The Wimbledon women’s draw saw its quarterfinal line-up confirmed on Monday as some familiar faces, budding young tennis stars and home favorites all secured spots in the last eight at the All England Club.
Britian's quest for a Wimbledon champion in 2019 is still alive as Johanna Konta booked her place in the quarterfinals with an upset win against sixth seed and two-time champion Petra Kvitova, blitzing the Czech with a stunning comeback after dropping the first set. Konta upped her game in the second, storming to a 6-2 win before winning the decider 6-4.
Romanian seventh seed Simona Halep closed the book on this year's most intriguing success story as she bested Cori Gauff in straight sets to end the 15-year-old's unlikely journey to the rarified air of the last 16.
Seven-time winner Serena Williams, meanwhile, met little resistance in a straight sets win against Carla Suarez Navarro.
Karolina Muchova won her all-Czech battle with third seed Karolina Pliskova as the third set threatened to look like a stalemate before the unseeded Muchova managed to break serve and secure her own to win the final frame by a score of 13-11.
"She cannot believe it!"
World No.68 Karolina Muchova digs deep to send out the No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 7-5, 13-11 in three hours and 16 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam for the first time…#Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/xoM7inBrTH
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2019
Czech success continued as another unseeded player, Barbora Strycova, bested 21st seed Elise Mertens.
The biggest surprise of the day was without doubt top seed Ashleigh Barty's defeat to the world's 89th ranked player Alison Riske of the US.
French Open champion Barty, 23, claimed the first set but her opponent fought back to clinch the next two and send the Australian out.
To complete a busy day on the women's side of the draw, Elina Svitolina got the better of Petra Martic in straight sets, while it took three sets to separate Zhang Zhuai and Dayana Yastremska but it was the Chinese who would claim the final set against her 19-year-old opponent and the match by a score of 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
The ladies' singles quarter-finals are now set - who do you see reaching the last four?