results and scores from Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek

There is a gap on Wimbledon’s CV. Forty-five years ago, Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon as a mother, which ought to have meant that mums flooded through the gates reaching the latter stages here on a regular basis — but no mother has won the championships since (Alyson Rudd writes).

That there is a collective desire to see a woman who has started a family prevail was evident on No1 Court where Belinda Bencic, the last remaining of the nine mothers who started out in the singles draw, defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 18 seed, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. It was a tense, high-quality affair and afterwards Bencic beamed at the spectators and told them she was “juggling a lot — just like any mum — so yeah, props to the mums”.

This went down very well indeed. Not everyone can identify with being an elite sports star but lots of us understand all too well the challenges of balancing work and family and everyone has a different take on how to do it while keeping guilt to a minimum. The 28-year-old from Switzerland says it is largely about the ability to compromise.

“I feel like you have to be really prepared for not being able to do everything perfectly, you know?” she said. “I think what I try sometimes in the household, in the tennis court, being a mum, I think you just have to let some things go. You have to compromise.

“I’m really lucky I have great support from all my family, especially my husband. Shout out to him. Also, I didn’t want to say just mums who juggle, but also dads and parents in general.”

Just as we thought Djokovic was showing his age, he roared defiance

The heart kind of goes out to Alex De Minaur. At least it would have done if there was much heart left (Owen Slot writes). If you spent your tennis life extending sympathy to those who thought flickeringly that they were getting one up on Novak Djokovic, then you’d look as broken as De Minaur looked afterwards.

Beaten 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, 4-6, in a thrilling encounter against the preposterously evergreen Serb, De Minaur’s last show of impressive pace was the speed with which he made it up to do his media duties. That always tells a tale: get it done, get out, go home.

De Minaur sat there politely answering questions that he really had no care for. The weight of the world was such that he could just about hold his head above the table.

“It’s a shame we’re not out there playing a fifth set,” he said. Indeed it was, but it’s been a shame for hundreds of players over two decades that Djokovic is able to find that extra gear and purr off into the distance.

The particular intrigue, now, is that Djokovic occasionally fumbles for the gear stick and those of us watching sit forward and wonder if we are witnessing a historical moment: is this it? Is this the time when age catches up with him?

Jamie Delgado on how Norrie can beat Alcaraz again

Cameron Norrie will walk out onto Centre Court on Tuesday with the belief that he can defeat Carlos Alcaraz because he has done it before — twice. This is so significant mentally for the British No3 before this Wimbledon quarter-final, making the tough task of beating the Spanish five-times grand-slam champion feel a little less daunting.

Both wins were some time ago and on other surfaces, on hard courts at the 2022 Cincinnati Open and on clay at the 2023 Rio Open. But it will still give Norrie such a lift to be going out there knowing that he has conquered Alcaraz in the past. Many players who come up against the likes of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have never tasted victory against them, whereas Norrie will know it is possible because he has been there and done that.

The win in Rio de Janeiro was particularly significant. This was not a match in the first or second round of a small tournament, it was the final of a prestigious ATP 500 event in which the stakes were raised against an opponent who had won the US Open five months earlier. Norrie also displayed his resilience, fighting back from a set and a break down to claim his fifth and most recent tour title.

Norrie has struggled since with both injury and inconsistency, and dropped as low as world No91 two months ago. But I, along with various players and coaches, had actually noticed during his practice sessions earlier in the year that his level was creeping back up. He was not necessarily getting as many wins as he would like, but in practice he was actually playing really well.

What’s coming up tomorrow

We’ve got two of those matches tomorrow, along with the first two women’s quarter-finals.

Centre Court (from 1.30pm)
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Laura Siegemund
Cameron Norrie v Carlos Alcaraz (2)

No1 Court (from 1pm)
Taylor Fritz (5) v Karen Khachanov (17)
Amanda Anisimova (13) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Dimitrov’s retirement means the men’s last eight is now set:

Jannik Sinner (1) v Ben Shelton (10)
Flavio Cobolli (22) v Novak Djokovic (6)
Taylor Fritz (5) v Karen Khachanov (17)
Cameron Norrie v Carlos Alcaraz (2)

We normally see players retire when they’re losing; it’s so unusual for it to happen when they’re in such command as Dimitrov was in that match. It would have been one of the biggest wins of his life. Instead he’s left having to try to mentally and physically recover from his fifth retirement in a row at a grand-slam. He may never get a better chance to go deep at a major again; and he’ll know it. It’s brutal and heartbreaking. As for Sinner, he’ll face the tenth seed Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals. And suddenly Sinner looks very vulnerable.

A tearful Dimitrov leaves Centre Court

JAVIER GARCIA/SHUTTERSTOCK

‘I don’t take this as a win at all’

Sinner is back for an on-court interview. The atmosphere is muted to say the least. “I don’t know what to say because he’s an incredible player,” Sinner says. “He’s been so unlucky in the past. He’s a good friend of mine, seeing him in this position, if there was any chance for him to play the next round he would deserve it. I don’t take this as a win at all, this is just a very unfortunate moment to witness, for all of us. The last grand-slams he’s struggled a lot with injuries; to have this injury now is very tough. It’s very unfortunate, very sad, we all wish him very the best. Let’s give an applause for him.” Classy from Sinner.

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Dimitrov returns to court shaking his head. It’s over. Alas. What a cruel turn of events for Dimitrov, who was leading the world No1 by two sets to love, 6-3, 7-5, 2-2, when injury struck. The 34-year-old wipes away the tears with his towel as he walks off alongside Sinner, to a standing ovation. An abrupt ending to what had looked to be turning into the shock of the tournament.

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After holding serve with an ace for 2-2, it’s Dimitrov who’s now lying on the grass, clutching his right pectoral area. He looks to be in some pain as Sinner rushes over to Dimitrov’s side of the net to see if the Bulgarian is OK. It seems he injured himself after serving that ace, having already looked a little uncomfortable on the previous point. What terrible luck. The match was on Dimitrov’s racket. But now it’s unclear if he’ll be able to continue. He’s shaking his head as he walks off court for treatment.

Dimitrov receives treatment to his right pectoral muscle

JORDAN PETTITT/PA WIRE

Four weeks ago Sinner lost from two sets up in that French Open final for the ages against Carlos Alcaraz. Now the Italian must come from two sets down if he’s to avoid his earliest exit at Wimbledon since 2021. Sinner holds to 30 after that interruption to close the roof — before Dimitrov holds from deuce, with gasps from the crowd as Sinner takes another tumble on to the grass and clutches that injured elbow. It’s one game all in the third set.

‘Mistick’ blamed for Wimbledon line-call chaos

A simple “mistick” on a computer screen has been blamed for the chaos on Centre Court at Wimbledon when an automatic line-calling system was switched off (David Brown and Lara Wildenberg write).

“Human error” led to the ball-tracking cameras not operating on part of the court for almost seven minutes during Sunday’s match between Britain’s Sonay Kartal and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

On Monday the All England Club ruled out bringing back human line judges, who were fully replaced by the system this year.

The Hawk-Eye operator, using a computer mouse, inadvertently “unclicked” a section of cameras covering the server’s side of the court. The mistake was not spotted by the review official from the referee’s office or passed on to the umpire.

Wimbledon insisted changes had been made to prevent a repeat of the mistake by making it impossible for cameras to be disabled while the electronic line-call system is operating.

Dimitrov leads Sinner by two sets to love

The world No1 is in a whole world of trouble as Dimitrov serves out the second set at the second time of asking. Dimitrov tried to do it at 5-4 and was broken back. It seemed Sinner’s medical timeout had worked wonders — but Dimitrov immediately broke the Italian’s serve for 6-5 and then held from deuce to seize the set 7-5 on his third set point as Sinner swats a backhand wide. The 34-year-old once known as Baby Fed because of his style of play and promise — which he has never fully fulfilled — is a set away from reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for only the second time. It’s a long way back now for Sinner, who leaves the court when it’s announced there’ll be a ten-minute break while the roof is closed.

Iga Swiatek serves it out to love (James Gheerbrant writes). The Pole made a rather unconvincing start, double-faulting on the opening two points of the match and then twice more in her second service, but from that point on she got better and better and better. 6-4, 6-1 is the final score.

In the second set she hit 12 winners to five unforced errors, and lost only eight points — that might be one of the best sets she’s ever played on grass, even with the caveat that Clara Tauson was apparently struggling with sickness. “It’s the first time I’ve really enjoyed London,” Swiatek admits in her on-court interview, though she does clarify that she’s referring to her tennis at Wimbledon rather than the capital as a whole. She will play Liudmila Samsonova in the quarter-finals.

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That was an exceptional game from Swiatek (James Gheerbrant writes). Her forehand is really finding its range and a low, whipped winner gives her 0-40 on the Tauson serve. Tauson saves the first two break points and has Swiatek on the back foot on the third, but Swiatek sends up a brilliant defensive lob, turns the tables and finishes with a cross-court backhand pass. That’s the break: Swiatek leads by a set and 3-1.

Dimitrov continues to lead

A slightly bizarre moment there as Sinner just whiffs at a Dimitrov backhand slice — it seemed to hit the chalk on the service line and so just crept under Sinner’s racket as he tried to whip the forehand over. That awkward grass bounce, at it again. The Bulgarian leads 6-3, 4-2 with Sinner now serving.

Sinner calls for the trainer

The Italian has summoned the trainer as Dimitrov goes 3-1 up, but Sinner still has to hold serve first. He gets to 30-0 with a cross-court forehand winner but then double-faults again. Dimitrov nets a backhand slice and Sinner then picks him off with a lovely backhand down the line as the Bulgarian approaches the net. That’s the game and here comes the trainer, who is looking at Sinner’s elbow, it seems.

Swiatek looked stronger and stronger as the first set went on (James Gheerbrant writes). At 4-5 Tauson had to serve to stay in it and a couple of long rallies favoured the Pole, with her brilliant footwork and that low, whippy forehand working to good effect. Tauson saves one set point but on the second one she double-faults, and that’s the first stanza to Swiatek.

The Italian world No1 has coasted through this tournament so far but he’s really up against it here. After ceding that first set 6-3, he’s broken to love in the opening game of the second set, capped off by a meek forehand into the net at 0-40. Dimitrov then holds his own serve to love — that’s eight points in a row to begin the set for the Bulgarian.

Dimitrov takes the first set off Sinner (Rick Broadbent writes). If he carries on playing like this it will be a true test of Sinner’s resilience and talent. Dimitrov has form here, of course, but the only time he got past the fourth round was way back in 2014. Interesting start.

Dimitrov starts strongly against Sinner

Grigor Dimitrov has started this well (Rick Broadbent writes). Having retired from four consecutive grand slams, a dubious record, we might doubt his ability to go the distance but that one-handed backhand is flashing away and he is giving Sinner lots to think about. Leads 4-2 with the break.

Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek has wrested that break back from Clara Tauson (James Gheerbrant writes). In truth, neither player looks entirely at ease out there but it’s Swiatek whose body language is much the more positive and right now perhaps that’s working for her. She leads 4-3 in search of what would be only her second Wimbledon quarter-final.

A rather strange start to this match (James Gheerbrant writes). Tauson, the 23rd seed from Denmark, plays a poor first service game to hand Swiatek the break back, but then Swiatek throws in two more doubles and a couple of poor shots to lose her serve again. Tauson leads 2-1, can she consolidate that advantage now?

Double trouble for Swiatek

Iga Swiatek has made the worst possible start to her match against Clara Tauson on No1 Court (James Gheerbrant writes). The eighth seed double faults on the first two points of the match, then sees Tauson send a forehand winner past her, then sends a backhand long to drop serve to love.

‘I lost my focus when I saw Roger’

More from Andreeva, whose on-court interview is every bit as entertaining as her tennis. “Honestly it’s something crazy,” the teenager says. “I was super nervous playing first time on Centre Court. I really tried my best not to look at the Royal Box as I knew I would lose my focus. So did I at 4-1 [in the second set, when she was broken]. I saw Roger and Mirka. It means a lot that you came and watched my match. It’s been one of my dreams to see you in real life. Mirka I really like your outfit!”

And what will her coach, the 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez, make of her emphatic victory? “I will talk to her and see what she thought, she will probably say it could have been better!”

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceShelton breaks new ground

A huge “COME ON!” from Ben Shelton on No1 Court, as Sonego pushes a forehand wide — and Shelton has struck at the perfect time, breaking the Italian to complete a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 7-5 victory. The American tenth seed — like Andreeva — is through to a first Wimbledon quarter-final. Shelton awaits the winner of today’s final match on Centre Court: Jannik Sinner v Grigor Dimitrov.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceAndreeva wins — though she’s the last to realise

Well that just about sums it up: Mirra Andreeva breaks to love to close out a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Emma Navarro, but doesn’t even realise that she’s won (James Gheerbrant writes). It’s only when she sees Navarro standing at the net that she raises both hands in apology and races over for a hug. A hugely impressive victory from the Russian 18-year-old, even if the level dipped a bit from both players in the second set. She’s the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for 18 years. She delights the crowd by saying that she was trying not to look up at the Royal Box lest she spot Roger Federer, her hero, and lose her focus, which she admits that she did at 4-1 up in the second set. Andreeva will play Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals, and she’ll be a strong favourite.

Andreeva celebrates reaching the quarter-finals for the first time …

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

… as Roger and Mirka Federer applaud

JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

Tomorrow’s order of play

The quarter-finals get under way tomorrow and the order of play is out. Cameron Norrie’s date with Carlos Alcaraz is second on Centre, after the world No1 Aryna Sabalenka. Taylor Fritz and Amanda Anisimova are on No1 Court.

Centre Court (from 1.30pm)
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Laura Siegemund
Cameron Norrie v Carlos Alcaraz (2)

No1 Court (from 1pm)
Taylor Fritz (5) v Karen Khachanov (17)
Amanda Anisimova (13) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

On No1 Court, the tenth seed Ben Shelton, who has a serve as big as his biceps, is a set away from a first Wimbledon quarter-final after dominating a third-set tie-break against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego. A breathless backhand return seals the breaker 7-1 and Shelton has come from a set down to lead 3-6, 6-1, 7-6.

Shelton has come from a set down to lead

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES

Andreeva remains in charge of the second set (James Gheerbrant writes). There was a glimmer for Navarro when she broke back immediately for 1-1, courtesy of an Andreeva double fault and a loose shot. But then Navarro plays a loose service game of her own to restore Andreeva’s advantage in the second set, at 2-1.

Navarro must wonder what she has to do …

An absolutely incredible point to end the first game of the second set, but sadly for Navarro it goes the way of Andreeva: again, it felt as if Navarro hit two or three shots that were good enough to be winners but the ball just kept coming back (James Gheerbrant writes). Eventually, Andreeva puts a forehand into the open court and breaks her opponent, for the third time in four return games, to lead 1-0.

Djokovic v De Minaur highlightsAndreeva wraps up first set

That was a pretty faultless set of tennis from Andreeva (James Gheerbrant writes). She duly serves out to take the opener 6-2. It’s one of those matches where Navarro has actually played pretty well, and yet, when you look at the stats, she hasn’t hit a single winner. Andreeva’s construction of points and court coverage is just that good, the American hasn’t had a single look at a simple putaway into the open court, and when Andreeva gets control of the points, she has found the lines so often. Can Navarro find another gear from somewhere?

The 18-year-old Andreeva has been near-faultless so far

JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

Andreeva takes early control

Andreeva is firmly in the driver’s seat on Centre Court — never mind that she is barely old enough to be firmly in a driver’s seat in real life (James Gheerbrant writes). The relentless depth and accuracy of the Russian’s groundstrokes is giving Navarro the runaround at the moment and, after holding in her first service, the American has dropped serve in her next two, leaving Andreeva 5-1 up.

Andreeva and Navarro take Centre stage

Djokovic’s victory brings Emma Navarro and Mirra Andreeva on to Centre Court for what could be an absolutely cracking women’s fourth-round match (James Gheerbrant writes). The 18-year-old Andreeva, the world No7, is the second youngest player in the top 100, while Navarro, the No10, is bidding to back up a breakout year in 2024, when she reached the quarter-finals here and the semi-finals at the US Open.

‘It’s good to break the Federer curse’

Djokovic says on court that it was a victory for “hanging tough”, insists he is physically OK despite holding his stomach during the match and says of Federer, who is watching on in the Royal Box: “It’s probably the first time he’s watched me and I’ve won. It’s good to break the curse. Sometimes I wish I had a serve and volley, and a nice touch from the gentleman who is standing right there. That would help.”

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceDjokovic completes comeback

In a blink of an eye, Djokovic cleaned that one up 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 (Owen Slot writes). He won 14 of the last 15 points. Thank you, end of.

At 4-1 in the fourth set, De Minaur had a break point to go 5-1 up and at that point, you’re bracing yourself for a fifth set. But this is Novak and all his relentlessness, mental skills, ability to raise it at the crucial moments — they all came to play here.

Everyone’s busily patting De Minaur on the back for making this such a brilliant match — and it was. But the truth is that Djokovic had a weirdly disastrous, totally uncharacteristic first set, and once he had got that behind him, he won this match three sets to love.

I suppose the question is whether another player — a Sinner or an Alcaraz — would allow him to find his feet again. Or would they have just built on the momentum of the first set and denied him the comeback. That’s hard on De Minaur, though, and, as we’ve seen again, it’s hard to deny Djokovic anything.

Djokovic won the last five games against De Minaur

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

Shelton sprints through second set

On No1 Court, Shelton has hit back against Sonego, taking the second set 6-1 to level the match (James Gheerbrant writes). And Liudmila Samsonova, the 19th seed, has wrapped up a 7-5, 7-5 victory against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Samsonova hasn’t dropped a set yet in the tournament and she’ll play Iga Swiatek or Clara Tauson in the quarter-finals.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceGame and first set Sonego

After an absolute arm-wrestle of a game, lasting ten minutes and featuring three break points for Shelton, Sonego serves out to take the first set 6-3 against the tenth seed (James Gheerbrant writes). Shelton is not happy at the changeover with how long his opponent is taking at the service line – not the first time we’ve heard that particular complaint this fortnight.

Sonego won the first set 6-3

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The real Djokovic stands up

Sadly, if you enjoy amazing theatre, it is starting to feel as though we know how this show ends (Owen Slot writes). Djokovic has just won the third set 6-4. More to the point, he is looking more like Novak Djokovic. You know, the impregnable Djokovic. The relentless one. When De Minaur’s error count creeps ever so slightly upwards, as it did at the end of the third set, then the old master quickly asserts himself.

De Minaur just held his serve at the start of the fourth set, but he really had to fight for it.

Djokovic celebrates taking the third set

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

At the moment, Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton are the only remaining players in the men’s draw not to have dropped a set, but Shelton has got work to do if he’s to hang on to that impressive stat: he trails Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego by a break in the first set, 5-3 (James Gheerbrant writes). Speaking of players who are yet to drop a set, on No2 Court Liudmila Samsonova has won her seventh straight set of the tournament to lead Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5.

Patten hits out after £9k fine

Wimbledon champion Henry Patten has been fined £9,000 — the largest at SW19 this year — for “verbal abuse” but has hit out at the All England Club for distracting him from the defence of his men’s doubles crown (Lara Wildenberg and David Brown write).

The Briton, who shot to fame last year after his shock win alongside Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, was fined $12,500, the equivalent of £9,189, for an on-site offence on the Sunday before the championships started but has already appealed against the decision.

Patten, 29, said the incident occurred at “an offsite training ground” and that he had spoken to the tournament referee and director on the same day.

He was then notified of the fine last Wednesday and responded, appealing against the decision on the same day “due to inaccuracies and procedural failures in the process”. He said he did not believe there has been a “full or proper investigation” from Wimbledon.

Patten said he would comment fully after the appeal but added: “I am disappointed that as the defending male’s doubles champion that I am having to address this matter at this point rather than concentrating on playing tennis.”

Ben Shelton, the American tenth seed, is out on No1 Court facing Zlatan Ibrahimovic lookalike (well, at a push) Lorenzo Sonego, the Italian ranked No47 in the world (Alyson Rudd writes). Shelton is one of those players you can’t watch without also watching his father, Bryan, who is also his coach and reached the Wimbledon fourth round in 1994. Shelton junior possesses a proper swagger, a distinctive serve and the aura of someone who may get bored easily.

Doesn’t get much more Wimbledon than silly fans getting over-excited by a champagne cork popping and forcing a weary look from Djokovic (Rick Broadbent writes). Up there with the sighting of a pigeon to induce merriment from the well-oiled.

Djokovic levels at one set all

Real theatre here on Centre Court (Owen Slot writes). Every time you think Djokovic is out of the woods, he locates a small thicket and gets himself lost again. However, he’s just saved two break points to win the second set 6-4 against De Minaur and he’s milking the crowd for everything. When he saved that second break point, the crowd were chanting “Novak! Novak!” People were on their feet everywhere at the end of the set. So even when Djokovic is in a thicket, or just a little copse, there’s now a crowd helping him out of it.

Enough woodland metaphors. Sorry.

Novak Djokovic celebrating at Wimbledon.

Djokovic saved two break points before holding serve to seal the second set

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

Bencic wins on sixth match point

“For you guys it was entertaining, for me it was big stress,” Belinda Bencic says and she is only partly right (Alyson Rudd writes).

Usually back and forth games with match points saved — and Bencic sealed a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova with her sixth match point — are huge fun but there was a underlying tension to this fourth-round encounter that probably gave everyone watching it indigestion.

Still, on the plus side, the tennis was gorgeous and who isn’t happy when a new mother wins out to reach her first quarter-final in SW19 at a tournament she clearly adores?

“These are amazing memories for us to share as a family,” Bencic says on court. “I am taking a lot of photos. I am juggling a lot — just like any mum — so yeah props to the mums!”

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Flavio Cobolli has finally taken the win on No2 Court after another tie-break with Marin Cilic, but this time he took it comfortably (Joe Harston writes).

It finished 7-3 and the Italian 22nd seed was playing with serious determination to earn his spot in his first grand-slam quarter-final, with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 victory.

He stood with his arms outstretched in front the loudest section of his fans then went over to hug his team, including his dad and brother who were crying with pride.

“I hope I get to play on a big court next,” he said in his on-court interview. “I think I deserve it.”

Cobolli soaks up the applause …

GLYN KIRK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

… before celebrating with his dad and brother

TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS

We’ve just had a 34-shot rally here on Centre Court which, the boffins tell us, is the longest of the tournament so far (Owen Slot writes). Djokovic winning it gave him his second break of De Minaur’s serve in the second set. Actually, no one had won their serve in this set at that point. However, Djokovic then held his quickly to give him a 3-1 lead and De Minaur followed suit. Djokovic is still making mistakes aplenty though.

Breaks of serve have been like London buses in this match. Twenty-one consecutive games pass by on serve before Cilic finally gets his first break of the match (Joe Harston writes).

The crowd surely expected him to hold out to take it to a deciding set, but Flavio Cobolli had other ideas. He broke straight back then held to love afterwards.

Normal service resumed after as Cilic also held to love.

No2 Court’s Italian contingent are making themselves heard now to get their countryman over the line.

Neither player on No 1 Court is entirely happy. Serving for the set, Bencic was 0-40 down and then summoned some of her best tennis only for Alexandrova to find some tricky depth to break which led to some sarcastic gestures from the Swiss towards her coaching team (Alyson Rudd writes).

But she held serve with ease to force the set to a tie break in which the Russian was literally rocked back on her heels by some relentless deep hitting from Bencic, who was fired up after serving a double fault early on. She took the first set winning 7-4 in the tie break.

Wimbledon Championships 2025 - Day 8

Bencic has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the fourth time in her career

TOLGA AKMEN/EPA

There is tension on court and that has seeped into the stands. It’s a bit like waiting for a toddler to open a gift knowing they will explode if it’s the wrong colour tractor.

Centre Court is full of consternation, frowns, unsettled fans exchanging shrugs (Owen Slot writes). Did you see that? What’s going on? What’s happening out there?

Novak Djokovic has just lost the first set, yes, but it was the manner in which he let it go that had the crowd all a-chunter. Uncharacteristic hardly says it. Amongst the rest of the damning stats was Djokovic’s four double faults. But the error was extraordinary.

Alex De Minaur has a clear game plan: take the pace off the ball, extend the rallies, make Djokovic play. He surely cannot believe how well that has worked.

Wimbledon Championships 2025 - Day 8

Djokovic’s serve let him down in the first set

NEIL HALL/EPA

This one is not over yet, as Marin Cilic clinches the third set via a tie-break (Joe Harston writes).

It was a gruelling set almost as long as the first two combined — but the Croatian will not lie down.

After Flavio Cobolli overcame several Cilic break points and set points to keep the set on serve, he looked to have the momentum, but the veteran pulled through to force the Italian to drop his first set of the tournament.

My vote for most elegant serve at the Championships goes to Belinda Bencic. She throws the ball a little higher than most and reaches for it balletically even when squinting into the sunlight (Alyson Rudd writes).

If I was Alexandrova’s coach I would be worried about her body language which is all shrugs and minor despair when she fails to break back. This cannot but help boost the confidence of an opponent and sure enough the mum from Switzerland has broken the Russian’s serve again.

Who is in the Royal Box today?

The Duchess of Edinburgh, who met Prince Edward at a charity tennis event at the Queen’s Club, is the most senior royal to have visited Wimbledon’s Royal Box so far this Championships (David Brown writes).

Sohpie is joined in the box by King Frederik X of Denmark. the tennis-loving monarch who acceded to the throne last year following his mother’s abdication.

Michael and Carole Middleton, the mother of the Princess of Wales, are also present.

Roger Federer, the eight-times Wimbledon champion, is among sports stars in the box along with Joe Root and Sir James Anderson, the England cricketers, and Imogen Grant, the rower who won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies once Day Eight: The Championships - Wimbledon 2025

Root, far left, is joined by Michael McIntyre, middle and Anderson

JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

Showbusiness figures include Lenny Henry and Michael McIntyre.

No 1 Court is chilly. No way was I going to pack my hand warmers this fortnight but a jumper might have been a good idea (Alyson Rudd writes).

Belinda Bencic won the Abu Dhabi Open in February nine months after giving birth to her daughter Bella. And it would be rather lovely if, just as at Queen’s, a mum could win here. Her opponent is Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is seeded 18 and has reached the fourth round for a second time.

Marin Cilic is going all he can here to stay in this one, being two sets down for the first time this tournament (Joe Harston writes).

Flavio Cobolli is weathering the storm well though, coming out on top in a long service game to keep the third set on serve at 3-3. Cilic leads the third set 5-4 now.

In the doubles, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury are making light work of their first set against 12th seeds Andres Moltini and Maximimo Gonzalez. They lead 5-0.

Hannah Klugman is hoping to take the girls’ title this year. The second seed has just advanced past Anastasija Cvetovic to reach the last 16.

Cash and Glasspool through

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool are one step closer to completing their grass-court hat-trick after winning their fourth-round clash in little more than an hour (Joe Harston writes). They defeated Guido Andreozzi and Marcelo Demolina 6-3, 6-4.

Day Eight: The Championships - Wimbledon 2025

Glasspool plays a forehand as Cash waits at the net

EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES

Marin Cilic has been in such impressive form so far this Wimbledon but the 2017 finalist has work to do on Court Two (James Gheerbrant writes). He trails Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, who has taken the first set 6-4. Cobolli lost pretty handily to Jacob Fearnley in Eastbourne but the Italian has been one of the real surprise packages at Wimbledon so far: in fact, he’s one of only three players in the men’s draw, along with Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton, who is yet to drop a set.

Wimbledon 2025 - Day Eight - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

Cobolli has been excellent in the men’s draw, and could face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals if he beats Cilic and the Serb wins against Alex de Minaur later today

BEN WHITLEY/PA

It’s a day for the doubles in Brit watch today, as three teams featuring British players look to make the quarter finals of the men’s tournament (Joe Harston writes).

The efending Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara were supposed to kick off today’s play on Court 12 but were given a walkover due to the withdrawal of their opponents.

They now await their next opponent, who will be the winner of the match currently on Court 3. The crowd here certainly hope it will be the British pairing of Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash — a pair in excellent form after winning at Eastbourne and Queen’s. They are a set up against the South American partnership of the Argentinian Guido Andreozzi and Marcelo Demolina of Brazil.

Another British team in Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are up later.

District Line needs cash, Wimbledon CEO says

Wimbledon’s chief executive will demand investment in the District Line after the main public transport route to the Championships was closed again on Monday (David Brown writes).

Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London responsible for the network, was warned last week that London’s international reputation is being damaged after repeated closure of the line during the opening week of the Championships.

Sally Bolton, the chief executive of Wimbledon, said: “We have been and remain clear with them that delivering an event of this scale in this part of London, requires the infrastructure in this part of London to support us in doing that. They’re very aware of that view.

“We have arranged to catch up with them after the Championships to look at not just what happened this year, but also to look ahead in terms of investment into the District Line.”

At least 14,000 spectators a day use Southfields station, to the All England Club, with thousands more using Wimbledon.

Bolton: Human error contributed to Pavlyuchenkova issue

Wimbledon has insisted the failure of the automated line call system during Sonay Kartal’s match with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Sunday was a result of “human error” (David Brown writes).

The umpire halted the match and ordered the point replayed after the Hawk-Eye system, which controversially fully replaced human line judges, failed to call Kartal’s shot “out”. Kartal went on to win the point but lost the match.

Sally Bolton, the chief executive of Wimbledon, said: “The electronic line calling system was working optimally.

“The issue we had was human error in terms of the tracking system having been inadvertently deactivated, and then the chair umpire not being made aware of the fact that it had been deactivated.

“In between matches, the system is deactivated, so it’s not functioning when there isn’t a match on court.

“The job of the humans in the process, the job of the Hawk-Eye official and the review official, is to make sure that the system is activated at the beginning of a match and is set up properly and then to support the chair umpire. And that was not the case.”

Patten through via walkover

Henry Patten and his double’s partner Harri Heliovaara have qualified for the quarter-finals after a walkover of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Jordan Thompson.

The all-British pair of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glaspool are 5-2 up in the first set against Guido Andreozzi and Marcelo Demoliner.

There was a big controversy during Sonay Kartal’s match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova yesterday, when the automatic line-calling technology was unintentionally “deactivated” on one side of the court for an entire game.

Read James Gheerbrant’s full report of the incident here.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceAnother damp morning in the queue

The Great British summer didn’t stop plenty more keen fans from queuing up for another day at the Championships. Nothing a big brolly and a dose of optimism can’t handle. The good news is, it’s brightening up.

Wimbledon 2025 - Day Eight - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

Wimbledon’s transport problems continued on Monday with the closure of the Tube line to the Championships.

The District Line is operating with severe delays between Edgware Road and Wimbledon, which includes Southfields, the stations closest to the All England Club. The line had been suspended between Parsons Green at Wimbledon.

The issues are being caused by a “signal failure at Putney Bridge”, a repeated source of problems.

Southfields is used by at least 14,000 spectators a day while thousands more use Wimbledon station. Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was urged to intervene following repeated disruption during the first week of the Championships.

results and scores from Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek

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