Images from Day 7 of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Sunday.
IMAGE: Grigor Dimitrov celebrates after winning his third round match. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Grigor Dimitrov dispatched American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe in straight sets with a convincing 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory on Sunday to move into the fourth round of Wimbledon where he will meet Danish sixth seed Holger Rune.
Tiafoe arrived at the All England Club having captured his first grasscourt title at the Stuttgart Open last month but it was the experienced Dimitrov, a former semi-finalist here, who prevailed over two days.
The first things Tiafoe highlighted when asked to give his thoughts on Dimitrov prior to the match were the Bulgarian’s first serve, his net game and his slice.
Tiafoe had clearly done his homework, having beaten Dimitrov four years ago at the Australian Open in a last-16 clash he described as “an absolute war”, but this time the American had no answer for the variety of shots in his opponent’s arsenal.
Dimitrov did not disappoint and was virtually unstoppable on serve, firing 13 aces and winning 92% of his first serve points to go two sets up and leave Tiafoe on the ropes before play was suspended on Saturday early in the third set.
When they resumed on Sunday, Dimitrov consolidated an early break and Tiafoe lost his cool in no time, taking his frustration out on a ball by launching it into orbit between points.
Dimitrov, on the other hand, was calm and collected as the 32-year-old went about his business with powerful shots from the baseline and flawless touches at the net to fire 33 winners, leaving the younger and faster Tiafoe with no answers.
The Bulgarian brought up three match points without breaking a sweat and sealed victory with a deft volley at the net after sending Tiafoe desperately scrambling for a return.
IMAGE: Jessica Pegula celebrates after entering the quarters. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Pegula reaches first Wimbledon quarters
Jessica Pegula enjoyed one of those scarcely believable days at Wimbledon as her racket oozed winners left, right and centre in a 6-1 6-3 fourth-round destruction of luckless Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
Tsurenko was left slapping her thighs and talking animatedly into her racket but no matter what she tried, it seemed like her game had slipped into a terminal coma.
Pegula took full advantage of her opponent’s woes as she walloped thunderous winners from the baseline to streak into a 5-0 lead in 18 blinding minutes.
Perhaps still feeling the effects of the mammoth effort she put into overcoming Ana Bogdan in the previous round, when Tsurenko won the longest women’s singles tiebreak (20-18 in the third set) at a slam in the Open Era, the Ukrainian could do little to stop the on-fire Pegula’s charge.
Tsurenko was lucky not to be completely wiped out from the opening set as the American fourth seed missed a set point in the sixth game.
That blip allowed Tsurenko to finally get a look-in as she registered her name on the scoreboard, earning her a round of sympathetic applause from the Court One crowd.
That respite, however, was brief as Pegula went on another three-game winning spree to take a 6-1 2-0 lead.
The mounting errors from Tsurenko left her trailing 5-1 in the second set too and while she managed to break Pegula when the American was serving for a place in the quarter-finals two games later, it seemed her body had faced enough punishment for the day.
After saving two match points, the 34-year-old winced in pain on the baseline and wasted little time in removing her right shoe and sock, revealing a bloody underfoot blister.
The on-court intervention from the trainer only delayed the inevitable as two points later Pegula was celebrating with a clenched fist as she booked a last-eight showdown with Marketa Vondrousova.
IMAGE: Marketa Vondrousova celebrates her quarterfinal win. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Vondrousova beats Bouzkova
Marketa Vondrousova recovered from an error-strewn start to seal a quarter-final berth at Wimbledon with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory over Marie Bouzkova in their all-Czech clash on Sunday.
Vondrousova looked uncomfortable throughout the contest, committing 44 unforced errors, but held her nerve to grind out a win despite dropping the first set.
“It was a very tough match. We played a long match, and we know each other from the very young age, so it was very tough also mentally,” Vondrousova told reporters.
“I’m just very happy that I stayed in the match and I stayed focused. I just wanted to stay in the match and be more active and going for the volleys and everything.”
Vondrousova will next meet Jessica Pegula for a place in the semi-finals, after the fourth-seeded American beat Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.
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