World No. 2 Coco Gauff was on Sunday sent crashing out of Wimbledon by US compatriot Emma Navarro as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were firmly locked on an All England Club semi-final collision course.
Gauff’s 6-4, 6-3 fourth-round defeat means that only two of the top 10 women’s seeds are left in the tournament.
TAIWAN PLAYERS
Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, Australian Open women’s doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Elise Mertens of Belgium made quick work of their second-round opponents.
The top women’s doubles seeds defeated the UK’s Yuriko Miyazaki and Emily Appleton 6-1, 6-2.
In the first round of the mixed doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig lost 6-3, 3-6 (10/5) against the UK’s Marcus Willis and Alicia Barnett.
ANOTHER ONE DOWN
Navarro, ranked 19th, reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time with her defeat of US Open champion Gauff.
Gauff, who made the semi-finals at the Australian Open and French Open this year, has still to get past the last 16 at Wimbledon, the tournament, where she made her breakthrough as a 15-year-old in 2019.
Her shock defeat followed the unexpected exit of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round on Saturday.
“I think I played really aggressively. Coco’s an amazing player and I have a ton of respect for her,” Navarro said.
Only fourth-ranked 2022 champion Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini, the world No. 7, remain from the top 10 women.
UNCOMFORTABLE ALCARAZ
In the men’s singles, world No. 3 Alcaraz defeated French 16th seed Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to make the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the ninth time in just 14 appearances.
However, it was another uncomfortable afternoon for the Spaniard, who had needed five sets to see off Frances Tiafoe in the third round.
His erratic performance on Sunday saw him drop serve five times and commit an uncharacteristic 33 unforced errors.
The 21-year-old, bidding to become just the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, eased through the first set under the Centre Court roof before crucially saving four break points in the fifth game of the second.
Humbert stormed back, breaking the champion three times in the third set as Alcaraz went spectacularly off the boil.
However, Humbert handed over a service break in the 11th game of the fourth set and Alcaraz took full advantage to quickly seal the tie.
“I will be there, fighting until the last ball,” said Alcaraz, who is chasing a fourth Grand Slam title.
Alcaraz will take on US 12th seed Tommy Paul, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Over on Court One, top seed Sinner moved into the last eight with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9) win over US 14th seed Ben Shelton.
Sinner, who won his maiden Slam crown at the Australian Open this year, is to face Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev for a place in the semi-finals in a rematch of their final in Melbourne.
“It was a tough match, especially the third set. I had to keep saving set points,” said Sinner, a semi-finalist last year.
Medvedev, also a semi-finalist last year, progressed when 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov retired in the first set of their last-16 tie with a knee injury.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS