The fourth round is in the books at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and the quarter-finals are set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday wasn’t able to rival Sunday’s excitement and it was unfortunate that three of the matches clashed with each other. Read on for the best bits from day 8. There’s also a few media highlights left over from Middle Sunday…
Best story 📚
Ajla Tomljanovic is back into the Wimbledon quarter-finals, outlasting Alizé Cornet in an absolute slugfest, 4-6 6-4 6-3, in two hours and 35 minutes. In an emotional post-match interview, Tomljanovic said she didn’t think she could do it. You did it, Ajla!
Tomljanovic found herself down a set after a scrappy opener. She blinked when serving to stay in the set having been handed a lifeline by Cornet who was generally the better player and played with greater variety. The second set was touch-and-go. Cornet had three game points at 6-4 4-4. Had she converted one of those points, Cornet would have been one game away. Tomljanovic was gritty and resolute, and managed to sneak out the second set.
Just like the last round against Krejcikova, Tomljanovic got better and better as the match progressed. Cornet was done physically and limping and wincing around the court. It still wasn’t an easy close as Cornet, unsurprisingly, did not go down without a fight. The pair played an unbelievable rally on the penultimate point which had an instantly gifable shot of Cornet on the floor. Tomljanovic sealed the memorable win. If you haven’t seen it already, then i’d urge you to watch Tomljanovic’s interview… 😭
Spotlight 💡
For the second time in 2022, Simona Halep delivered a statement win over Paula Badosa. 6-1 6-2 in just an hour! Halep, consistently up on the baseline, never let up against an erratic, Badosa. Halep cruised through the first set in just 23 minutes. It felt like there may be a change in momentum at the start of the second set when Badosa saved three break points in the longest game of the match to hold to 2-2. Halep began to look rattled but reacted in positively by holding to 15. That was pretty much that as Halep won 16 of the last 20 points of the match.
Halep seems to have Badosa’s numbers and I felt like Badosa didn’t believe she could win this match after what happened in Madrid. A strange tournament having played arguably one of her best matches of the year on Saturday against Kvitova which had come out of the blue. Halep marches on with her 11th consecutive win at SW19 and is yet to drop a set this year.
Best of the rest 🎾
Elena Rybakina was the first winner of the day, beating Petra Martic, 7-5 6-3, to advance to her first Wimbledon quarter-final. Both players blew hot and cold in the opener and it was Rybakina’s much higher first serve percentage (71% compares to 44% Martic) that was ultimately the difference. The second set was a different story as Rybakina completely outplayed Martic and was pretty awesome. Rybakina was crushing the ball and dropped just three points on serve.
Amanda Anisimova is also into her first Wimbledon quarter-final, ending the run of Harmony Tan, 6-2 6-3. Anisimova had a clear gameplan and executed it beautifully. Anisimova was aggressive and precise, and went after the Tan second serve. The only wobble was when Anisimova showed frustration at not being able to secure the double break in the second set. That frustration bled into Anisimova’s following service game at *4-3. Anisimova saved two break points and then went onto break again for the win.
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
Best point 👏
The incredible penultimate point in Cornet-Tomljanovic that floored Alizé.
Snap of the day 📸
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Press highlights 📰
One from Sunday. I was full of admiration for Heather Watson after watching her press conference following a fourth round loss to Jule Niemeier. Heather is one of a kind. It’s rare to get much out of players in a post-loss presser but Heather was so honest, thoughtful and takes questions for 15 minutes. She even gets up at one point to show the journalists her bruised legs 😂. Well worth a watch on the Wimby website.
Recommended media 📺
I’m going through my family with mentions at this tournament. Today, credit to the mother who told me about this! 😊
Recommended reading 📚
Ons’s latest column for BBC Sport is a good one where she discusses playing on grass for the first time and it not being love at first sight!
Moo's Tennis Blog 