Iga Swiatek And Novak Djokovicwho is one of the few players who have not yet been affected by rain during their career at Wimbledonwere the main attractions of a day of knock out of the London tournament on the center court of the All England Club this Sunday.

Djokovic, second seed and seeking his eighth English Grand Slam crown, has closed center court action to the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, 17th seed, for the passage to the quarter-finals. And the Serb had to work hard to win the first set, because his rival gave him a hard time and forced him to go to the tie break to resume the set for 7-6 (8-6).

At the start of the game, they measured themselves without risking too much. The most even match was the third, in which the Serb was able to win two points with the Pole’s serve. But neither were about to stand a chance of breaking their rival’s serve. Thus, they reached Game 6 with Hurkacz leading 3-2.

The story didn’t change much after this very start, although Djokovic started to turn up the pressure and play more in the Pole’s service games. In the ninth game, he demanded the most from Hubert who had to raise 40-40 to hold his serve and get up 5-4.

The Serbian then played his weakest service game of the match, including a double fault, but managed to hold on without a problem and Hurkacz, more confident than ever, then made it 6-5 to secure the tie-break.

With both giving nothing and very comfortable with their serves, the set seemed headed for a tiebreaker. So that was it. Hurkacz was the first to take a mini lead, earning a point over Djokovic on serve to take a 4-3 lead, then stretching the lead with two aces. So it was 6-3 with three set points in favor.

Djokovic saved the first two and the Pole ruined the third with a backhand unforced error. And he seemed to feel the blow of the missed chances, as he couldn’t react and Nole managed to close it after 46 minutes.

At the start of the next set, the dynamics hardly changed, but Djokovic did have a break option in the fourth game (2-2) and especially four more in the eighth (4-4). The Pole reacted and forced a new “tie-break”, under penalty of suspension, according to a dispatch from the German press agency DPA.

Djokovic handled the tension of the environment and the clock well. Despite taking a 4-5 lead and two serves from his rival to close the set, the man from Belgrade released his best version and displayed a series of key shots.

After winning the second set, at 25 minutes to midnight, the tournament organization has postponed the match to tomorrow, where Djokovic, who today broke another record by winning 14 consecutive tie-breaks, will look to impose and to go to the quarter-finals. , whoever wins will play against the Russian Andrey Rublev (7), executioner of the Kazakh Alexander Bublik (26) by 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 6-8), 6-7 (5-7) and 6 -4 after 3 hours and 20 minutes.

The Russian was able to get his ticket to the next round earlier, as he got two match points in the tenth game of the fourth set. However, Bublik came back and squeezed his opponent.

On the same side of the men’s draw, the Italian Jannik Sinner (8) and the Russian Roman Safiullin (92) will face each other, having respectively beaten the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán (85) 7-6 (7-4), 6 – 4 and 6-3 in 2 hours and 40 minutes, and the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (29) by 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 and 6-3 in 2 hours and 12 minutes.

On the other side of the men’s singles table, the round of 16 between the French American Tiafoe (10) and the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (24), who had been suspended on Saturday due to rain, ended.

In 1 hour and 41 minutes of cumulative time, the Bulgarian finished his rival with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 and 6-2

Swiatek for the first time in the Wimbledon quarter-finals

Swiatek, for her part, has already secured a spot in the top eight of the women’s draw for the first time in her career. The world number one collected two match points before defeating the Swiss Belinda Bencic (14th) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2) and 6-3.

Champion at Roland-Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023, as well as at the US Open in 2022, the 22-year-old Pole had never passed the knockout stages on London grass. She will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (76th), who beat Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (20th) 2-6, 6-4 and 7-6 (11-9) in the quarter-finals.

Iga acknowledged that the key to their victory was keeping their composure against the two match points against.

“In those moments they have to play without too much fear because usually it’s whoever has the match ball in favor who has the most pressure,” he said.

Against Bencic, after losing an opening set in which she was treated for an Achilles tendon, Swiatek broke her rival’s serve in the set to lead 2-0, but the Olympic champion then leveled at 3-3 .

At 5-6 in service, Swiatek saved two match points, before quietly winning the victory on a tie-break.

In the decisive set, mentally reinforced, the Pole quickly took the 3-1 advantage and was then able to finish the match on a 6-3 series, to celebrate her victory after three hours and three minutes of battle on the center court. of Germany. England club.

However, the Russian Andrei Rublev It was he who opened the day at center with a tremendous five-set victory over Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

In front of Court N.1, the Italian Jannik Sinner ended with Colombian Daniel Galán’s dream week.

The one who qualified for the round of 16 was the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrovwho after Saturday’s suspension, completed his victory over the American Frances Tiafoe with parts of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-2.

In the women’s draw, the one who qualified for the round of 16 was the Russian prodigy Mirra Andreevawho beat his compatriot Anastasia Potapova (N.22) by 6-2 and 7-5. In this meeting, there was one of the most emblematic moments of this edition of the third Grand Slam of the season with an incredible call for the attention of the referee in the middle of the match.

Results of the 7th day at Wimbledon

Men’s singles – Third round:
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL / N.21) defeats Frances Tiafoe (USA / N.10) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Men’s Singles – Round of 16:
Jannik Sinner (ITA/N.8) beat Daniel Galán (COL) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-3
Roman Safiullin (RUS) defeats Denis Shapovalov (CAN/N.26) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
Andrey Rublev (RUS/N.7) defeats Alexander Bublik (KAZ/N.23) 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4

Ladies’ Singles – Third Round:
Mirra Andreeva (RUS) defeated Anastasia Potapova (RUS/N.22) 6-2, 7-5

Single Ladies – Round of 16:
Jessica Pegula (USA/N.4) beat Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 6-1, 6-3
Markéta Vondrousová (CZE) beats Marie Bouzková (CZE / N.32) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

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