Jabeur 1st Arab woman in Wimbledon last-8
Djokovic rolls into quarters with Garin thrashing • Barty survives Krejcikova test • Khachanov KOs Korda
LONDON (Reuters) – Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a dazzling 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over seventh seed Iga Swiatek on Monday.
Jabeur lost four games in a row from a position of strength to concede the opening set on Court Two but responded in sensational fashion to outplay last year’s French Open champion.
The 26-year-old has now beaten three Grand Slam champions so far here, taking out five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza during her impressive run.
In doing so she has endeared herself to the Wimbledon crowds with a wily game full of variety but also power when required.
Jabeur will contest her second Grand Slam quarterfinal on Tuesday against Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, having reached her first in Australia in 2020.
While that was viewed as a surprise, even by herself, the Tunis-based player has reached at least the third round of every subsequent Grand Slam tournament and became the first Arab woman to win a WTA title on the Birmingham lawns last month.
“My goal is to break this quarterfinal and be able to go to the semi and why not the final?” she said. “I’m enjoying my time here in Wimbledon, enjoying the grass a lot.”
When Swiatek struck a majestic backhand winner down the line to take the opening set it seemed that the Pole was beginning to take charge of a match in which she started nervously.
But Jabeur started the second set like a woman on a mission, breaking to love in the opening game then holding her own serve with a trademark
dropshot that had Swiatek slamming her racket into the net tape in frustration.
It was a sign of things to come as Jabeur broke serve again in the next game with a belting forehand winner at the end of a long baseline exchange. The Tunisian then saved three break points, one with an ace, to lead 4-0.
Swiatek’s serve began to look vulnerable and on set point down she rolled in a 66 mph delivery that Jabeur nonchalantly dinked over for a winning dropshot.
There was no stopping 21st seed Jabeur in the decider after a Swiatek double fault gifted her a 3-1 lead.
Serving for the match at 5-1 she showed no nerves, sealing a win with an ace and receiving a warm ovation from the crowd who thoroughly enjoyed watching her multi-dimensional game.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for top seed Novak Djokovic as the Serbian dismantled the challenge of Chile’s Cristian Garin with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory to advance to the last-eight and keep his title defense intact at the grasscourt major.
The world No. 1, who won the last two titles on the manicured grass at the All England Club, will play his 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal when he next faces either Russian fifth seed
Andrey Rublev or Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.
The 25-year-old Garin, seeded 17th, had never played Djokovic on grass before and soon realized he did not have the resources to trouble the Serbian on a sun-baked Centre Court.
Djokovic won the first eight points of the match and never took his foot off the pedal during the match, dominating from the baseline and the net against the Chilean.
He lost only 13 points on his own serve and broke his opponent five times to stay on course for a 20th Grand Slam title that would tie him with great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most major men’s titles.
A sixth Wimbledon trophy on Sunday would also move the 34-year-old closer to the Golden Slam, with the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open to be played on his favorite hard courts.
In women’s action, Ash Barty reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 7-5, 6-3 win over French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Long tipped as a future Wimbledon champion, the Australian world No. 1 has had to wait nine long years since making her main draw debut in 2012 to finally put herself in the lasteight mix at the grass-court major.
Facing an opponent who until last Tuesday had never played a main draw singles match on turf, Barty had been expected to easily make her greater grass pedigree count.
Yet she was the one who came unstuck first with Krejcikova threatening to win her 16th match on the trot after seizing the early initiative when she broke for a 2-1 lead in the first set.
But in the battle of the world No. 1’s, with Krejcikova sitting on top of the women’s doubles standings, Barty bided her time before finally drawing level at 4-4 when the Czech netted a backhand.
Barty struck a huge blow in Krejcikova’s hopes of becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to chalk up the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year when she broke the Czech to love to take the first set.
A flurry of breaks midway through the second set failed to fluster Barty too much and after sealing victory with a thumping ace, she puffed out her cheeks before breaking into a smile – the relief at finally climbing over that fourth round hurdle clear for all to see.
She will next face either British wildcard Emma Raducanu or fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic for a place in the semifinals.
Also, Karen Khachanov spearheaded a Russian assault in the fourth round as he beat last-standing American Sebastian Korda in a five-set dog fight to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
The 25th seed needed four attempts to finish Korda off in a titanic final set, three times failing to hold serve to win the match but eventually coming through 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8.
Khachanov could be joined in the last eight by Andrey Rublev and world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.
It is the first time three Russian men have made it to the last-16 of Wimbledon in the professional era.
Wimbledon debutant Korda, celebrating his 21st birthday, showed great resistance in the deciding set, saving a match point at 5-4 down with a reflex volley from a ball drilled with searing pace by Khachanov.
Three times the American – son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda and sister of Nelly who is the LPGA’s No. 1 golfer – broke the Russian’s serve to stay in the match despite showing signs of cramp.
But when he lost his serve again at 8-8 it proved decisive as Khachanov finished off a near four-hour tussle to set up a quarterfinal against either Canadian Denis Shapovalov or Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
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