Norrie Keeps British Wimbledon Hopes Alive

Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie (photo: Wimbledon video)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 6, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Once upon a time, Middle Sunday at the Wimbledon Championships was deemed a day to rest and to allow for the maintenance of the precious grass courts. However, starting in 2022, play on both Sundays of the British fortnight became the standard, meaning the tournament is played over 14 consecutive days.

Good for the players, good for the fans, right?

Well, the elimination of Middle Sunday also meant the end of “Manic Monday,” where all men’s and women’s fourth-round matches were traditionally played on the same day. Now, like at the other three majors, the fourth round is split up over two days.

Sunday at the All England Club, the round of 16 began with two Britons still alive – one in each draw – and their names were Cameron Norrie and Sonay Kartal, not the higher-ranked Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu, as one might have expected at the start of the week.

On Middle Sunday, Norrie and Kartal were featured on the main show courts with the roofs closed to prevent pesky rain showers from spoiling everyone’s joy and surprise.

The 29-year-old Norrie, playing on his favorite court at the All England Club, No. 1 Court, advanced to the quarterfinal round and became just the fourth British man in the Open Era after Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Roger Taylor to reach the last eight on multiple occasions, with his 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory over 143rd-ranked qualifier Nicolas Jarry of Chile. It was anything but easy or quick for the 61st-ranked Norrie or Jarry, who had strung together six straight wins – three in qualifying at nearby Roehampton and three this week in the main draw.

Instead, Norrie and Jarry battled for more than four hours with three of the five sets being decided by tiebreakers. With a loud but supportive crowd rooting him on, Norrie recovered from squandering match points on Jarry’s serve in the third-set tie-break. He also had a 4-2 lead in the fourth-set tie-break that he wasn’t able to maintain, either.

By the end, it didn’t really matter – even though it extended the fourth-round match an extra two hours and one minute after Norrie’s first match point. Once he secured the victory, Norrie collapsed on the Centre Court grass with a goofy smile on his face. Then, he rose to his feet and let out a very vocal roar of appreciation. It was his 15th career win at SW19 – and, arguably, the most memorable one.

“Honestly I don’t know how I did that. Credit to Nico. He did an unbelievable job,” Norrie said during his on-court interview. “He played better than me in both tie-breaks [that he lost]. I had to keep fighting. I forgot to get my coach a birthday present today, so I had to get the win for him.

“He hung in there but I kept taking care of my serve. The atmosphere was so good and I appreciate the crowd getting me through.”

Playing in his eighth Wimbledon, and three years removed from reaching the semifinals in 2022, Norrie endured through four hours and 27 minutes of play, rallying just in time for victory against Jarry. It advanced the South African-born Norrie into the last eight on Tuesday against two-time defending champion and No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who fought off No. 14 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 43 minutes on Centre Court Sunday evening. With 22 aces and 41 winners overall, Alcaraz won for the 22nd straight time.

The final statistics were out of this world: Jarry hit 103 winners – 46 of them aces – and scored 180 points. And he still lost. Meanwhile, Norrie struck 36 winners, including eight aces, and converted two of nine break points. He finished with 194 points. A couple of key indicators that stood out and made a difference between victory and defeat: Norrie saved all eight break points he faced, while Jarry committed 71 unforced errors.

“At the beginning of this year, I struggled with confidence. I want to enjoy my tennis more and I’m doing that,” Norrie said. “It is a bonus to win but enjoying it is what matters. I am so happy to be in another quarterfinal in the best tournament in the world.”

Wimbledon run ends for home favorite Kartal

Meanwhile, the 51st-ranked Sonay Kartal‘s incredible Wimbledon run came to an end after the local favorite lost 7-6 (3), 6-4 to No. 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, in two hours and two minutes on Centre Court. The victory lifted the 34-year-old Pavlyuchenkova into her second Wimbledon quarterfinal – and first one since 2016. She did it by being the more steady player during the big moments.

Pavlyuchenkova finished with 36 winners, converted five of nine break points and, despite committing 47 unforced errors, outpointed Kartal 89-83.

As she walked off the court, taking it all in, Kartal received a hero’s welcome from the mostly-British crowd that filled Centre Court. The Sidcup, England native will move up to No. 44 in the PIF WTA Rankings following the tournament – a tremendous achievement considering she was ranked No. 248 two years ago at the end of 2023.

Later, Kartal would say: “It’s not easy coming out on to the Centre Court as a Brit but I think I did a great job.

“I did a lot of things I should be proud of. This week I proved to myself I can go deep in Slams and beat some of the best players on tour. I’m going away with a lot of motivation.”

During her on-court interview, Pavlyuchenkova both thanked the fans for their energy and apologized to them for defeating Kartal, the last British woman remaining in the draw.

“It’s incredible [to win] because I always thought I”m not very good on grass, and especially me getting older,” Pavlyuchenkova said during her on-court interview. “I’m so proud of myself to compete with these young girls at this stage and at this level. It’s just incredible.”

Since reaching the Roland-Garros final four years ago, where her ranking peaked at No. 11, she’s dealt with a knee injury that relegated her to No. 844 two years ago in 2023. More recently, in February Pavlyuchenkova was diagnosed with Lyme disease infection, which at times has sapped her strength.

“I was always a good player but crazy in my head. Now, my mental toughness is better, fighting point by point,” Pavlyuchenkova said.

“I got more determined after winning the first set. She was finding a really good rhythm, just grinding, and I was getting out of breath. But I stayed focused to finish it and I’m so happy.”

In the quarterfinal round, Pavlyuchenkova will face No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States, who held off No. 30 Linda Noskova of Czechia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in two hours and two minutes on No. 1 Court Sunday evening. Anisimova is through to her second Wimbledon quarterfinal – first since 2022 – after hitting 36 winners, converting five of 10 break points and outpointing Noskova 99-90.

Sabalenka: “Why not me?”

With Saturday’s elimination of defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia by No. 10 seed Emma Navarro of the United States and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan by Denmark’s Clara Tauson, there will be a new Wimbledon ladies’ champion for the eighth consecutive year. Not since Serena Williams won back-to-back Wimbledon titles in 2015-16 has there been a repeat champion. Current World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus figures, “Why not me?”

In the middle of three Centre Court matches Sunday with the roof closed, Sabalenka, the highest-remaining of four Top-10 seeds, faced her former doubles partner, No. 24 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, and won it with heavy power, 6-4, 7-6 (4), after coming from 1-3 down in the second set. It was her 11th win over the Belgian star in 13 career meetings and it provided Sabalenka with her 46th victory of the season.

“Today I definitely felt all the support,” Sabalenka said during her post-match news conference. “I didn’t have to pretend that they were cheering for me, because they were really cheering for me. I mean, what can be better than that?

During her on-court interview, Sabalenka added: “With your support guys, everything is possible. It’s such a beautiful tournament. I always dreamed of winning it.”

Coming in, Sabalenka had won 20 of her past 23 matches. Now, after winning consecutive quality matches – which began with her Friday victory over Emma Raducanu – Sabalenka is through to the quarterfinals against 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany, and it’s her 11th straight major quarterfinal appearance.

Of note, Sabalenka became the fourth woman in the last 30 years to reach the quarterfinals at each of the first three Grand Slams of the season without dropping a set in the first four rounds, joining Venus Williams (1998), Kim Clijsters (2006) and Justine Henin (2006).

Meanwhile, Mertens fell to 0-6 in matches against No. 1-ranked players in her career – including 0-3 against Sabalenka. In her news conference remarks, she said: “I think we all dream the same: holding the trophy, that winning moment. Yeah, it’s always been my dream. I mean, I haven’t achieved it yet.”

Around the All England Club

No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia has quietly – if not effectively – gone about the business of winning tennis matches on the outer courts. After being stretched to five sets in back-to-back matches by Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan and Portugal’s Nuno Borges, Khachanov needed just an hour and 47 minutes to become the first quarterfinalist of The Championships. He’s through to the Wimbledon last eight for the second time with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over 109th-ranked Kamil Majchrzak of Poland on No. 2 Court.

Khachanov parlayed 44 winners – including 10 aces – and won 79 percent of his first-serve points. He converted six of 10 break points and outpointed Majchrzak 92-68. It was Khachanov’s fourth straight win over the Majchrzak – the second at a major.

“To be honest, it was a really great performance from my side,” Khachanov said during his on-court interview, smiling and in a good mood as he spoke. “Because I was injured in 2023, I skipped the grass for two years. Last year, I was thinking, “I don’t like the grass, I don’t want to come back again.’ This year, it feels different. I like grass, again. I’m super happy to be in the last eight. One more step forward.”

Lucky for Khachanov, he finished his match less than half an hour before rain suspended play across the All England Club for about 75 minutes. The rain did not affect the first match of the day on No. 1 Court with the roofs closed between No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States and No. 44 Jordan Thompson of Australia. It ended just 41 minutes after it started with Fritz advancing by retirement, ahead 6-1, 3-0. He will play Khachanov in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

During his abbreviated match against Thompson, Fritz hit 20 winners – including six aces – converted four of five break points and outpointed Thompson 40-12 to move into the Wimbledon last eight for the third time in the last four years.

After playing 14 sets to get to the fourth round, Fritz got a respite, thanks to Thompson’s back injury, which appeared to be worsening round by round earlier in the week.

“It’s obviously not the way I want to go through,” Fritz said during his on-court interview. “I was excited to play Jordan today. I was excited to play some good tennis. yeah, it’s just sad.

“He’s been battling; he’s been playing five-setters. He was out playing a long doubles match yesterday so he’s been battling out here. Respect to him for coming out here, his body is obviously not right. So I feel bad for him.”

Meanwhile, 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany managed to get one game played in her fourth-round match against 101st-ranked lucky loser Solana Sierra of Argentina before the tarp came out to cover No. 2 Court, which does not have the benefit of a roof. When play resumed, Siegemund won the opening set 6-3 and led 1-0 before the rain returned and interrupted play for the second time during the match. Finally, she completed the task of defeating Sierra, 6-3, 6-2, in 79 minutes.

After never advancing beyond the second round at Wimbledon before this year, Siegemund is through to her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal and will face top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight on Tuesday.

Sunday’s Wimbledon results

Monday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

With his fourth-round victory Sunday, Karen Khachanov is the 11th active player to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon on multiple occasions, after Novak Djokovic (15 Wimbledon quarterfinal appearances prior to this year’s tournament), Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic (both four), Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Carlos Alcaraz (three), and Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medvedev, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka (all two).

“Quotable …”

“I’m so grateful to be playing here at Wimbledon. I have to remind myself how special an opportunity this is in the thick of battle. It means the world to me to play at the most prestigious tournament in the world.”

– No. 10 seed Emma Navarro of the United States, during her on-court interview Saturday, after defeating defending champion Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

Tommy Haas: „Bei den Grand Slams bin ich Traditionalist“

June 4, 2025

Michael Dickens

The Warrior: Rafael Nadal And His Kingdom Of Clay

May 16, 2025

Marc Raffel

Zum 11. Mal ATP Tennis an Rhein & Ruhr in Meerbusch

March 28, 2025

Florian Heer

Arzel Mevellec über die Entwicklung des Rwanda Challenger: „Wir lernen jedes Mal dazu!”

March 5, 2025

Podcast

Categories