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Images from Day 8 of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Monday.
IMAGE: Novak Djokovic entered the Wimbledon quarters. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Getty Images
Defending champion Novak Djokovic was temporarily knocked off course by big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz but quickly got back in the groove on Monday to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Having edged two tiebreaks late on Sunday before being beaten by the tournament’s strict 11pm curfew, the 36-year-old returned to lose his first set of the tournament before sealing a 7-6(6) 7-6(6) 5-7 6-4 victory.
Djokovic was not at his best as Hurkacz briefly threatened a comeback but, as he so often does, the record 23-time Grand Slam men’s champion found a solution.
He has now moved equal in second place with Jimmy Connors for Wimbledon quarter-finals reached and will face Russia’s seventh seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
Remarkably the Serbian has now reached 56 Grand Slam quarters-finals, second behind only Roger Federer.
With wind swirling around Centre Court, Djokovic struggled for his usual rhythm and dropped serve for the first time in the match to hand over the third set.
The second seed looked uncomfortable for a while against the 17th seed, who ended Federer’s Wimbledon career two years ago.
But Djokovic pounced to finally the break the Hurkacz serve for the first time at 3-3 in the fourth — having seen seven previous break points snatched away.
From then on it was straightforward as Djokovic quickly wrapped things up in clinical fashion.
IMAGE: Daniil Medvedev entered the quarterfinal for the first time. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time on Monday when his fourth-round opponent Jiri Lehecka retired injured after losing the first two sets 6-4 6-2.
The 21-year-old Lehecka, who had played a four-hour five-set match against Tommy Paul in the last round, took a timeout after the first set while a trainer treated blisters on his right foot.
The Czech, who produced 33 unforced errors in the match, struggled on through the second set but Medvedev broke his serve twice and was untroubled on his own.
“I feel sorry for Jiri because fourth round at Wimbledon, to get hurt it’s not easy,” Medvedev, 27, said in an interview on court. “He has a lot of Grand Slams ahead of him.”
Wimbledon has been Medvedev’s least successful Grand Slam tournament. The former world number one has reached four finals, winning the U.S. Open in 2021.
He did not play at Wimbledon last year because of the ban on Russian competitors following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a ‘special military operation’.
IMAGE: Madison Keys in action against Mirra Andreeva. Photograph: Toby Melville/Twitter
American Keys ends teenager Andreeva’s dream run
American Madison Keys recovered from a set and a break down to end Mirra Andreeva’s fairytale Wimbledon debut as the 16-year-old Russian was beaten 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 in the fourth round on Monday.
World number 102 Andreeva, who was looking to become the youngest player to reach the last eight of the grasscourt Grand Slam since Anna Kournikova in 1997, fought valiantly against Keys but was ultimately overwhelmed by the seasoned 25th seed.
The teenager’s lack of experience showed towards the end of the match, as she was handed a point penalty for throwing her racket at 5-2 in the decider, which handed match point to Keys.
An emotional Andreeva then argued with the umpire, before refusing to shake hands at the end of the match.
Prior to her defeat against Keys, Andreeva had showcased great maturity in her wins over former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and compatriot Anastasia Potapova.
Asked if she had felt any pressure facing the breakout star, Keys said: “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.
“Coming out here, you don’t want to be the person who loses to her, for her to get to her first quarter-finals. I knew that if I tried to just stay in the match, my many, many, many more years on Tour would kick in.”
IMAGE: Elena Rybakina in action against Beatriz Haddad Maia. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Rybakina reaches last eight as tearful Haddad Maia quits
Holder Elena Rybakina was given an easy ride into the Wimbledon quarter-finals after Brazilian opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia retired midway through the first set with a back injury.
Rybakina had just broken for a 3-1 lead in the first set when the Brazilian 13th seed winced in pain and clutched her back after netting a backhand.
Haddad Maia called on the physio and kept grimacing as her back was being manipulated courtside. After leaving Centre Court to receive further treatment, she limped back in an attempt to resume the match following a 10 minute interval.
However, the way she stiffly avoided bending over to pick up her racket from her chair to resume the contest signalled that all was not well and that the match might soon be over.
The 27-year-old Brazilian tearfully went through the motions for one more game, grabbing her back after every point as she struggled to move around or make contact with the ball.
IMAGE: A tearful Beatriz Haddad Maia retires due to injury. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Less than a minute later, a distraught Haddad Maia clutched her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears rolling down her face.
After a quick exchange with her team in the players’ box, the 27-year-old shook her head to confirm she could no longer continue and gingerly walked up to Rybakina to share an embrace.
“It’s never easy to finish a match like this and I hope it’s nothing really serious,” said 24-year-old Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina, who will next face either two-time champion Petra Kvitova or last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur.
“It was really unlucky for Beatriz and I hope she gets better,” added the third seed.
The abrupt ending denied Roland Garros semi-finalist Haddad Maia of a chance to notch up a hat-trick of wins over Rybakina and also ended her hopes of becoming the first Brazilian woman in 55 years to reach the last eight of the grasscourt major.
