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

Novak Djokovic will have to cancel his day off and work overtime after falling foul of Wimbledon’s stubborn scheduling.

The defending champion and title favourite was leading by two sets, 7-6 (6) 7-6 (6), against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz when play was suspended at 10.35pm.

Wimbledon chiefs will again be under scrutiny for their insistence on starting play no earlier than 1.30pm on Centre Court despite knowing it cannot go past the council-imposed 11pm curfew.

Andrey Rublev’s five-set win over Alexander Bublik took three hours and 17 minutes, before Iga Swiatek beat Belinda Bencic in three sets, two of which were tie-breaks, which also took just over three hours.

Therefore seven-time champion Djokovic – who finished his match against Stan Wawrinka at 10.46pm on Friday night – and Hurkacz finally walked on to court at 8.41pm.

By the time the pre-match niceties, the coin toss and the warm-up were complete, Hurkacz hit the first serve of the fourth-round match at 8.49pm, giving Djokovic less than two-and-a-quarter hours to avoid having to come back on Monday.

Not that that would be beyond the 23-time grand slam champion against many players, but Hurkacz is the 17th seed, the man who ended Roger Federer’s Wimbledon career two years ago and who has not dropped serve so far this fortnight.

So, like Andy Murray on Friday, Djokovic will have to return in the afternoon and be crowbarred second into the Centre Court schedule.

Understandably, both players looked like they were in a hurry. There was scarcely a rally of more than four shots as the first set thundered towards a tie-break in just 36 minutes.

Djokovic rarely loses a tie-break. He has won all three he has faced this week, but an uncharacteristic double-fault gave Hurkacz the advantage at 4-3.

The underdog hammered down two aces to earn three set points, but two went by the wayside on the Djokovic serve before three unforced errors gifted Djokovic the set.

Djokovic fashioned three break points at 4-3 in the second but they were snuffed out by 134 and 139 mph aces and a 138 mph serve which Djokovic could only send long.

A fourth break point should have been taken with Hurkacz stranded mid-court having looped a defensive volley into the air, but Djokovic tried to be too cute and pushed it wide, almost toppling over the net as he did so.

In the inevitable tie-break, Djokovic squandered a set point after a rally broke out when he sent a forehand long, but he converted the next one to take a two-set lead before referee Gerry Armstrong came out to give everybody the predictable bad news.

Victoria Azarenka branded Wimbledon fans “drunk” and not “fair” after she was booed off court following a fourth-round loss to Elina Svitolina.

It was the first clash between a Russian or Belarusian player and a Ukrainian at Wimbledon since the lifting of last year’s ban on competitors from the aggressor nations.

The crowd, who had been overwhelmingly behind Svitolina throughout, produced a deafening roar when she clinched a 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9) victory.

The former world number three had been booed at the French Open, where she also made the last eight, for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents but here it was Azarenka, who put her hand up to acknowledge Svitolina before leaving the court, that received loud jeers.

It was unclear whether the fans thought it was she who had snubbed her opponent and Azarenka gave a long, lingering stare before banging her fists together in annoyance as she walked off.

“I can’t control the crowd,” she said. “I’m not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening. It’s probably been a lot of Pimm’s throughout the day. It wasn’t fair. What can I do?

“I feel like it’s been pretty consistent for the last 18, 19 months. I haven’t done anything wrong but I keep getting different treatment sometimes.

“She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited? There’s no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision.

“But this conversation about shaking hands is not a life-changing conversation. So if you guys want to keep talking about it, bring it up, make it a big deal, headlines, whatever it is, keep going.

“I thought it was a great tennis match. If people are going to be focusing only on handshakes or a quite drunk crowd, booing in the end, that’s a shame.”

The reaction was even more vociferous than in Paris, and Svitolina believes the situation should be spelled out ahead of such contests.

“I think the tennis organisations, they have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian players,” she said.

“I already said multiple times that, until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and we take back our territories, I’m not going to shake hands. I don’t know how more clear I can be.”

It did not look like it was going to be Svitolina’s day when she trailed by a set and 2-0 but, spurred on by the crowd, some of whom shouted Slava Ukraini – glory to Ukraine – she mounted a comeback.

It was Azarenka’s turn to fight back from 3-0 down in the deciding set and the light was fading when they entered a tense deciding tie-break.

Belarusian Azarenka, the 19th seed, led 7-4 and looked on course for victory but Svitolina recovered to create two match points, taking the second with an ace to set up a clash against top seed Iga Swiatek.

Svitolina, who had lost all her previous five matches against Azarenka, only returned to the tour in April following the birth of daughter Skai in October, and she beamed as she said in her on-court interview: “After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second happiest moment in my life.

“It was a really tough match. When I was 0-2 down in the second set I heard you guys cheering for me and I almost wanted to cry. I was really struggling and I really wanted to win today. You guys gave me so much strength today.”

Svitolina also drew strength from thinking of the plight of her stricken homeland, saying: “I was thinking back home there are lots of people that are watching and cheering for me, I know how much it means for them.

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“Any moments that they can share of happiness. I was thinking there is tough times in Ukraine and I’m here playing in front of you guys. I cannot complain, I just have to fight. And here I am, I won the match.”

She added later: “I feel responsibility, as well. So, if I’m going out to play this match against a Russian, Belarusian, I feel of course more pressure that I need to win. That’s why it means a lot to get these kinds of wins. In my own way, to bring this small victory to Ukraine.

“I heard a lot of Ukrainian people in the crowd. This was really special. And the crowd was amazing, was a really unbelievable feeling. I think one of the best atmospheres that I ever played in.”

On a lighter note, the 28-year-old revealed ahead of the match that her Wimbledon run meant she had to give away tickets to the Harry Styles concert she had planned to attend.

“I hope Harry is watching,” she said. “I’m a big fan of his.”

Styles was clearly aware of her accomplishment as he wrote to her on Instagram: “Congratulations! We have four shows to go, you’re welcome at any of them. Good luck with the rest of the tournament.”

Elina Svitolina’s memorable win over Victoria Azarenka capped a dramatic middle Sunday at Wimbledon.

Svitolina won a deciding tie-break on Court One, while Iga Swiatek saved two match points to survive against Belinda Bencic and Andrey Rublev emerged triumphant in a near three-and-a-half-hour battle with Alexander Bublik.

But the Wimbledon curfew came into play once again as Novak Djokovic was forced off when leading Hubert Hurkacz two sets to love.

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

Azarenka boos tarnish classic match

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka left Court One to a chorus of boos after losing a dramatic fourth-round contest to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

The crowd had been overwhelmingly behind Svitolina throughout and produced a deafening roar when she clinched a 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9) victory.

The former world number three had been booed at the French Open for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents but here it was Azarenka, who put her hand up to acknowledge Svitolina before leaving the court, that received loud jeers.

It was unclear whether the fans thought it was she who had snubbed her opponent and Azarenka gave a long, lingering stare before banging her fists together as she walked off.

Tweet of the dayIga for success after narrow escape

World number one Iga Swiatek outlined her title credentials after she saved two match points to come through a marathon match with Belinda Bencic and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Swiatek looked down and out at 5-6 in the second set, but she produced her best tennis with two sumptuous winners to turn the tie around.

The four-time grand slam champion continued to be pushed all the way by Olympic gold-medallist Bencic in a tense third set before she eventually prevailed 6-7 (4) 7-6 (2) 6-3 after a three-hour epic on Centre Court.

It sent Swiatek through to the last-eight at SW19 for the first time and having won the junior title here previously, she will march on with renewed belief this could be her year on her least favoured surface.

Shot of the dayQuote of the dayPicture of the dayStat of the day

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka left Court One to a chorus of boos after losing a dramatic fourth-round contest to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

The crowd had been overwhelmingly behind Svitolina throughout and produced a deafening roar when she clinched a 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9) victory.

The former world number three had been booed at the French Open for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents but here it was Azarenka, who put her hand up to acknowledge Svitolina before leaving the court, that received loud jeers.

It was unclear whether the fans thought it was she who had snubbed her opponent and Azarenka gave a long, lingering stare before banging her fists together as she walked off.

Svitolina only returned to the tour in April following the birth of daughter Skai in October, and she beamed as she said in her on-court interview: “After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second fabulous moment in my life.

“It was a really tough match. When I was 0-2 down in the second set I heard you guys cheering for me and I almost wanted to cry. I was really struggling and I really wanted to win today. You guys gave me so much strength today.”

Svitolina also drew strength from thinking of the plight of her stricken homeland, saying: “I was thinking back home there are lots of people that are watching and cheering for me, I know how much it means for them.

“Any moments that they can share of happiness. I was thinking there is tough times in Ukraine and I’m here playing in front of you guys. I cannot complain, I just have to fight. And here I am, I won the match.”

These were the final two mothers left in the singles draw but there was certainly no maternal bond here.

Svitolina spoke before the contest about her “big motivation” to beat Azarenka “for my country”, and the pair did not even look at each other at the coin toss ahead of what was the first clash between Ukrainian and Russian or Belarusian players since the beginning of the war and the lifting of last year’s ban.

Svitolina has made a very impressive return to the sport, including a run to the quarter-finals of the French Open, where three times she faced Russian or Belarusian players.

A couple of small Ukraine flags being waved as the players walked out onto Court One were the only initial indication of the political tension behind this contest.

But it quickly became clear the crowd were firmly behind Svitolina and in the fourth game a loud cry of Slava Ukraini – glory to Ukraine – was heard and applauded by sections of fans.

On the court, things were not going so well for Svitolina, who in her time away from the sport took an active role in leading fundraising efforts for Ukraine, including meeting with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

She had lost all five of her previous matches against Azarenka and, although most of the games were close, it was the Belarusian largely coming out on top.

Svitolina was staring at a swift defeat when she trailed 2-0 in the second set but the former world number three has returned to the tour with a much more aggressive mindset and she levelled things up before pushing to try to force a decider.

The 28-year-old has spoken warmly about the support her country has received from the UK, with Wimbledon funding accommodation and training facilities, and she must have felt as if she was playing at home.

A huge roar greeted the arrival of a set point, then an equally big groan when she shanked a forehand, but a second chance arrived and Svitolina, a semi-finalist here back in 2019, converted.

At 3-0 up in the deciding set, the Ukrainian looked to be on her way to victory but back came Azarenka and the light was fading fast as they approached the denouement.

Svitolina then fought back from 4-7 in a tense deciding tie-break, finally clinching it 11-9 on her second match point and dropping to the turf in delight.

On a lighter note, the 28-year-old revealed ahead of the match that her Wimbledon run meant she had to give away tickets to the Harry Styles concert she had planned to attend.

“I hope Harry is watching,” she said. “I’m a big fan of his.”

World number one Iga Swiatek saved two match points to come through a marathon match with Belinda Bencic and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.

Swiatek looked down and out when the score read 15-40 on her serve at 5-6 in the second set, but she produced her best tennis with two sumptuous winners to turn the tie around.

The four-time grand slam champion continued to be pushed all the way by Olympic gold-medallist Bencic in a tense third set before she eventually prevailed 6-7 (4) 7-6 (2) 6-3 after a three-hour epic on Centre Court.

It sent Swiatek through to the last-eight at the All England Club for the first time and having won the junior title at SW19 previously, she will march on with renewed belief this could be her year on her least favoured surface.

Top seed Swiatek had reached the fourth-round without dropping a set but experienced trouble early on against Bencic, being forced to take a medical time-out after only three games due to a blister.

It did not seem to affect the three-time French Open winner and she remained largely in control until Bencic turned the tables in the tie-break.

Bencic saved two set points in the 10th game before she clinched the first set after 66 minutes.

Swiatek left the court and returned determined to avoid another exit before the second week in England, with a sweet forehand return earning a break after a nine-minute opening game.

There remained a steel about Tokyo 2020 champion Bencic, who broke back to make it 3-3 and then had victory within her grasp when 15-40 up at 6-5.

Faced with losing at Wimbledon in the fourth round again, Swiatek came out swinging, producing equally brilliant forehand and backhand winners before she repeated the trick to take the second tie-break.

If Swiatek thought she had chipped away at Bencic’s armour, she was initially wrong with the Swiss right-hander able to force another break point chance early in the third.

After Swiatek dug deep to hold again, the resistance was finally broken with back-to-back double faults by the 14th seed.

More drama was to follow with Swiatek going 0-30 down when serving for the match, but she responded in style with two passing forehand winners sealing her spot in the last-eight.

Swiatek, who played two tie-breaks in the same match for the first time, said in her on-court interview: “Well, it wasn’t easy obviously.

“She had match point right? So, I don’t know if that ever happen in my career, being back from match point down, but I am really happy.

“I feel I needed that win to believe in myself a little more on this surface.

“Every day my love is getting bigger so hopefully I am going to have as many days as possible to play on this court.”

Earlier, fourth seed Jessica Pegula progressed into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time with a straight-sets win over Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.

Pegula raced into a 4-0 lead inside quarter of an hour and wrapped up the first set 6-1.

Tsurenko had come through the longest tie-break in women’s grand slam history on Friday to make the fourth round, but struggled to handle this occasion.

Pegula sealed victory with a superb backhand winner – only awarded after she challenged the out call – and made the last-eight of a grand-slam for the fifth time from her last seven appearances with a 6-1 6-3 win.

“I’m glad I challenged it,” Pegula said on-court. “I was just glad I was able to keep up the momentum.”

Next up for Pegula is a quarter-final clash with Marketa Vondrousova, who dug deep to win the all-Czech encounter with Marie Bouzkova in three sets.

World number 42 Vondrousova had only made it past the fourth round at a major once before, when she won the French Open in 2019, but reached the last-eight with a gusty 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory.

Jamie Murray was forced to do press-ups as a punishment by his hardline partner Taylor Townsend after their mixed doubles win at Wimbledon.

Britain’s Murray and American Townsend needed two tie-breaks, the second a marathon ending 15-13, to beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Jan Zielinski.

Murray had earlier won in the men’s doubles with Australian partner Michael Venus in three sets against Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.

But that gruelling schedule did not stop Townsend from making the Scot do a forfeit alongside her for not serving well enough.

“It was punishment for me to keep bloody serving in the net,” said Murray.

“I was like blowing it all of the time. She was like, ‘oh my God, we should do some press-ups’.

“She did outlast me. I said to her ‘keep going, I don’t want to fail in front of all of these people’. I was happy to bow out after 10. I don’t like them.”

British pair Joe Salisbury and Heather Watson are also through to the third round after beating Nathaniel Lammons and Giuliana Olmos.

But Katie Boulter and her Australian boyfriend Alex De Minaur were sunk in three sets by Joran Vliegen and Xu Yifan.

Seventh seed Andrey Rublev dived into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with an extraordinary shot to bring up match point against Alexander Bublik.

Rublev was in the middle of the baseline when Bublik hit what he, and everyone else on Centre Court, thought was a clean winner down the line.

But the Russian dived forward, got a racket on the ball and somehow floated it over the net.

“That is one of the great shots we’ve seen here in years,” exclaimed John McEnroe on commentary as Bublik scratched his head in disbelief.

Rublev, who had been two sets ahead but was pegged back by his opponent from Kazakhstan, went on to seal a 7-5 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-7 (5) 6-4 win after one of the most entertaining matches of the Championships.

“It was the most lucky shot ever,” said the 25-year-old. “It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time.”

Rublev, in the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time, was joined by fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, who became the lowest ranked male quarter-finalist here since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.

The world number 92 upset Canada’s 26th seed Dennis Shapovalov 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-3.

He will face Italian sixth seed Jannik Sinner, who beat Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia in straight sets.

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva will not let herself get carried away by comparisons with Emma Raducanu’s US Open win in 2021 after she stormed into the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Qualifier Andreeva, the youngest woman in the main draw at 16-years-old, again showed why she is the talk of the tennis world with an accomplished display in a 6-2 7-5 victory against compatriot Anastasia Potapova in round three.

This victory in 95 minutes bettered her debut grand-slam showing of making the third round at Roland Garros last month and made it six wins in a row on grass after she came through qualifying.

Comparisons are already being drawn to Raducanu’s triumph at Flushing Meadow as a qualifier two years ago.

But Andreeva insisted: “Of course, in 2021 she did amazing job. Everyone was impressed. I think she was impressed also to pass the qualies and to win the slam at 18. It’s amazing but me, I just try to not think about it.

“I think it will disturb me, all these thoughts. I just try to play every match and don’t think how far I have gone already or which round I’m playing, against who I’m playing.

“I just try to play every point. Doesn’t matter against who, doesn’t matter which round. I just play my game. I don’t change anything mental-wise, tennis-wise.

“When I played my first match in qualies, I just didn’t have any expectations because it was my first match on grass. I just tried to give it all on the court.

“Since that first match, I actually found the right rhythm. Now it’s working pretty good, I can say. So, honestly, as I said, I did not have any expectations. I just play.

“I always say that it’s a game. The game will decide who will win the match.”

Andreeva lost the Australian Open juniors final in January before she grabbed headlines at the French Open with a fine run, losing in three sets to fellow teenager Coco Gauff.

In her defeat to Gauff, Andreeva put herself at risk of being defaulted when some youthful petulance saw her swipe a ball angrily into the crowd during a tense moment in the tie.

While she got away with a code violation, it appears to be a moment the Krasnoyarsk-born right-hander has learned from and when 4-1 down in the second set against Potapova, she showed impeccable poise to keep calm and book a fourth-round meeting with Madison Keys.

Andreeva, who did allow herself the odd punch to the leg in tense occasions, revealed: “Honestly, after Paris I just had quite a long talk with myself, just me and myself, and that’s it.

“I talked to myself. I just talked. I don’t know, just in my head I realised some things. I took some decisions that I think are now important for me.

“I think I did a good job because now everything is working so far.”

Andreeva’s Wimbledon debut is taking place the year after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from the event following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Her exploits in SW19 are being cheered on from her home country, with her grandfather Petr – on his birthday – among those cheering her on from afar.

“Today is the birthday of my grandpa,” the world number 102 said.

“They were watching my match, like 50 people that they invited. Today I received much more support, much more kind messages from my family.

“I spoke to my grandparents already. I said happy birthday. Today, yes, I can say that I received a lot of messages from my family.

“I also feel the support from Krasnoyarsk. A lot of people are supporting me.”

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva continued her dream start to life on grass by storming into the last-16 at Wimbledon with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova.

Qualifier Andreeva, the youngest woman in the main draw at 16-years-old, had to wait a day to begin her third-round match but again showed why she is the talk of the tennis world with an accomplished display.

Andreeva’s victory in one hour and 35 minutes over her more experienced compatriot means her impressive grand-slam showing of reaching round three at Roland Garros in June has now been bettered.

She had never competed on grass before she started qualifying at Roehampton last week, but was able to chalk up a sixth consecutive win on the English lawn.

Potapova edged their first meeting in three sets last October and despite breaks being exchanged early on, Andreeva took control and won five of the last six games of the first set.

Further breaks were shared at the start of a much closer second set before Potapova moved 4-1 up.

Andreeva showed impeccable poise to keep calm and fought back to break in the seventh and 11th games of the second set to book a fourth-round meeting with Madison Keys.

An emotional Andreeva, who has made no secret of her affection for two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, said on-court: “Of course I am really happy I managed to win this match.

“It was an amazing battle, she played really well and congrats to her and her team because they did a good job.

“I did everything I could. I gave my all and I come back in the second set from 1-4 so of course I feel great.

“I have been working on (my emotions) really hard with my coaches, with my parents, we talked a lot. Now I know it is easier or better to control my emotions on court.

“But today honestly even if I wanted to show some emotions, I couldn’t because I was out of breath on every point!

“I do enjoy the atmosphere, it is just amazing here. You see all the pro players, you see (Novak) Djokovic, you see Murray… yes the atmosphere is great and I hope next year I will be in a different locker room (for seeds) that is the level above!”

Matteo Berrettini would have “signed with my blood” to have the Wimbledon run he is putting together.

The 2021 finalist has been struggling with a recurring abdominal problem that forced him to miss the defence of his Queen’s Club title but is through to the fourth round after convincing victories over Alex De Minaur and Alexander Zverev.

Berrettini, who was forced out of Wimbledon last year by Covid, said on court after his third-round victory that he had spent many days crying in his bed as he fought to get healthy again.

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“If they told me a few weeks ago you’re going to play five days in a row in Wimbledon, I would have signed with my blood,” the Italian said later.

“I really spent days in bed thinking about the tournaments that I missed, the injuries that I had, sadness that I was feeling. I was like, ‘I have to come back and feel alive when I play’.

“That’s the energy I have right now. It doesn’t matter how tired I am. In the morning, go there, enjoy. I find that extra energy that maybe a few years ago I took for granted.”

Berrettini is unseeded with his ranking having dropped to 38 and he revealed he arrived in London with serious fears he may have to miss Wimbledon for a second year in a row.

“I wasn’t sure even if I was going to play,” he said. “I flew here and I said maybe the atmosphere is going to help me a little bit.

“I was really not sure about it. Not because I didn’t want to. In order to play a slam, you have to be ready physically, emotionally, mentally. There are many things.

“The will is not enough. But then I have to say I did a great job with my team. We worked really hard. They let me decide. A few days before, I thought, ‘I’m not ready’.

“But then I missed too many events in the last years. I couldn’t leave this place without trying. That’s what I said to myself. I think this place has something special. I feel a kind of energy I don’t feel anywhere else.”

Berrettini is one of the best grass-court players in the draw and he will next try to upset top seed Carlos Alcaraz, who is yet to go beyond the fourth round at the All England Club.

The Italian, who beat Alcaraz over five sets at the Australian Open last year, is looking forward to the challenge, saying: “In a way it’s what you want, right? You want to play against the best players in the world.

“Playing against Carlos, it’s always been a pleasure, a great fight. He’s the best player in the world. It’s going to be a great challenge. But I’m so glad that I have this opportunity right now.

“I remember watching him play at Roland Garros from my TV. Now it’s going to be me against him. I’m really happy for that. I think this is going to help me to go there and enjoy and find that extra energy that I was talking about.”

Zverev certainly would not be surprised to see Berrettini come out on top, with the German saying: “I told him that he can win the tournament if he plays like this.

“Of course there are other players that are great. He’s playing Alcaraz next. I think he’s a great player as well. But, if he plays like this, he has chances against anybody.”