Holder Rybakina into Wimbledon last eight after rival quits in tears, Keys ends Andreeva’s dream run

LONDON – Defending champion Elena Rybakina made the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday, after opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia quit in tears with injury after just five games.

The Kazakh was 3-1 up when the Brazilian world No. 13 took a medical timeout on Centre Court to treat a lower back injury.

She limped back onto the court but was reduced to walking pace and was in tears as she saw out the fifth game before retiring.

“It’s never easy to finish a match like this. I hope it is nothing really serious, it is really unlucky for Beatriz,” said Rybakina.

“Hopefully she is going to get better and I am just happy to play another round.”

She added: “I was feeling the ball really well even though it was really windy today.”

World No. 3 Rybakina will face either two-time champion Petra Kvitova or 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur for a place in the semi-finals.

Earlier, Madison Keys fought back from a set and 4-1 down to end Mirra Andreeva’s hopes of becoming the youngest Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 26 years.

The 18th-ranked American came through against the 16-year-old Russian 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to make the last eight for the first time since 2015.

However, the tie ended in controversy when Andreeva was handed her second code violation of the match for slamming her racquet into the ground at deuce in the eighth game of the final set.

She was hit with a penalty point which in turn gave Keys match point, with the American going on to seal the tie.

Andreeva protested that she had slipped and had not banged her racquet into the surface intentionally.

“I knew she’s a phenomenal player. I knew I had to stay in the match and get an opportunity to break back. I got the momentum and kept going,” said Keys, whose big game yielded 39 winners and 40 unforced errors.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure (of facing a qualifier). I didn’t want to be the first player to lose to her to get to her first quarter-final at a Slam.”

For the second Slam event in succession, Andreeva had come through qualifying to make the main draw and was hoping to become the youngest quarter-finalist at Wimbledon since compatriot Anna Kournikova in 1997.

She was comfortably on course in the early stages out on Court 2.

Andreeva, playing in only her second Grand Slam tournament compared to the 41 of Keys, broke the 28-year-old American three times in the opening set.

The teenager remained in control in the second set, breaking in the second game and stretching out to a 3-0 lead.

Keys dug deep to fight off break points in the fourth and sixth games and pounced on a rare, loose service game by the Russian to recover the break in the seventh game.

The American swept through the tiebreaker and a frustrated Andreeva was hit with her first code violation for petulantly throwing her racquet at her chair.

Andreeva double-faulted as she slipped 2-0 down in the decider before the composed Keys ran away with a tie in which she saved eight of 12 break points.

In the men’s draw, third-ranked Daniil Medvedev reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final when Czech opponent Jiri Lehecka retired with an injury.

The 27-year-old was 6-4, 6-2 ahead when his 37th-ranked opponent, who had needed a medical timeout for a right foot injury, retired from their Court One clash.

Former US Open winner Medvedev will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek world No. 5, or unseeded Christopher Eubanks of the United States for a place in the semi-finals.

“I saw that his movement was restricted but I didn’t see that it was causing any real trouble,” said the Russian, who won the 2021 US Open.

“But when I saw that he was retiring, I saw that it was different.

“I had no choice but to keep battling until the last point. I feel sorry for Jiri. Hopefully he’ll recover and play at many more Grand Slams.” AFP