Rybakina through after Haddad Maia retires injured

Ons Jabeur swept past a below-par Petra Kvitova to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and set up a repeat of last year’s final against Elena Rybakina.

Kazakh champion Rybakina progressed even quicker when 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia retired with an injury after just five games of their match.

Later, second seed Aryna Sabalenka sealed a 6-4 6-0 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the last eight.

A day after Wimbledon had witnessed two thrilling matches that showcased the best of women’s tennis, what had looked like the eye-catching matches of the day were never even contests.

In the morning’s opening match on Centre Court, Rybakina broke in the fourth game but Brazilian Haddad Maia looked immediately uncomfortable with her lower back.

After leaving the court in tears for a medical timeout, Haddad Maia came back to play one more game before conceding at 4-1.

A couple of hours later, Jabeur returned to the court where she had survived a scare in the previous round against Bianca Andreescu and looked determined to make life a little easier for herself this time.

She whizzed through a 22-minute first set before Kvitova eventually got herself on the scoreboard, but despite the Czech later winning back-to-back games for 4-3, she never looked like mounting a comeback.

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Jabeur sets up chance of ‘revenge’

Sixth seed Jabeur had come into the match having lost four times to Kvitova in five previous meetings, including a first-round defeat at Wimbledon in 2019.

But she made a mockery of the stats against Kvitova, who was on an eight-match winning streak on grass, as she took immediate charge with her variety of shots in slightly breezy conditions on Centre Court.

She was briefly held back in the second set but used her slice to great effect and covered every inch of the court to deal effectively with Kvitova’s groundstrokes and also capitalised on the Czech’s 26 unforced errors.

Once Jabeur had sealed victory after just 63 minutes, her focus turned immediately to the quarter-final against Rybakina, with one thing in particular on her mind.

“I am going for my revenge,” the 28-year-old said in her on-court interview.

“It was a difficult final last year. it is going to bring a lot of memories. I am hoping to play like today and get the win. It will be a difficult match.”

Jabeur had been favourite to beat Rybakina in the Wimbledon showpiece a year ago but lost 3-6 6-2 6-2.

‘Never easy to finish a match like this’

Rybakina started well by hitting an ace with the first serve of the match and secured the break in the fourth game, but that is where things took a turn for Haddad Maia.

The French Open semi-finalist turned to the back of the court and clutched her lower back before asking the umpire to call the physio.

Visibly emotional and walking with difficulty, she returned to court after the medical timeout and attempted to continue but it was clear she was unable to move properly or reach the ball.

After Rybakina hit another ace to hold her serve, Haddad Maia signalled to the umpire that she could not go on and her Kazakh opponent met her at the net to console her.

“It’s never easy to finish a match like this,” said third seed Rybakina. “I hope it’s nothing serious. It’s really unlucky for Beatriz. But I’m happy to be playing in another round.”

Haddad Maia, 27, was on her best run at Wimbledon, reaching the fourth round for the first time after becoming the first Brazilian woman to make it to the top 10 of the WTA rankings with an impressive run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros.

Sabalenka continues ruthless form

Australian Open champion Sabalenka dropped a set in her second-round match against France’s Varvara Gracheva but has since looked in destructive form.

Russian 21st seed Alexandrova, featuring in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, struggled to find answers to the 25-year-old’s powerful hitting and aggression from the baseline.

She had already fended off break points in the eighth game and saved three set points two games later before gifting Sabalenka the opener with a double fault.

Another double fault handed over a double break in the second set before Sabalenka wrapped up the match in just 73 minutes, hitting seven aces and 19 winners in a ferocious performance.

After missing out on the tournament last year following a run to the semi-final in 2021, Sabalenka looks on course to at least equal that.

The Belarusian continues to thrive at SW19 and has now won 16 Grand Slam matches in 2023.

She faces Eastbourne champion Madison Keys in the quarter-finals after the American beat Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier on Monday.

Her win also means that all of the top four women’s seeds have reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009.