Johanna Konta admits to finding motherhood boring compared to her previous life but said she is “very committed to retirement”.

Caroline Wozniacki is the latest player to announce a return to the sport after retiring and starting a family but Konta insists that is not a path she will be taking.

The 32-year-old announced in December 2021 that she was calling time on her career and she gave birth to daughter Emmeline last September.

She has picked up a racket again to play in the invitational doubles at Wimbledon, where Wozniacki is also in the field, and was very open about the challenges of swapping a professional sporting career for changing nappies.

“A part of me will always miss it just because the kind of adrenaline and the life you live as a successful professional tennis player, you can’t replicate in any part of your life,” said Konta.

“Compared to that, motherhood is frankly quite boring. It’s very monotonous and it’s fundamentally not really enjoyable, for me anyway.

“I love my daughter. When I put her down for naps I get excited for when she’s going to wake up. I’m to the moon in love with my daughter but I think the act of motherhood is actually really tough.

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“It’s monotonous, boring and, compared to what I used to do, which is play on Centre Court and travel the world and live a really selfish existence, to then be thrown into a very selfless existence, it’s a really hard transition, and it’s not fun.

“But I would choose it every single day over playing on Centre Court. I really love what my life was but I am learning to love my life more now.”

Konta has not even been playing tennis socially and described her first day back on court at Wimbledon as “rusty and painful”.

“The first day I was so sore everywhere but the last few days it’s been fine,” she added. “Don’t ask me to move a lot, though. That’s not what it used to be. I’m very committed to retirement.”

While Konta’s retirement was initially overshadowed by Emma Raducanu winning the US Open, the latter’s struggles have thrown into focus what a stellar career her predecessor as British number one put together.

Konta reached three grand slam semi-finals and three more quarter-finals while reaching a high of fourth in the world rankings in 2017.

By contrast, Britain did not have a direct entrant in the women’s singles here or at the French Open and current leading woman Katie Boulter is ranked 89.

“You want British interest,” said Konta, who is carving out a new career in broadcasting.

“You guys want British interest in the second week of grand slams, the players who are playing want to be in the second week. Everyone has the same desire, and also it’s good for the kids back home to see British representation on the female side.

“Everyone’s working towards the same goal, everyone’s giving their best and hopefully it will be happening.”

Raducanu is now down at 132 in the rankings and is unlikely to return until the autumn following surgeries on her wrists and ankle, but she still appears the best British hope of a leading player in the near future.

Konta highlighted fitness as the key to whether Raducanu can return to the top 10, saying: “I think just consistent physical health, for her to get physically robust is probably the number one priority because that has been her biggest hurdle.

“For her to be able to play enough tournaments, enough matches, will give her then the chance to win.”

Chris Eubanks has the potential to be a worldwide star after his breakthrough at Wimbledon, according to former American number one James Blake.

The 27–year-old had never made it past the second round at a grand slam until his amazing run in SW19, where he has knocked out last year’s semi-finalist Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to a quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev.

Although the American – who won his first ATP Tour title in Majorca before Wimbledon – has been on tour for some time, his profile has exploded in the United States.

And Blake, who reached a career-high of fourth in the world rankings, has backed him to compete at the very top of the men’s game.

“He has become a superstar back home, which is great to see because he just deserves it, he is the most genuine guy,” said Blake.

“He’s taken advantage of his huge moment, he played so well last week in Majorca and now just playing with that confidence he is going to go far and I do think he has a chance against Medvedev.

“He is playing free and loose and you can see what can happen when you have got a big game and play with a lot of confidence.

“He has got to be a contender now to become a worldwide star, he has got the personality for it.”

Eubanks’ run at Wimbledon means he will now get star billing at the US Open next month and Blake has backed him to embrace it.

“It is going to be new for him but he is going to be one of the stars there, he might be on the side of a bus, he might be up on billboards,” said Blake, who mentored Eubanks earlier on in his career.

“And for him a year ago to be playing Challengers in Korea and toiling away, to be a star in New York is going to be hopefully a life-changing experience for him in a positive way.

“I hope he enjoys being a superstar because that is what he is in the making.”

Kim Clijsters has also played a role in Eubanks’ development after giving him some advice.

“It’s all his credit, I didn’t do anything, just send a few text messages,” she said.

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“We’ve gotten to know each other well since we played World Team Tennis together.

“He’s a great guy, a very open mind. We had really long conversations talking about my experiences in tennis when I was a teenager to still being around now.

“He wants to learn. It’s just great to see he’s doing so well. He’s enjoying it.

Caroline Wozniacki is confident she will be able to compete with the top players again when she comes out of retirement next month.

The former world number one, who has two children, announced last month she would be ending her three-year exile this summer and will return for the American hard court swing that begins after Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old, who won the 2018 Australian Open and reached two US Open finals, was at the top of the women’s game for the best part of a decade before she called time on her career in 2020.

Since then Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have broken away to form a ‘big three’ but Wozniacki says that if she can compete with Serena Williams then she should be able to hack it against the current crop of players.

Speaking ahead of her appearance in the women’s invitation doubles at Wimbledon, she said: “I have played them before, I know exactly what I am up against. I know they are playing extremely well and aggressive and consistent and it is going to be a tough challenge but I am up for the challenge.

“I have fought tough players before and fought my way around so I am going to do the same this time.

“Obviously there are a lot of good players out there and it is a high level of tennis but I played with the greatest of all time in Serena. She’s the best player I ever played and she isn’t around anymore so that feels good to me at the moment! I am happy not to have to play her anymore.

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“I am not putting a time on how long I will play, just see how the body holds up, see how I feel, how the kids and everyone does.

“I am excited to be back and excited to be playing and hopefully it will be my best tennis yet.”

Wozniacki, who resumes her professional career in Montreal later this month, is one of several mothers who are playing on tour.

And the Dane believes she may now have less pressure when she is competing.

“I think for me, I will go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I have been practising and that is all you can do, give it the best when you are out there,” she said.

“My family and my kids is the most important thing in my life to me so I know that if I win or lose they won’t look at me any differently.

“It is going to be a great experience for us as a family to have the kids see a little bit of the world and meet new people and see new cultures. It is such a good learning experience for them so young before they go to real school.”

Kim Clijsters is a flagbearer in the modern era for returning to the tour after having children, winning the US Open in one of her first tournaments back by beating Wozniacki in the final.

And she says the Dane will need to get to grips with new challenges as she resumes her career.

“When you get into a situation like that when you’re a mother but you also become a professional athlete again, you have an expectation of how you did it before and the time that goes into it,” Clijsters said.

“That was for me a little bit hard at the beginning to balance, am I going to put six, seven hours a day focusing on myself again and how do I feel about that?

“You have to leave your daughter or your kids behind so I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning but then you learn that there’s other people that are really good at taking care of your kids too.

“I think that was a little bit of a challenge mentally to get that motherly instinct – you don’t push it aside but you have to balance that so you have enough of both. I think that will be probably the biggest challenge at the beginning.”

Caroline Wozniacki is confident she will be able to compete with the top players again when she comes out of retirement next month.

The former world number one, who has two children, announced last month she would be ending her three-year exile this summer and will return for the American hard court swing that begins after Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old, who won the 2018 Australian Open and reached two US Open finals, was at the top of the women’s game for the best part of a decade before she called time on her career in 2020.

Since then Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have broken away to form a ‘big three’ but Wozniacki says that if she can compete with Serena Williams then she should be able to hack it against the current crop of players.

Speaking ahead of her appearance in the women’s invitation doubles at Wimbledon, she said: “I have played them before, I know exactly what I am up against. I know they are playing extremely well and aggressive and consistent and it is going to be a tough challenge but I am up for the challenge.

“I have fought tough players before and fought my way around so I am going to do the same this time.

“Obviously there are a lot of good players out there and it is a high level of tennis but I played with the greatest of all time in Serena. She’s the best player I ever played and she isn’t around anymore so that feels good to me at the moment! I am happy not to have to play her anymore.

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“I am not putting a time on how long I will play, just see how the body holds up, see how I feel, how the kids and everyone does.

“I am excited to be back and excited to be playing and hopefully it will be my best tennis yet.”

Wozniacki, who resumes her professional career in Montreal later this month, is one of several mothers who are playing on tour.

And the Dane believes she may now have less pressure when she is competing.

“I think for me, I will go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I have been practising and that is all you can do, give it the best when you are out there,” she said.

“My family and my kids is the most important thing in my life to me so I know that if I win or lose they won’t look at me any differently.

“It is going to be a great experience for us as a family to have the kids see a little bit of the world and meet new people and see new cultures. It is such a good learning experience for them so young before they go to real school.”

Kim Clijsters is a flagbearer in the modern era for returning to the tour after having children, winning the US Open in one of her first tournaments back by beating Wozniacki in the final.

And she says the Dane will need to get to grips with new challenges as she resumes her career.

“When you get into a situation like that when you’re a mother but you also become a professional athlete again, you have an expectation of how you did it before and the time that goes into it,” Clijsters said.

“That was for me a little bit hard at the beginning to balance, am I going to put six, seven hours a day focusing on myself again and how do I feel about that?

“You have to leave your daughter or your kids behind so I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning but then you learn that there’s other people that are really good at taking care of your kids too.

“I think that was a little bit of a challenge mentally to get that motherly instinct – you don’t push it aside but you have to balance that so you have enough of both. I think that will be probably the biggest challenge at the beginning.”

Wimbledon heads towards the business end as the quarter-finals get under way on Tuesday.

World number one Iga Swiatek opens Centre Court with her highly-anticipated clash with Elina Svitolina while Novak Djokovic looks to extend his SW19 invincibility against Andrey Rublev.

Here, the PA news agency unpacks day nine.

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The Ukrainian capped a brilliant first week with that dramatic victory over Victoria Azarenka to make it back-to-back quarter-finals at grand slams following the birth of her first child.

How much energy is left in the tank remains to be seen and her resolve will be tested against Swiatek, who is in the last-eight for the first time in SW19.

She saved match points against Belinda Bencic to get there and she will be eyeing more domination following her recent win at the French Open.

Jessica Pegula has been something of a footnote in this year’s tournament so far, having sailed through to the last-eight without much trouble.

But the number four seed might have a few people worried as she has dropped just one set on her way to another grand slam quarter-final – her fifth in the last seven.

The 29-year-old has shown remarkable consistency over the last 18 months and Marketa Vondrousova stands in her way of a first grand slam semi-final.

After four wins for British players in the girls’ tournament on Monday it is the boys’ turn on Tuesday, with five hopefuls due to play.

Viktor Frydrych, Henry Searle, Freddy Blaydes, Henry Jefferson and Charlie Robertson are all in second-round action as we get a glimpse into the next generation of home players.

There are also plenty of girls and boys in doubles action as they enjoy their moment on home soil.

Centre Court
Iga Swiatek v Elina Svitolina
Andrey Rublev v Novak Djokovic

Court One
Jessica Pegula v Marketa Vondrousova
Jannik Sinner v Roman Safiullin
Clijsters/Hingis v Schiavone/Vinci

Staying warm with a risk of scattered showers

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz remain on collision course for a final showdown following a gripping day at Wimbledon.

Defending champion Djokovic returned to complete his delayed quarter-final with Hubert Hurkacz before world number one Alcaraz registered a thrilling success over 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini.

Elsewhere, there was an early exit for world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas at the hands of Chris Eubanks, while last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur powered past two-time winner Petra Kvitova in the women’s draw.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at how day eight unfolded.

Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the last eight in SW19 for the first time.

Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the Spaniard stylishly fought back from a set down to see off Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

It was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.

He will next take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era, with a potential mouthwatering finale against Djokovic very much on the cards.

Despite progressing, Djokovic called for Wimbledon to overhaul its scheduling and start play earlier on Centre Court following his drawn out victory over Hubert Hurkacz

The seven-time champion fell foul of the All England Club’s insistence on beginning matches at 1.30pm when his fourth-round match had to be suspended on Sunday night due to the council-imposed 11pm curfew.

The 36-year-old, who returned to finish off Hurkacz 7-6 (6) 7-6 (6) 5-7 6-4 on Monday afternoon, was unequivocal in his response when asked if matches should start earlier.

“I think so. I agree with that,” said the 23-time grand slam winner. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in.

“I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time.

Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the world number one had to fight back from a set down to see off former finalist Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

This was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.

“I knew it was going to be really tough, Matteo is a great player, he made the final here on grass,” said Alcaraz.

“He’s playing great. It’s not easy after losing the first set. I knew I was going to have my chances. Something I’ve been working on is to stay focused and not lose my mind a little bit. That part I did great.

“It’s something that I really wanted. Last year I lost in the fourth round. I came here this year with that goal, first get into the quarter-finals and now I’m looking for more.

“My dream is to play a final here, to win the title one day. I hope I reach that dream this year but right now it’s great to be in the quarter-finals.”

Now he will take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era.

Standing in the way of the young guns claiming the title, of course, is 36-year-old Novak Djokovic, who is now the only player left in the men’s draw to have previously reached a Wimbledon final.

Alcaraz remains the man most likely to deny him a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title and 24th grand slam crown and there were plenty of the Spaniard’s crowd-pleasing tricks on show, including a winner threaded between umpire’s chair and net post that he celebrated from virtually in the stand.

He was second best in the opening set, though, as Berrettini dictated with his forehand, breaking the Alcaraz serve to lead 5-3.

The Italian, who missed Wimbledon last year with an ill-timed bout of coronavirus, has struggled this season with a recurring abdominal injury, saying after beating Alexander Zverev on Saturday that he had spent days crying in bed and arrived in London doubting he would be able to play.

He was aiming to emulate countryman Jannik Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz at the same stage 12 months ago and is through to the last eight again.

There was a concerning moment during the first point of the second set when Berrettini slipped and fell heavily, with Alcaraz coming to check on him, but the 27-year-old soon picked himself up.

Berrettini had not dropped serve once during his first three matches but the tide began to turn when a sloppy game at 1-2 saw him broken to love.

Alcaraz pushed for another break early in the third set and got it with an athletic, arching smash on his sixth chance as Berrettini was just unable to shake off the tenacious Spaniard.

Berrettini certainly had his moments but Alcaraz has so many weapons to choose from and he was wearing down the popular Italian.

At 2-2 in the fourth set, proceedings were briefly halted for the roof to be closed with darkness falling.

And Alcaraz wasted little time booking his spot in the last eight on the resumption, becoming the youngest man to do so here since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.

Andy Murray will be back at Wimbledon next year and still has plenty of “good tennis in him”, according to brother Jamie.

Murray, a two-time winner in SW19, was beaten in five sets in the second round at this year’s Championships by fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

At 36 years old, his chances of going deep into grand slams again are dwindling, but doubles star Jamie Murray still believes his sibling can operate at the top level.

“Will he be back? I hope so,” he said. “Look, I think he still has a lot of good tennis in him. I think he needs to find his mojo and get out there and play some ball.

“I still think he has the level to do a lot of good stuff on the tennis court. I think he had an amazing opportunity this tournament to really go far in a grand slam with players dropping out all over the place.

“I mean the draw really opened up for him. It felt like that. But Tsitsipas played a really good match. I am sure he is disappointed.

“I still think he can do a lot of good stuff. I always expect him to perform well and win matches because I know the level he can produce.

“He needs to find a way to do that. I don’t know what his ranking is now, it is inside 40, but for him to be getting excited he needs to be feeling like he is getting into the top 20 and feel like he is competing at these big events.”

Novak Djokovic has called for Wimbledon to overhaul its scheduling and start play earlier on Centre Court.

The seven-time champion fell foul of the All England Club’s insistence on beginning matches at 1.30pm when his fourth-round match against Hugo Hurkacz had to be suspended on Sunday night due to the council-imposed 11pm curfew.

Andy Murray’s match with Stefanos Tsitsipas last week also had to be carried over into a second day, while Djokovic’s third-round clash against Stan Wawrinka concluded with only 14 minutes to spare.

Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said on Monday morning that there is no guarantee that an earlier start time will be considered on Centre Court for next year’s tournament.

But Djokovic, who returned to finish off Hurkacz in four sets on Monday afternoon, was unequivocal in his response when asked if matches should start earlier.

“I think so. I agree with that,” said the 23-time grand slam winner. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in.

“I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

Two years ago organisers cited Covid for the decision to stagger start times on the two main show courts, keeping Court One at 1pm and pushing Centre back to 1.30pm, while also adding breaks between the matches.

This had the consequence of making the final match of the day a prime-time occasion on the BBC and it appears very much that is now the goal, with Bolton reporting record viewing figures.

She did not seem to view the issue of the late finishes as a particular problem, saying: “Historically over many, many decades we’ve always started play on our show courts around early afternoon.

“And that’s very much about ensuring that people have the opportunity to get on court so, as much as is possible the case, we have full courts for when the players walk on, and that’s still absolutely our intention.

“And the other thing we think carefully about is, when people buy a ticket to come to Wimbledon, they want to experience a day at the Championships and that involves going and seeing some play on outside courts, perhaps going to get something to eat, getting some strawberries and cream.

“We understand that our guests want that whole day. Of course every year we look at everything and we get feedback from all of our guest groups, from the player groups and all of our stakeholders.

“We will have a look at that beyond this year’s Championships but that’s the real background to why we have the start time when we do.

“Matches are happening at a time when they’re accessible to people. We’re seeing (TV) viewing figures that are beyond our expectations and beyond previous years so I think they probably speak for themselves.”

Bolton denied the 1.30pm start time was directly influenced by the BBC, saying: “The broadcasters are one of the stakeholders we consult as we put together all the plans for the Championships but they’re not having a direct input into start time on a court.”

The curfew is imposed by the local council to prevent late-night disruption from people leaving the grounds in what is a quiet, residential area, and Bolton said the club would not look to try to extend it.

Bolton also said there will also be no instruction to umpires to inform crowds not to expect a handshake if a Ukrainian player faces a Russian or Belarusian, despite the boos aimed at Victoria Azarenka after her match with Elina Svitolina.

Wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden hailed becoming the first all-British pair to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon women’s doubles in 40 years as “surreal”.

The rookie duo added Slovakians Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova to their impressive list of scalps thanks to a stirring 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.

Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs were the previous British team to reach the last eight of the tournament in south-west London, doing so in 1983 before being beaten by top seeds Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.

“I guess it puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? That’s something we didn’t know,” said Leeds-born Bains. “It feels surreal to be honest.

“We wanted to back up last year’s result of a first-round win. We wanted to go one better. But we’re just taking it one match at a time and can’t complain.”

Bains and Lumsden, both 25, led by a set and a break on Court 18 but were forced to dig deep after being taken to a decider having narrowly failed to overturn a four-point deficit in the second-set tie-break.

Victory over Hruncakova and Mihalikova in two hours and 36 minutes sets up a last-eight clash with the winners of Tuesday’s meeting between third seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens and Czech duo Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.

The British pair’s fine run at the All England Club is even more impressive given Lumsden feared her professional playing career may be ended by long Covid.

“During it, I didn’t think I was going to get back playing sport,” the Scot said of coronavirus, which she contracted in October 2020.

“That was like a year where I couldn’t really do any exercise.

“I never really thought I would get back to playing professionally, so it’s obviously unbelievable that I have got back to it now and I’m very grateful that I can.”

Fellow Briton Neal Skupski also enjoyed progression in the doubles, alongside Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

The top seeds reached the third round of the men’s tournament thanks to a 7-6 (3) 6-2 success over Australians Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.

Teenager Mirra Andreeva will continue to work on her attitude after being given a point penalty for throwing her racket during a fourth-round loss to Madison Keys at Wimbledon.

The 16-year-old Russian, who has been a crowd favourite on her debut at the All England Club, looked set to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1997 to make the quarter-finals here when she led by a set and 4-1.

But Keys fought back and Andreeva was given her first warning by umpire Louise Azemar Engzell after flinging her racket across the grass when she lost the second-set tie-break.

She then appeared to slam her racket to the ground when Keys forced deuce at 2-5 in the deciding set, earning a second warning and an automatic point penalty, which gave her opponent a match point.

Andreeva argued her case with Azemar Engzell, saying: “Do you understand what you are doing? I didn’t throw the racket. I slid. It’s the wrong decision. I slid and then I fell.”

But the decision stood and Keys won the next point to clinch a 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory, with Andreeva heading to the net to briefly shake hands with her opponent but walking straight past the umpire.

The Russian said afterwards: “She’s the umpire. She’s the one who makes the decision. But, honestly, I didn’t have any intention to throw the racket. I slid. I thought that I will fall forward. Maybe it did look like I threw the racket.”

She was unrepentant about not shaking Azemar Engzell’s hand, adding: “For me, she didn’t do a right decision. That’s why I didn’t want to shake hands with her.”

Andreeva had feared being defaulted after whacking a ball angrily into the crowd at the French Open and teenage petulance is something she will clearly need to grow out of, but there is no doubt she is a special talent.

She is working through the issue by talking to herself in bed every night, and has taken encouragement from the way the likes of Roger Federer overcame teenage tantrums.

“I knew that Federer was struggling with emotions when he was teenager,” she said. “Actually when I was younger, I saw that, ‘Well, he was struggling also. I’m not the only one who also struggles’.

“I thought that I just need to wait a little bit and it will go away. But it doesn’t work like this. You just have to work on yourself. The faster you’ll do it, then the results will come also faster, I think. I started to work on myself just with myself. I think it works pretty good now.”

Andreeva had not played on grass until the qualifying tournament two weeks ago but she has learned quickly on the surface and is already an impressively complete player.

Keys, who was looking to make the quarter-finals here for the first time in eight years, helped her young opponent with a slew of errors but she changed her tactics midway through the second set to follow her big groundstrokes to the net and even broke serve with a left-handed forehand winner.

By the time the second-set tie-break came around, it was Keys who had the momentum, and the American kept her young opponent at arm’s length during the decider to set up a last-eight clash with second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Keys, who won the warm-up tournament in Eastbourne, admitted she felt the pressure of the occasion, saying: “It’s tough being on the other side of the net of a 16-year-old who is really playing with nothing to lose and you’re the one that’s supposed to beat her.

“I think she’s a really great player on top of all of that. I think she moves incredibly well. I was very impressed with her serve. Overall I think she has a very solid game. It’s obviously going to improve with time.”

Now 28, Keys was once a teenage prodigy, and, asked what advice she would give Andreeva, she said: “I would say ignore everyone, and everything that they say, unless you actually care about their opinion.”

Andreeva is limited in the amount of senior tournaments she can play because of her age but she will be ranked close to the top 60 next week, which is more than high enough for entry to the US Open.

She relished her Wimbledon debut, saying: “For me, it was an amazing experience. Amazing matches I’ve played here. First time on grass. I’m happy with my result, but also at the same time I’m sad and disappointed a little bit. Next year I hope, and I will do my best, to do better.”

Ons Jabeur set up a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final after booking a quarter-final date with Elena Rybakina.

Jabeur, the sixth seed, was beaten in the showpiece match as Rybakina won her first grand slam title 12 months ago but she will be out for revenge when they meet in the last-eight on Wednesday.

She got there with a demolition of two-time champion Petra Kvitova on Centre Court, dishing out a 6-0 6-3 hammering in little over an hour.

The Tunisian brought her best game to the proceedings, delighting fans with drop shots, passing winners on the run and thunderbolts from the baseline as she made herself a real contender once again.

Kvitova, winner here in 2011 and 2014, was a shadow of her former self and struggled to cope with Jabeur’s variety, sending down 22 unforced errors.

“I don’t know who played today,” Jabeur joked. “It’s amazing, I love how Petra plays.

“I respect what she has done for women’s tennis, for me to be able to win against her is huge.

“(The quarter-final) will be a difficult match, I am going for my revenge, it was a difficult final last year, it is going to bring a lot of memories, I am hoping to play like today and get the win, it will be a difficult match.”

Rybakina will go into the rematch fresh after she was on court for just 21 minutes before her last-16 opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia retired through injury.

The Brazilian was enjoying her best run at Wimbledon, having never previously got past the second round, but hopes of a first quarter-final appearance were taken away from her when she suffered an injury early in the first set.

She had a lengthy medical timeout trailing 3-1 and tried to carry on but after being unable to move during a Rybakina service game it was clear that she could not continue.

She said: “I’m very upset now because I didn’t have the chance to, well, keep playing.

“Especially my first time on Centre Court here in Wimbledon, which is my favourite tournament.”

Aryna Sabalenka’s victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova ensured all of the women’s ‘big three’ made it to the last-eight.

The Belarusian is enjoying every minute of being back at this year’s tournament and did not waste much time in getting the better of the 21st seed, winning 6-4 6-0 on Court One.

She now plays Maddison Keys in the last-eight, in what will a mouth-watering encounter, and her eyes will be firmly fixed on a possible semi-final clash with Rybakina.

The first set was even and on serve until Sabalenka struck at 5-4 to take the lead and that gave her the platform for a dominant second set, which saw her bagel the Russian in 27 minutes.

American Chris Eubanks stunned world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with the biggest knockout of his career.

The towering 27-year-old twice came from a set down to continue his fine run in south-west London with a thrilling 3-6 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-4 6-4 victory in just over three hours.

His impressive win over two-time grand slam finalist Tsitsipas follows success over British number one Cameron Norrie and sets up a last-eight meeting with third seed Daniil Medvedev.

“I feel like I’m living a dream right now,” said Eubanks. “This is absolutely insane.

“When you paint all of the context – I’ve tried so much to block everything out and just focus on the next match – it’s surreal, it’s unbelievable.

“This has been a dream come true.”

Eubanks, ranked 43rd in the world, had only won two grand slam matches prior to arriving at SW19.

He made an unconvincing start to the contest on Court Two but battled back and floored Tsitsipas – conqueror of Andy Murray – with 53 winners, including 13 aces.

Eubanks recently said he hated playing on grass but is currently enjoying a nine-match winning streak on the surface.

“Those words will never come out of my mouth (again) for the rest of my career,” he said.

“The grass and I, we’ve had a very strenuous relationship over the years but right now I think it’s my best friend.”

Earlier, world number three Medvedev eased into his maiden Wimbledon quarter-final after Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire injured.

The 27-year-old Russian was in control on Court One and had just gone two sets ahead at 6-4 6-2 when his Czech opponent pulled out.

Lehecka received treatment during a medical timeout at the end of the opening set but initially battled on in some discomfort before opting for a premature departure.

“I honestly did not (realise) until he retired,” he said of Lehecka’s injury.

“I saw that maybe his movement is a little bit restricted but the way he was throwing the ball I thought that it was not causing him enough trouble but then when he retired, I was like, ‘OK, I see it different’.

“I feel sorry for Jiri. Hopefully he can recover fast and he has a lot more grand slams to come ahead of him.”

Lehecka showed some touches of class but his performance was undermined by a series of errors and, ultimately, his fitness issue.

“This is not the way how I wanted to finish the match,” the 21-year-old said.

“Of course all the credit to Daniil, because he played another solid match, but for me still I felt that if I was able to show my maximum level, then it would have been a much more better match than it was today.

“But unfortunately the injury got much, much worse during the match, and I wasn’t able to compete on the highest level.”

Lehecka struggled to deal with the power of Medvedev, with one of his returns of serve flying off court and landing in a spectator’s drink.

Both players were then forced to sit down during the sixth game of the second set due to a medical emergency in the crowd.

The affected spectator eventually walked out of the arena with the aid of medics following a delay of around 10 minutes.

Novak Djokovic belatedly reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals after polishing off Hubert Hurkacz.

The seven-time champion’s plans for a day off were scuppered by the strict 11pm curfew in SW19, meaning the match was halted on Sunday evening with Djokovic two sets to the good.

Upon returning to Centre Court, Djokovic was inconvenienced further when Polish 17th seed Hurkacz stole the third set.

But the 36-year-old hit back to register a 7-6 (6) 7-6 (6) 5-7 6-4 victory and book a 14th quarter-final at the Championships.

He said: “Big credit for Hubert for playing an amazing match, tough luck for him. he put up a great performance.

“Honestly, I don’t recall the last time I felt this miserable on returning games, due to his incredibly accurate and powerful serve.

“He’s got one of the best serves in the world and it’s so difficult to read it. Playing on the quickest surface it really favours the big servers so it was not really an enjoyable match for me.

“But I guess in the important moments last night I was fortunate to win the first set. This match could definitely have gone a different way but I held my nerve and I’m happy to win.”

Djokovic had not faced so much as a break point in his previous 53 service games, so a third tie-break seemed inevitable until Hurkacz forced two at 6-5 and the Serbian dumped the second into the net.

Hurkacz fended off two break points – the first he had faced since the second set, some 17 hours ago – at 3-3 in the fourth but when he slipped on the baseline at deuce, Djokovic converted the third.

It was the first time Hurkacz had dropped serve at these Championships and it proved enough to see the 23-time grand slam champion through to a meeting with Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the last eight.

“He’s a different player to Hurkacz, for sure,” added Djokovic. “He’s got very powerful, quick groundstrokes, stays close to the line and has one of the best forehands in the game, loves to dictate… I’m not going to talk too much about tactics.

“I have to be ready. The matches are only going to get harder. It’s tough to say it’s going to get harder than what I experienced yesterday and today, but I have to be ready for that.

“Rublev has been a top-10 player for many years and he’s looking for his first semi-finals at a grand slam. Hopefully it’s not gonna happen.”

Tension will be replaced by appreciation when Elina Svitolina takes on Iga Swiatek for a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday.

The All England Club can have barely heard a reaction like the chorus of booing that accompanied Victoria Azarenka off Court One following her narrow defeat by Svitolina on Sunday evening.

Ukrainian players refuse to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents at the end of matches as a result of the invasion of their country and there has been significant locker room rancour about how the issue has affected tennis.

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The WTA has been criticised for not offering enough support to its Ukrainian members, who feel the rights of their Russian and Belarusian counterparts have been prioritised.

An exception to that has been Swiatek, with the Pole using her voice and platform to speak up for Ukraine and organising a charity exhibition event last summer.

“She’s a great champion, also a great person,” said Svitolina. “I’m really thankful for her support of Ukrainians, Ukraine, doing everything what is in her power, being vocal about that.”

Swiatek wears a blue and yellow ribbon to show she is still thinking about Ukraine, and she said of Svitolina: “For sure we respect each other. We like each other. It’s all pretty positive.

“It’s good to have these kind of players on tour that are nice and they have good values, I think. I’m happy that she’s back after becoming a mother. I don’t know how tough it is, but I’m sure it’s really tough.

“I’m happy that she’s playing a solid game. I think it’s going to be interesting.”

Svitolina has now reached back-to-back grand slam quarter-finals having only returned to the tour in April following the birth of daughter Skai in October.

The former world number three has made two grand slam semi-finals, at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019, while Swiatek, who saved match points against Belinda Bencic in round four, is having her best run here.