. Ranked a lowly 104 in the world, Siegemund drew on the game of a gentler age to bring low the mighty Belarusian, casting spells of slice and sleight with vintage flair. But slowly, if not exactly surely, the 10 years younger and seemingly stronger Sabalenka managed to wrestle back the upper hand, and now awaits either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova — who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6 (11/9) for a place in Saturday's final. 'I need some time to recover ... She pushed me so much and honestly after the first set I was just like looking at my box thinking like, 'Guys I mean like book the tickets you know, I think we're about to leave this beautiful city, country, place'. 'But wow she played an incredible tournament, an incredible match and I'm just super happy right now with the win and, oh my god guys, like atmosphere — it's just another level.' For Siegemund, this was not the performance of a player whose previous Wimbledon record amounted to three first-round exits and a solitary second-round finish. Everything about the German evoked nostalgia. The ball left her racket not with a thud, but a sigh — a soft brushstroke rather than a blunt strike. Serves landed halfway up the box before spinning wide; forehands floated underspun onto the baseline. It may have looked delicate, but it was anything but harmless — as Sabalenka discovered to her mounting despair. All the skills honed through a career rich in doubles nous — three Grand Slam titles across women's and mixed — were on full display: low, skimming returns, feathered lobs, angled passes and volleys that died on impact. The extraordinary level of accuracy and control was sure to dip and, in the second set it did. Only a little, but enough to let the world number one level the match. But in the decisive third Siegemund was back to her best, mixing it up and sticking to her tactics. The two exchanged the most marginal of upper hands to let the other nose ahead until finally, as the clock nudged towards three hours, Sabalenka sealed the win, pounding a powerful overhead home and shrieking for joy. Meanwhile, fifth seed Taylor Fritz reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time on Tuesday after coming through a topsy-turvy four-setter against Karen Khachanov where the American seemed to be cruising, but then had to show all his fighting spirit. Fritz, in fine grass form after wins in Stuttgart and Eastbourne, triumphed 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) must have thought he was in for an easier passage as he ripped through the first two sets giving up only seven points in his 10 service games. Russia's Khachanov, the 17th seed also seeking a first Wimbledon semi, then seemed to work out how to deal with the American's serve as he won eight of the next nine games to take the third set and move a break up in the fourth. Fritz, however, regrouped to immediately break back, regain control of his service games and triumphed in the decisive tiebreak.
The National
5 hours ago
- The National
Wimbledon 2025: Aryna Sabalenka fights back to beat Laura Siegemund and clinch semi-final spot
Following in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic on Centre Court 24 hours earlier, Aryna Sabalenka recovered from an early setback to put her Wimbledon quest back on track. Despite knocking out Australian Open champion Madison Keys former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in previous rounds, few expected doubles specialist Laura Siegemund would continue her run against the world No 1 in their quarter-final clash. But the German veteran pushed Sabalenka to her limits after dropping a set for the first time in this year's tournament before eventually going down 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. 'That was a real test,' admitted two-time semi-finalist Sabalenka, who will now take on either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in Saturday's final. 'I need some time to cool down and recover after this. 'She pushed me so much. After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, 'book the tickets, we are about to leave this beautiful place'. She played an incredible tournament and match. I'm just super happy with the match and win.' The previous day, 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic had suffered a nightmare first set before recovering to overcome Alex de Minaur and reach a 16th quarter-final at the All England Club. Sabalenka suffered a stalled start of her own while her 37-year-old opponent – playing in only her second Grand Slam singles quarter-final – came flying out the blocks, racing into 3-0 lead and 5-2 leads before securing the opener. The pair exchanged breaks at the start of the second before three-time Grand Slam champion took control and levelled the tie in what was Siegemund's first dropped set this year at Wimbledon. Siegemund punished a series of errors to break in the third game of the deciding set before Sabalenka levelled at 3-3. When Sabalenka served up a double-fault and two unforced errors, Siegemund was within touching distance of the semi-finals. But Sabalenka refused to surrender, breaking again as the emotional rollercoaster continued, before finally sealing her victory with a roar of relief. In the men's draw, Taylor Fritz secured a Grand Slam semi-final spot for only the second time after coming through in four sets against Karen Khachanov. The American fifth seed – who was beaten by Jannik Sinner in last year's US Open final – appeared to be coasting into the last four as he ripped through the first two sets giving up only seven points in his 10 service games. But Russia's Khachanov, the 17th seed also targeting a first Wimbledon semi, clicked into gear as he won eight of the next nine games to take the third set and move a break up in the fourth. Fritz regained his composure by fighting back to ensure he avoided a repeat of his five-set battles with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo in the opening two rounds. The 27-year-old, who lifted ATP Tour grass titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne last month, reclaimed the break before going on to win the tiebreak and seal a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 victory in two hours and 36 minutes. 'I'm feeling great to get through it,' said Fritz – who will take on either Carlos Alcaraz or Cameron Norrie for a place in the final – in his on-court interview. 'I feel like the match was going so well for me for two sets. 'I've never had a match really just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. I think the momentum was definitely not going to have been on my side going into a fifth. 'It's an amazing feeling,' he added. 'Having played the quarter-finals here twice and lost in five twice I don't think I could have taken another one. 'I'm really happy with how I've really turned my career around over the last four years or so. I've put in a lot of work, and it's great to see the results.'
