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.

World number three Daniil 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.

Medvedev awaits either world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas or American Christopher Eubanks in the last eight.

“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.

The 21-year-old 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.

Speaking about reaching the last eight at SW19 for the first time, Medvedev added: “It’s probably my fifth or sixth Wimbledon and I was not very successful but I never lost on this court.

“I feel sorry that all the quarters are going to be played on Centre (Court). I’m like, ‘can I just continue here?’.

“I’m really happy and looking forward to the next match.”

Beatriz Haddad Maia was left in tears after she was forced to retire during her fourth-round match with defending champion Elen Rybakina.

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 a hip 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.

Having been in tears throughout the last game, she reluctantly walked to the net and shook hands with the score at 4-1.

It meant that Rybakina’s smooth progress continued as she was on court for just 21 minutes and will now be able to put her feet up to watch Ons Jabeur and Petra Kvitova battle it out for the chance to play her in the quarter-finals.

Teenager Mirra Andreeva was given a point penalty for throwing her racket and refused to shake the umpire’s hand in 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 Julie Kjendlie after flinging her racket across the grass when she lost the second-set tie-break.

She then appeared to throw her racket again 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 Kjendlie, 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 shake hands with her opponent but walking straight past the umpire.

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 had not played on grass until the qualifying tournament two weeks ago but she has learned quickly on the surface and her mix of terrific defence and intelligent point construction will win her a lot of matches.

For nearly an hour she was completely in control, with Keys, who possesses one of the most natural ball strikes in the game but can be very erratic, making error after error.

The American pulled herself together just in time, changing her tactics to follow her big groundstrokes to the net and even breaking 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 Andreeva was unable to shrug off her disappointment at the beginning of the deciding set.

She briefly threatened to turn things around again but Keys kept her composure while Andreeva lost hers and with it the match.

Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton offered no guarantees that an earlier start time will be considered on Centre Court for next year’s tournament.

Matches involving Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have both been forced into a second day because they have not finished before the 11pm curfew while Djokovic’s third-round match against Stan Wawrinka concluded with 14 minutes to spare.

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.

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.

Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka left Court One to deafening boos on Sunday night after acknowledging Svitolina with a raise of the racket, and was clearly furious at the reaction.

There were similar and repeated scenes at the French Open, and Svitolina believes tennis authorities need to act to ensure crowds are aware of the situation.

“We’ve no intention of doing that,” said Bolton. “Historically in tennis the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them and I think we don’t really want to start mandating what happens.

“I think we have an incredibly knowledgeable audience at Wimbledon and I think in the most part they would understand what was going on. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what everybody in the crowd was thinking last night.

“I would echo what Elina and Vika said. Having witnessed one of the most incredible matches on number one court to an absolutely rapt audience, we should be focusing on the tennis and the match we saw, not all of the other stuff that went on.”

The issue is unlikely to come up again, with Svitolina the only remaining Ukrainian and set to take on top seed Iga Swiatek next, while the Russians and Belarusians left are all in the other half of the draw.

It has been a strong showing from Russians and Belarusians following the lifting of last year’s ban, with seven making the fourth round across the men’s and women’s singles.

The prospect of the Princess of Wales giving a trophy to a player from one of the two countries was cited as a factor in last year’s ban, and that is a very real possibility.

“When we made the decision earlier this year to admit Russians and Belarusians, we thought really carefully about all of those things and, having made the decision to admit them, we are comfortable about how that plays out,” added Bolton.

Novak Djokovic will return to action on day eight at Wimbledon after the curfew curtailed his charge for victory on Sunday while number one seed Carlos Alcaraz will face his toughest test yet.

Elsewhere on a day that used to be called ‘Manic Monday’ – when all the fourth-round singles matches would be scheduled – last year’s beaten finalist Ons Jabeur tackles two-time champion Petra Kvitova while 16-year-old sensation Mirra Andreeva tackles Madison Keys.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what day eight has in store.

Match of the Day

Matteo Berrettini has had a tough time of it lately, having missed out on Wimbledon last year due to coronavirus and then injury ruining much of his 2023 campaign.

But the 2021 finalist is back and on the form he has shown so far looks more than capable of heading deep into this second week of the tournament.

However, there is the small matter of the world number one standing in his way.

Carlos Alcaraz, who won at Queen’s, is looking the real deal so far, so this fourth-round contest has the potential to be a classic.

Kvitova will have to be Ons it

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Petra Kvitova is rolling back the years and enjoying a long run in SW19.

The Czech player has got to the last-16 six times and she ended up as champion twice, reached the quarter-finals twice and the semi-final once.

Her run this year is a bit of an anomaly as it is just the second time she has got to this stage since her second title in 2014.

She will have her work cut out to get to the next stage as she is up against Ons Jabeur, who is looking to go one better than her runners-up spot last year.

Andreeva’s emergence continues

Mirra Andreeva is the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Coco Gauff in 2019 as her star continues to rise.
At 16 she is the youngest player in the women’s draw and proved her breakout run at the French Open was no fluke, having come through qualifying.

Maddison Keys is up next and the American is playing some nice tennis, having won in Eastbourne in the final warm-up tournament, so a fascinating match awaits.

Order of play

Centre Court
Elena Rybakina v Beatriz Haddad Maia
Novak Djokovic v Hubert Hurkacz (Djokovic leads 7-6 (6) 7-6 (6))
Ons Jabeur v Petra Kvitova
Carlos Alcaraz v Matteo BerrettiniCourt One
Daniil Medvedev v Jiri Lehecka
Aryna Sabalenka v Ekaterina Alexandrova
Grigor Dimitrov v Holger Rune

Weather

Cloudy but generally fine