First week down. Second week incoming. Day 7 was the first official Middle Sunday in the newly revised Wimbledon schedule. The singles matches weren’t all that enticing on paper. Never judge a book by its cover! I think this was my favourite day of the Champs so far. As well as the singles matches, we had the Centre Court centenary celebrations and an INCREDIBLE final set tiebreak featuring Venus Williams and Jamie Murray. Props to the British pair of Jonny O’Mara and Alicia Barnett who won the match, 3-6 6-4 7-6(16). Read on for the highlights from a dazzling Middle Sunday.

Best match 🎇

In the last match of the day and with so much on the line, Ons Jabeur and Elise Mertens played out one hell of a match. The winner would be the only seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw and it was Jabeur who prevailed, 7-6(9) 6-4. The first set was a solid candidate for set of the Champs so far. The level was insane in the first set tiebreak. Ons was clutch as she backed herself on the big points with aggressive, high-risk tennis and saved five set points to claim the set.

Mertens played a great match, serving big and playing aggressively for the most part. I think there was one set point in the first set tiebreak where I felt like she just backed off a smidgeon. Mertens was at her resilient-best and stayed with Jabeur for much of the second set. It was just that final game where Mertens really blinked for the first time with a double fault down match point.

The pressure Ons must have felt in this match… the draw has opened up and surely she is aware of that?! In the end, a statement win for Ons to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second straight year.

Best story 📚

One of the plus points of Middle Sunday is matches that would previously be overlooked on the outside courts in all the mayhem of Manic Monday now get their deserved billing on a show court. That was the case today as we got to witness Tatjana Maria and Jelena Ostapenko enthral the No.1 Court crowd in a really, really, really fun match. Maria saved two match points to beat Ostapenko, 5-7 7-5 7-5 in two hours and eight minutes. What made this match so special was the dramatic contrast in styles as Ostapenko’s flat crunching groundstrokes collided with Maria’s slice-and-dice game.

This was a huge missed opportunity for Ostapenko who showed her frustration towards the end as she received a code violation in the final game for taking an angry swipe at the court and then knocked her chair over at the end with her water bottle 😂. Ostapenko led by a set and *4-1 and missed two match points at *5-4 where Maria’s serve came to her rescue. Maria praised the crowd in her post-match interview and said their support and belief helped her serve out the match at the second time of asking having been broken to love in the first attempt at *5-4 in the third set.

Maria played her first main draw Slam match in 2007 and had never made it past the third round in 34 previous main draw appearances. Now she’s into a first Slam quarter-final at the age of 34! Can’t get enough of these magical heartwarming Slam stories 🥰.

Best of the rest 🎾

Jule Niemeier had never won a main draw match at a Slam prior to Wimbledon. Now she’s into the quarters! Niemeier produced another brilliant display in her first outing on Centre Court as she rose to the occasion to beat Heather Watson and the crowd, 6-2 6-4. Tough one for Hev but so classy to sign autographs and smile for selfies with the fans at the end.

The first three winners of the day were all first time Slam quarter-finalists. Marie Bouzkova snapped Caroline Garcia‘s winning streak at eight, winning 7-5 6-2. Bouzkova hit just FOUR unforced errors all match. Bouzkova had a great day on serve and was super sharp with her targets as she passed Garcia at will. I’m so happy for Marie! One of the nicest players on tour 😊.

DAY 7 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS 

Hot shot 🔥

Bouzkova already hit the shot of the year for me in Madrid and this is another Bouzy special!

Best point 👏

One of the points of the Championships so far. Both smiling after it.

Snap of the day 📸

❤

Interview highlights 📰

You can feel the joy and excitement from Maria in this interview and how much this win meant to her.

Recommended media 📺

The Centre Court Centenary celebrations have been uploaded in full on Wimbledon’s YouTube page. When Sue got a standing ovation and started to choke up… 😭😭😭

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