Monday, July 8, 2024

8 women left standing at Wimbledon

Round of 16 play has concluded at Wimbledon, and now eight women, representing eight different countries, will compete in the quarterfinals. The highest seed left is number 4, and there's also a qualifier in the quarterfinal draw. 

Today, there was another sad occasion when Anna Kalinskaya had to retire in her round of 16 match against 4th seed Elena Rybakina. The Russian player, who has looked so good in London, sustained a wrist injury during the match.

Also today, Elina Svitolina handily defeated Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-1, and Alona Ostapenko defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3. Ostapenko hit 29 winners and broke Putintseva five times. This was the Latvian player at her best, but--as we all know--another version of Ostapenko could show up in the next match.

Finally, Barbora Krejcikova--looking like Barbora Krejcikova--defeated Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-3. Krejcikova had first and second serve win percentages of 80 and 50, which says a lot about how this match went. Also, as the match went on, Collins became more and more prone to error. 

Here is the quarterfinal singles draw:

Alona Ostapenko (13) vs. Barbora Krejcikova (31)
Elena Rybankina (4) vs. Elina Svitolina (21)
Lulu Sun (Q) vs. Donna Vekic
Jasmine Paolini (7) vs. Emma Navarro (19)

Ostapenko is 5-2 against Krejcikova, and 1-0 against her on grass (this year, in Birmingham). 

Rybakina and Svitolina are 2-2, with Rybakina winning their only match on grass. 

Navarro has won all three of her matches against Paolini; they have never played each other on grass.

Sun and Vekic have never played each other.

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