Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber, the last Wimbledon champions remaining in the 2021 field, advanced to the quarterfinals following Centre Court victories on Monday.
Federer and Djokovic were joined in the last eight by in-form Italian Matteo Berrettini, however, top-five seeds Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev bowed out of the tournament.
Advancing in the women’s draw along with Kerber were Ash Barty, Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Pliskova, top-10 seeds who will appear in their first ever Wimbledon quarterfinals.
READ MORE: Barty, Sabalenka break through at Wimbledon
Following a day when all but one of the 16 fourth-round singles matches were completed at the All England Club, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz will return on Tuesday to resume their match, with Medvedev leading two sets to one.
Djokovic, Federer on course for final rematch
Djokovic encountered few problems in his 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory over Cristian Garin and has now won 12 consecutive sets at this year’s Championships.
The world No.1 will continue his quest for a record-equalling 20th major singles title when he takes on Marton Fucsovics, whose surprise five-set win over Rublev sent the Hungarian into his first major quarterfinal.
Djokovic is seeking to equal the men's all-time record of 20 Grand Slam trophies held jointly by the absent Rafael Nadal, and Federer, who overcame Lorenzo Sonego 7-5 6-4 6-2 in the final match of the day on Centre Court.
Federer, the oldest Wimbledon quarterfinalist in the Open Era, awaits either Medvedev or Hurkacz and is progressing in the opposite half of the draw to Djokovic, who beat him in the 2019 final.
In Federer’s half is Queen’s champion Berrettini, who extended his winning streak to nine matches with a commanding 6-4 6-3 6-1 triumph over Ilya Ivashka.
His next opponent is Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Zverev for the first time – in a four-hour, five-set epic – to reach his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Auger-Aliassime’s countryman Denis Shapovalov progressed 6-1 6-3 7-5 over eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut and will face Karen Khachanov, who defeated American young gun Sebastian Korda 10-8 in the fifth set in a dramatic match on Court 18.
Kerber stops Gauff as top seeds advance
Kerber, the only Wimbledon finalist remaining in the women’s draw, was too experienced and steady for Coco Gauff, a player almost half her age.
The 2018 champion beat the American 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with AO 2021 semifinalist Karolina Muchova, who rebounded from 5-2 down in the first set, and 5-2 down in the tiebreak, to stop Paula Badosa 7-6(6) 6-4.
The winner of that match will face an Australian in the semifinals after Barty and Ajla Tomljanovic ensured the first all-Aussie Wimbledon women’s quarterfinal in 41 years.
Under lights at No.1 Court, Tomljanovic led wildcard Emma Raducanu 6-4 3-0 before the British teenager departed the court with breathing difficulties and did not return, sending Tomljanovic into her first major quarterfinal.
There she will face Barty, who earlier in the day on the same court ended Barbora Krejcikova’s 15-match winning streak.
Top seed Barty was joined in the quarters by No.2 seed Sabalenka, who made her long-awaited Grand Slam quarterfinal breakthrough with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina.
Her next opponent is Ons Jabeur, who continued her magnificent Wimbledon run with a 5-7 6-1 6-1 triumph over Iga Swiatek – the third straight major champion Jabeur has defeated after earlier victories over Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza.
Pliskova’s 6-2 6-3 victory over Liudmila Samsonova ended the Berlin champion’s 10-match winning streak and completes the former world No.1’s Grand Slam quarterfinal set.
Upset of the day
Pliskova’s victory set up a clash with unlikely quarterfinalist Viktorija Golubic, who stunned Madison Keys 7-6(3) 6-3.
Golubic, ranked 66th, had only once been beyond the second round at a major tournament before this fortnight.
But it makes sense the breakthrough came in 2021, given the Swiss has built an impressive 43-12 win-loss record this season after success on both the WTA and ITF circuits.
World No.48 Fucsovics, meanwhile, enjoyed a breakthrough of his own with victory over Rublev, after four straight losses to the Russian in the past 12 months.
Fucsovics, who jokingly told Rublev in Dubai, “I hope I don’t play you anymore this year”, trailed the fifth seed two-sets-to-one before recovering to win 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-0 6-3.
Tweets of the day
What it feels like to reach your first Wimbledon quarterfinal:
MOOD ???? #Wimbledon #QuarterFinals pic.twitter.com/EyDdHOX7Jm
— Félix AugerAliassime (@felixtennis) July 5, 2021
???? pic.twitter.com/gaRZe4u1Gx
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) July 5, 2021
Always believe in yourself????
— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) July 5, 2021
Quarterfinal???? @Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Urz0OfZMNw
Stat of the day
Barty and Muchova are the only two female players to reach more than one Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2021.
There were 24 available quarterfinal places across three major tournaments so far this season, which were filled by 22 different players.
None of the eight Roland Garros quarterfinalists progressed to the same stage at Wimbledon.
Barty and Muchova both advanced to the last eight at Melbourne Park, with Muchova winning their quarterfinal match in three sets.
Quotes of the day
“I was willing to take losses for the sake of information, just to be out there, get the body in shape for hopefully when Wimbledon comes around that I can actually wake up in the morning and feel all right, that I can still go out and play five sets. I feel that way, so it's very rewarding and it's a good feeling. Now we'll see how much more I got left in the tank.”
- Roger Federer, when asked to assess his recent comeback.
“I knew the crowd would be on her side, of course. Actually my dad (her coach) and (boyfriend) Matteo (Berrettini) before the match, they were like: 'Look, we work to be in the fourth round of a slam and play on Court 1 in Wimbledon. No matter the crowd being against you, it's going to be a privilege to be out there and just feel the energy.' Also a few times they did say: 'Let's go, Emma.' But it kind of sounded like 'Ajla' at one point so I was pretending it was for me (smiling).”
- Alja Tomljanovic
“I’m a normal guy from Montreal, Canada, and here I am … Court 1, packed, Wimbledon. Surely the best victory of my life so far. It was extra special in front of you, with the closed roof, the sound was crazy, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Thank you so much for living this moment with me.”
- Felix Auger-Aliassime, addressing the crowd following this victory over Zverev.
“Of course, I'm really happy. But this is not the final goal for me.”
- Aryna Sabalenka, after advancing to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Day 8: Ones to watch
Tuesday is women’s quarterfinal day at Wimbledon, with Sabalenka v Jabeur on Centre Court arguably the best of the four match-ups.
No.2 seed Sabalenka will face the 21st seed Jabeur for a shot at a semifinal meeting against either Pliskova or Golubic, who play their quarterfinal first up on No.1 Court.
ORDER OF PLAY: Wimbledon Day 8
Following that match will be the clash between Kerber and Muchova, while rounding out the Centre Court schedule is the Barty-Tomljanovic duel.
But first at Centre Court on Tuesday comes the resumption of the fourth-round match between Medvedev and Hurkacz, with the winner progressing to face Federer.