London - 05/07

Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need over breakfast.

Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000 and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.

Today is Sunday, July 5, in London it's 07:30 and it's 22 degrees. Ok, let's go.

On the menu today

• 🇵🇭 Eala eliminates Swiatek: the defending champion bows out in the third round
• 🇰🇿 Rybakina out too, Keys stops Anisimova
• 🇮🇹 Cobolli downs Khachanov in five sets, Paolini soars into the round of 16
• 🇧🇬 Dimitrov returns to Centre Court and gets past Berrettini
• 🇷🇸 Today Djokovic opens Centre Court, Sinner closes it
• 🇧🇾 Sabalenka against Osaka, the round-of-16 that counts double

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇵🇭 Eala Stops Swiatek

Alexandra Eala, the number 29 seed, beat defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6(9), 6-2, becoming the first Filipino player to reach the second week of a Slam. More than the scoreline, what stands out is the composure with which the 21-year-old saved two set points in the opening set, on Centre Court and against the woman who had lifted that title twelve months ago. Once she had banked that tie-break, the match took a turn Swiatek was never able to correct, and the feeling is that on grass her margins remain tighter than elsewhere. Now Eala awaits Paolini, in a round-of-16 clash nobody had penciled in.

🇰🇿 Rybakina And Anisimova Say Goodbye To London

The women's draw lost the number 2 and the number 6 in a single afternoon: Elise Mertens eliminated Elena Rybakina 7-6, 6-1, while Madison Keys came back to beat Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Rybakina's exit is the most striking, given she is always listed among the favorites on grass and instead came apart after a tightly fought first set. Keys, for her part, flipped the momentum after a poor start, and matches like these usually say more about her mental resilience than about her opponent's off day. The top half of the draw has suddenly become far less predictable.

🇮🇹 Cobolli And Paolini Keep Italy's Flag Flying

Flavio Cobolli got past Karen Khachanov 0-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 after almost four hours, a first set lost 6-0 in eighteen minutes and a medical timeout for stomach trouble that seemed to have taken him out of it. From there he changed the rhythm and over the distance it was he who held up better, earning a spot in the round of 16 and a Monday against Alex de Minaur. Earlier, Jasmine Paolini had dispatched Sakkari 6-1, 6-2, with a consistency that is never a given on grass, and now Eala awaits her. Two different ways of getting there, but placed side by side they say Italy remains in the tournament on both fronts.

🇧🇬 Dimitrov Returns To Centre Court

Grigor Dimitrov beat Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 in three and a half hours, on his first return to Centre Court after the pectoral injury that a year ago had forced him to retire against Sinner while two sets up. The Bulgarian set the tone early, then had to withstand Berrettini's comeback all the way to the fifth, where a single break decided everything. Given how he arrived at this moment, with that wound still fresh in his memory, the win perhaps means more than the round it earned. Berrettini goes out having given the impression of a body that holds up, which, after the last few years, is no small detail.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

• Djokovic vs Safiullin (from 13:30) - The Serb opens Centre Court, coming off a four-setter with Rinderknech: against Safiullin, a tidy but beatable opponent, the question is how much energy he spent in the early rounds.
• Sabalenka vs Osaka - The most anticipated round-of-16 match on the women's schedule, between the number 1 and a four-time Slam champion moving well again on grass: on paper it's a complete toss-up.
• Sinner vs Mochizuki - The defending champion closes Centre Court, up against Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki, in his first second week at a Slam: a match that should favor the Italian, but against an opponent who has already claimed a few scalps in London.
• Gauff vs Bencic (Court 1) - Coco Gauff runs into a Belinda Bencic who knows how to raise her level on grass: a trickier obstacle than the ranking suggests.
• Auger-Aliassime vs Davidovich Fokina - Two players with lively, at times inconsistent tennis, in a round-of-16 that could go any direction.
• Muchova vs Krejcikova - A Czech derby between two hugely talented players, with Krejcikova having already shown at Wimbledon that she can go deep.

Further reading

• Eala dethrones Swiatek and makes history for the Philippines
• Wimbledon 2026 Day 6: the Saturday of upsets
• Cobolli into the round of 16: Khachanov beaten in five sets
• Berrettini eliminated: Dimitrov prevails in five sets
• Dimitrov's fairytale rolls on as he outlasts Berrettini

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast