No.10 seed Denis Shapovalov ended Andy Murray’s heartwarming Wimbledon run with a 6-4 6-2 6-2 win over the three-time major champion at Centre Court on Friday.
Shapovalov was joined on the winner’s list by world No.1 Novak Djokovic and fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who took a step closer to a projected quarterfinal clash with their third-round victories.
In the women’s draw, top-10 seeds Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Karolina Pliskova charged into the second week with straight-sets wins, while Ons Jabeur lit up Centre Court with her come-from-behind triumph over 2017 champion Garbine Muguruza.
Elsewhere, Venus Williams and Nick Kyrgios formed a superstar mixed doubles pairing and won through to the second round with a three-set victory.
Shapovalov too strong for Murray, Djokovic advances
It was a somewhat symbolic moment on Centre Court, with Shapovalov – the Wimbledon boys’ singles champion of 2016 – beating Murray, who won the men’s singles title that same year.
Murray was appearing in the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in four years, but had no answer to the power of Shapovalov, who struck 45 winners to Murray’s 16.
“Honestly, at the net I just told him that he’s my hero,” Shapovalov said after setting up a fourth-round clash with No.8 seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
At Court No.1, Djokovic ended qualifier Denis Kudla’s five-match winning streak, recovering from 4-1 down in the third set, and 4-1 down in the tiebreak, to win 6-4 6-3 7-6(7).
Djokovic, now unbeaten in 14 matches, next faces 17th seed Cristian Garin, while Rublev is through to the second week at Wimbledon for the first time and will take on Marton Fucsovics after seeing off Fabio Fognini in four sets.
Back at Centre Court, unseeded 20-year-old Sebastian Korda notched a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over British No.1 Dan Evans, becoming only the third player in the Open Era – after Bjorn Borg and Mikael Pernfors – to reach the fourth round on debut at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Swiatek, Sabalenka, Samsonova storm into second week
After the draw chaos that defined Roland Garros, results at Wimbledon are unfolding with far less surprises.
Second seed Sabalenka brushed aside Colombian qualifier Maria Camila Osorio Serrano 6-0 6-3 to reach the last 16 at the All England Club for the first time; she will play for a place in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal against 18th seed Elena Rybakina, who beat Shelby Rogers in straight sets.
No.7 seed Swiatek, who won her first ever main-draw match on grass just two weeks ago in Eastbourne, thumped an out-of-sorts Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-0 in 55 minutes.
Swiatek will next play recent Birmingham champion Jabeur, who won a captivating 5-7 6-3 6-2 Centre Court duel with Muguruza – striking 21 winners to six unforced errors in the final set – to earn her ninth win from her past 10 outings on grass.
Another player in brilliant grass-court form is Liudmila Samsonova; the Berlin champion extended her winning streak to 10 matches with a pulsating 6-2 2-6 6-4 win over Sloane Stephens and will next face No.8 seed Pliskova, a 6-3 6-3 winner over fellow Czech Tereza Martincova.
Also moving through was Madison Keys, whose 7-5 6-3 win over 13th seed Elise Mertens sets up a fourth-round clash with Viktorija Golubic.
Tweet of the day
This, from the WTA's official photographer @JJlovesTennis:
The rules of physics do not apply to Ons this week.. pic.twitter.com/jpg2knDnvO
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) July 2, 2021
Upset of the day
It is unusual to classify a seeded player beating an unseeded one as an upset.
But No.22 seed Karen Khachanov’s 6-3 6-4 6-4 defeat of Frances Tiafoe qualifies as just that.
The Russian, a former world No.8 who has since slipped to 29th, had lost eight of his past 13 matches when he arrived at Wimbledon, and had one just one of his three on grass.
Tiafoe, meanwhile, was flying, winning the Nottingham Challenger and reaching the Queen’s quarterfinals before upsetting third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round at SW19.
Khachanov, who served brilliantly on Friday, next faces Korda for a shot at his first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Stat of the day
Djokovic’s win over Kudla was the latest example of the Serb’s incredible consistency and versatility.
It delivered him a 75th career match win at Wimbledon – a mark he has now achieved at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
.@DjokerNole is the 1st man to win at least 75 matches in all 4 #GrandSlam tournaments:
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) July 2, 2021
- @AustralianOpen 82-8
- @rolandgarros 81-15
- @Wimbledon 75-10
- @usopen 75-12
Djokovic, the 2021 Australian Open and Roland Garros champion, continues on his quest for a third straight major title, a 20th overall, and an incredible calendar-year Golden Grand Slam.
Quotes of the day
“This week has been really good in some ways, but it's been frustrating too. I played two long matches, and it's really significantly more than anything I have done in the last six months really. I got through, I guess, a week of a slam without getting injured. So that's positive.”
- Andy Murray
“You can't really wait for some mistakes. You need to just like go for your shots, which I believe if I go for it I have a big chance to beat anybody. That's the plan.”
- Karolina Pliskova, who next faces Samsonova for a place in her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
“Failure was never an option for me, or anybody from my family. We just had to find a way to find the basic needs for us to survive. During those times (in the 1990s) it was difficult, and I think that has strengthened my character. Part of it I think also comes from my upbringing. I spent a lot of time in the mountains with wolves, so this is a wolf energy right here. I was not kidding, actually.”
- Djokovic, when asked to explain where his "animal hunger to be the best" originates.
“I'm happy with these matches which I won, but it's already in the past. I want to focus, stay in the moment. I'm trying to focus on my game and just fight for every point, every opportunity I have.”
- Aryna Sabalenka, who is through to the second week at Wimbledon for the first time.
Day 6: Ones to watch
Roger Federer faces what could be his toughest test of the Championships so far when he takes on in-form No.29 seed Cam Norrie at Centre Court.
Britain’s Norrie reached the recent Queen’s final and could earn some of the crowd support normally unanimously reserved for the 20-time major champion.
ORDER OF PLAY: Wimbledon Day 6
Five Australians take to the court in singles on Saturday, with singles world No.1 Ash Barty playing doubles world No.2 Katerina Siniakova in a match following Federer-Norrie onto Centre Court.
Kyrgios returns to the singles arena on Court No.1 for a highly-anticipated showdown against Canadian 16th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, while Jordan Thompson, James Duckworth and Ajla Tomljanovic – who will attempt to halt the Jelena Ostapenko juggernaut – will all play their third-round matches in the 11am slot at SW19.
Another must-watch encounter is the clash between second seed Daniil Medvedev and 2017 finalist Marin Cilic, the last of the day’s schedule on Court No.1.