By Reuters
Women鈥檚 top seed Aryna Sabalenka and men鈥檚 defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both survived tough tests to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and Cameron Norrie kept alive British singles hopes after surviving a five-set thriller on Sunday.
Sabalenka ruined home favourite Emma Raducanu鈥檚 dream in the previous round but had the Centre Court crowd cheering her on as she beat Elise Mertens 6-4 7-6(4) in a high-quality duel.
Wimbledon鈥檚 new automated line-calling technology came under fire after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last-16 victory over Britain鈥檚 Sonay Kartal on Centre Court.
Spaniard Alcaraz came through a ferocious firefight against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 to stay on course for a third successive title.
鈥淎ndrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. He forces you to the limit on each point,鈥 Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court.
The 22-year-old second seed extended his current winning streak to 22 matches and will take on Norrie for a place in the semi-finals after the unseeded Briton soaked up 46 aces from towering Chilean Nicolas Jarry to win a feisty Court One battle 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3.
While Alcaraz seeks a Wimbledon hat-trick, Sabalenka is eyeing her first title on the London lawns after missing last year鈥檚 tournament with injury and the 2022 edition due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and the 27-year-old made a fast start against Mertens.
Sabalenka, who claimed doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open partnering Mertens, was then put through the wringer before raising her level to prevail.
The victory improved her win-loss record against Belgian Mertens to 11-2 and she said the growing adoration of the crowd made a big difference after fans were on the other side of the fence when she met Raducanu on Friday.
鈥淚 definitely felt the support. It was so amazing playing and feeling the support. I didn鈥檛 have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me,鈥 said Sabalenka, who will face the 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.
鈥淲hat can be better than that? I really enjoyed it. I hope it can stay the same all the way, and they help me energy-wise to stay strong and to face all of the challenges.鈥
Heavy showers
Siegemund, the second-oldest player to start in the women鈥檚 draw this year, swatted aside plucky Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory in a Court Two match interrupted by the heavy showers that prompted organisers to shut the roofs for the day鈥檚 play on Centre Court and Court One.
While Sierra was the first lucky loser to reach the last 16 in the professional era, Siegemund created her own slice of history by becoming the oldest woman to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
Explaining her run, Siegemund said it was simple. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like you have an opponent. Either you find good solutions and you execute well, you go forward, or you don鈥檛, and you don鈥檛 go forward. So it鈥檚 very simple,鈥 she said.
Sierra鈥檚 fellow South American, Jarry, fought back brilliantly against Norrie after saving a match point in the third-set tiebreak but fell short in a needle match.
Jarry seemed irritated at times during the heat of battle and the players exchanged words at the end.
鈥淐ameron played unbelievable. Not unbelievable, played great. He did his job. He plays like that,鈥 said qualifier Jarry, whose total ace count reached a tournament-leading 111.
Asked what happened, Norrie said there had been no problem.
鈥淚 think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal,鈥 he said. 鈥淗onestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. I guess we both really wanted to win.鈥
Norrie, a 2022 semi-finalist, is the last British hope after the unseeded Kartal鈥檚 run ended with a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by experienced Russian Pavlyuchenkova.
The big talking point in that match was the malfunction of the Electronic Line Calling system, which left the Russian former French Open runner-up seething after being robbed of a game point at 4-4 in the opening set when there was no 鈥榦ut鈥 call despite a Kartal shot landing over the baseline.
Umpire Nico Helwerth sought advice from tournament organisers via telephone and then ruled that the point should be replayed, with Pavlyuchenkova going on to have her serve broken.
鈥淲e were waiting for a decision as the system was down, but I was expecting to hear if they said the ball was in or out,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 expected a different decision. I just thought also the chair umpire could take the initiative.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why he鈥檚 there sitting on the chair. He also saw it (was) out, he told me after the match. I thought he would do that, but he didn鈥檛. I think it鈥檚 also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.鈥
Organisers said it had been caused by the system being 鈥榙eactivated in error鈥.
American fifth seed Taylor Fritz marched on after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting.
Up next for Fritz is a meeting with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov who thumped Poland鈥檚 Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3.
Fritz is not the only American to reach the quarter-finals, after 13th seed Amanda Anisimova beat Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the day鈥檚 final action.