As the top 10 seeds depart, who are the Wimbledon women's quarter-finalists?
Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online. |
The top 10 seeds are all out and Serena Williams has been grabbing all the headlines, but who stands between her and an eighth Wimbledon singles title?
The highest-ranked player to reach Tuesday’s quarter-finals is 11th seed Angelique Kerber – who Williams was quick to point out is actually the world number 10. Kerber, Williams and Jelena Ostapenko are the only Grand Slam champions left.
This is the first time since seedings were introduced in 1927 that none of the top eight women has made it through to the quarter-finals here.
Here we look at who’s who in the last eight.
Angelique Kerber v Daria Kasatkina
Kerber, the 2016 Australian Open and US Open champion, says she is “not feeling the pressure” of being the top seed left.
The German former world number one has played Kasatkina six times, winning half of them, but has lost twice to the Russian this year – including in last month’s Eastbourne quarter-finals.
A left-hander, the 30-year-old – who reached the Wimbledon final in 2016 – is appearing in the last eight at the All England Club for a fourth time.
Kasatkina, 21, is into her first Wimbledon quarter-final but is much more relaxed than when she reached the same stage at Roland Garros this year.
“This is what I call experience,” she said. “You’re getting used to these things. It’s really good because I will go on the court with the feeling that it’s just the next match, it’s not like something huge. I will be not that stressed, for sure.”
Asked how she would describe herself to people who did not know much about her, Kasatkina replied: “I’m just like an artist and I’m playing with the heart.”
Jelena Ostapenko v Dominika Cibulkova
Cibulkova would have been seeded, had it not been for the decision by the All England Club to give a seeding to Williams despite her world ranking of 181.
The Slovak, 29, was vocal about how it was “not fair” and has been playing at this tournament as if fired up by a sense of injustice.
The 2014 Australian Open runner-up is in the opposite side of the draw to Williams, so could still get a chance to make her point across the net in the final.
Cibulkova, who knocked out Britain’s Johanna Konta in the second round, has yet to drop a set here.
She faces Ostapenko, who became Latvia’s first Grand Slam champion when she won the French Open in 2017 as an unseeded 20-year-old.
Her title defence ended in the first round this year but she says she is playing more freely because the pressure of defending a title has gone.
“I’m just not afraid to miss,” she said. “I think I’m serving very well this tournament. In general, I think my level is much better than in the last Grand Slam.”
Kiki Bertens v Julia Gorges
Twentieth seed Bertens and 13th seed Gorges will be appearing in their first Wimbledon quarter-final.
The pair are friends, and have played doubles together.
A French Open semi-finalist in 2016, Dutchwoman Bertens’ five WTA titles have come on clay and she says she is “surprised” to have made it this far at the grass-court Grand Slam.
On her way to the last eight she beat five-time champion Venus Williams and seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, the latter of whom was the only top-10 seed to reach the fourth round.
“It’s going to be tough. We know each other so well,” Bertens, 26, said. “It’s going to be really exciting.
German 29-year-old Gorges lost the Charleston final to Bertens 6-2 6-1 earlier this year.
Serena Williams v Camila Giorgi
Asked what she most liked about what she had seen of Williams over the years, world number 52 Camila Giorgi replied: “I don’t follow tennis.”
But even if you do not follow the sport, you probably know all about the 23-time Grand Slam champion, who is on a comeback from having a baby last September.
With the seeds tumbling at a rapid rate, Williams is many peoples’ favourite for the title and is yet to drop a set, though she is also yet to face a top-50 player.
Giorgi, who has one WTA title to her name, is appearing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final and is the first Italian to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Francesca Schiavone in 2009.
She describes herself as an “aggressive” player, and is likely to need to be just that on Centre Court on Tuesday.