London - 06/07

Tie-BreakfastJul 55 min
TIE-Breakfast

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 Monday, July 6, in London it's 07:30 and it's 24 degrees. Ok, let's go.

Today at breakfast

  • ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Osaka switches off world No. 1 Sabalenka and reaches her first Wimbledon quarterfinals
  • ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Djokovic passes Federer: 106 wins, no one like him at the Championships
  • ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Sinner dispatches Mochizuki and reaches the quarterfinals without a hitch
  • ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Gauff and Pegula carry two Americans into the quarterfinals
  • ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Auger-Aliassime survives Davidovich Fokina after five sets
  • ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Today Paolini opens Centre Court against Eala, Cobolli faces de Minaur

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Osaka Switches Off Sabalenka

Naomi Osaka beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 in just under an hour and a half, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time in her career. Not since 2018, back at that US Open, had she beaten Sabalenka, and she had never managed to topple a top-ten player on a surface other than hard court. More than the upset itself, what stands out is the ease with which she held the baseline rallies against one of the most powerful players on tour, then closed out in the tie-break a second set that looked like it could get complicated. Muchova awaits her in the quarterfinals, and that alone says how much the bottom half of the women's draw has opened back up.

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Djokovic Rewrites The Record

Novak Djokovic got past Roman Safiullin 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and with this win became the man with the most victories in Wimbledon history, his 106th, one more than Roger Federer. At thirty-nine he reaches his seventeenth quarterfinal at the Championships, the ninth in a row, a figure that on its own tells of a consistency hard to bring into focus while it happens. The third set dropped and a few nervous moments are a reminder that the road isn't as smooth as in certain years, but the feeling is that on grass his margins remain wide. Djokovic downplayed the record as a secondary matter, and knowing where he has set his sights, it's an answer that rings sincere.

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Sinner Into The Quarterfinals Without A Hitch

Jannik Sinner beat Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in a little under two and a half hours, earning his fifth straight quarterfinal at Wimbledon. Mochizuki tried to break the rhythm with constant forays to the net, and the match was even interrupted midway to close the roof when the light faded over Centre Court, yet without the Italian ever really losing control of the scoreboard. Matches like this, handled without spending too much energy, usually count more for what they leave in the legs than for how they play out. In the quarterfinals he'll face Jan-Lennard Struff, an opponent who can do damage on grass with his serve.

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Gauff And Pegula, A Double American Presence In The Quarterfinals

The women's draw also delivers two Americans to the last eight: Coco Gauff got past Belinda Bencic to reach her first career Wimbledon quarterfinals, while Jessica Pegula came back to beat Iva Jovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. For Gauff, grass had long been the missing piece of a rรฉsumรฉ already rock-solid elsewhere, and seeing her get this far after a patchy start to the season says something about the work done quietly. Pegula, for her part, overturned the momentum of a match that started badly, something she manages when she finds her range from the baseline. The top of the women's seeding, after the exits of recent days, remains open ground all the same.

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Auger-Aliassime Survives In Five Sets

Fรฉlix Auger-Aliassime edged Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1 at the end of a long, seesawing fourth round decided only by a fifth set in which the Canadian finally pulled away. Two players with lively but inconsistent games produced exactly the match you might expect, made of flashes and sudden lapses on both sides. Having absorbed two tie-breaks without wobbling, then finding clarity precisely in the decider, is the detail that says the most about his day. A win of the kind that weighs on the legs, with the quarterfinals now a step away.

WHAT'S ON TODAY:

  • Paolini vs Eala (Centre Court, first up) - Jasmine Paolini opens the program against the Filipina who knocked out Swiatek: the round-of-16 match no one had penciled in becomes a heavy crossroads for the Italian.
  • Cobolli vs de Minaur (Court 1, from 14:00) - Flavio Cobolli chases his first career win against the Australian, after his five-set battle with Khachanov: a more open match than the ranking suggests.
  • Dimitrov vs Fery (Centre Court) - The Bulgarian, fresh off his epic with Berrettini, against the last Englishman standing, wild card Arthur Fery: one of the week's most curious stories.
  • Zverev vs Lehecka (Centre Court, closing) - Alexander Zverev closes the day against Czech Jiri Lehecka, an opponent on the rise and at ease on grass.
  • Fritz vs Bublik (Court 1) - Taylor Fritz plays for a quarterfinal spot against the unpredictability of Alexander Bublik, a pairing that can deliver tennis of every kind.
  • Keys vs Noskova (Court 1) - Madison Keys against Linda Noskova, in a round-of-16 match pitting two players capable of abruptly raising their level.

Further reading

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast