LONDON — Poland’s Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva of Russia, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and Italy’s Jannik Sinner were in cruise control at Wimbledon.
World number one Swiatek lived to fight another day after clawing her way back from a set down and saving two match points before beating Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 6-7(4) 7-6(2) 6-3 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
The 14th-seeded Swiss proved a frustrating obstacle for Swiatek, with the four-time Grand Slam champion struggling to master her opponent for the majority of what proved an intriguing tussle on Centre Court.
As the evening gloom set in, Swiatek eventually got a handle on her opponent’s game, moving clear in the final set before wrapping up victory after more than three hours of compelling twists and turns.
Bencic had been stubborn in her resistance in the opening set, saving six break points before taking it on a tiebreak and then fighting back after falling behind in the second.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek saved two match points at 5-6 in the second set and then levelled the contest in another tiebreak.
Swiatek, who arrived at the All England Club having won her third French Open title last month, had never reached the last eight at Wimbledon in her previous three attempts
So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York – and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals – Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the green grass used at the year´s third Grand Slam tournament.
Against the big-hitting Bencic, the singles gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Swiatek certainly had her chances to take control far earlier than she did.
When 16-year-old Andreeva needed some advice after losing in the third round at her first major tennis tournament, she didn’t have to go far.
“Honestly, after Paris Open, I just had quite a long talk with myself, just me and myself, and that´s it. I talked to myself. I just talked,” Andreeva said according to AP. “I don´t know, just in my head I realized some things. I took some decisions that I think are now important for me.”
In her second major tournament, Andreeva has already done one better, advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon following a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 22nd-seeded Anastasia Potapova on No. 3 Court.
Andreeva became the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Coco Gauff in 2019. She will next face will No. 25 Madison Keys for a spot in the quarter-finals.
For such a young player, her maturity came through on court. After winning the first set, she found herself trailing 4-1 in the second. Keeping her cool, she was able to regroup and take back control.
“Of course, in 2021 she did amazing job. Everyone was impressed,” Andreeva said of Raducanu, a British player who is missing Wimbledon this year because of injuries.
Svitolina came from a set and break down to defeat Belarusian rival Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9).
Eighth seed Sinner reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second successive year as he broke the stubborn resistance of unseeded Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan with a 7-6(4) 6-4 6-3 victory.
Sinner, who has dropped only one set so far, is the first Italian man to reach the quarter-finals twice at Wimbledon.
While he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at any of the four Grand Slams he now has a great opportunity to break new ground with 92nd-ranked Russian Roman Safiullin up next.
Sinner’s explosive groundstrokes and much-improved serve are paying dividends on the Wimbledon lawns — with former Australian player Darren Cahill’s influence paying off.
He has worked with Cahill this summer and says the best advice he has been given is to be ‘friendly with the grass’
“This is a quote that Darren gave me,” Sinner said. “You’ll have chances but sometimes there are some bad bounces or you can get unlucky a couple of times because your opponent is serving good. You have to always have the right mindset.
“Also sometimes trying to smile because you also have to enjoy to play here.”
Galan, ranked 85th in the world, matched Sinner throughout the opening set and the Italian looked rattled in the tiebreak when forced to replay a point after winning a Hawkeye challenge.
Sinner did not allow his debate with Veljovic to distract him too long though as he took the opening set.
His mood was hardly helped as he dropped serve at the start of the second set and then squandered five break points in the next game, again having words with the match official.
Four more break points went begging in Galan’s next service game but Sinner finally got back on level terms when he converted a break point, at the 15th attempt, for 4-4.
He then held serve and broke again to move two sets up.
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