Only four players remain in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon: Jasmine Paolini, Emma Navarro, Donna Vekic, and Lulu Sun.
One will play in the final at the All-England Club on Saturday afternoon.
What happened to every else? No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who was the odds-on title favorite going into the tournament, withdrew prior to her first-round match because of a shoulder injury. No. 2 seed Coco Gauff lost to Navarro on Sunday night. No. 8 seed and Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng was bounced in the opening round by Sun. No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari lost to Emma Raducanu, who promptly lost to Sun. No. 12 seed Madison Keys was one game away from reaching the quarterfinals only to suffer a hamstring injury and retire at 5-5 in the third set of her match against Paolini.
Meet the quarterfinalists:
Jasmine Paolini – The 28-year-old was runner-up at the French Open to Iga Swiatek and she also won a 1000-point title in Dubai earlier this season. Still, on grass this is very surprising run to the quarterfinals. The seventh-ranked Italian was 6-13 all time on grass prior to 2024.
Emma Navarro – The former University of Virginia standout has also made a significant breakthrough this year, with a 40-15 match record that includes a title in Hobart. She is 14-5 lifetime on grass (all in the past two seasons). Navarro’s Wimbledon run features defeats of both Gauff (fourth round) and Naomi Osaka (second round).
Donna Vekic – On the pro tour since 2012, Vekic has not been higher than 19th in the rankings and has never advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal (this is her third quarterfinal appearance–first at Wimbledon). A force on grass, the 28-year-old Croat has played in five WTA grass-court finals (one title, Nottingham 2017).
Lulu Sun – Ranked No. 123, Sun had to qualify to get into the main draw (and was down a match point in the second round of qualies!). Prior to this season the 23-year-old New Zealander had won a total of four matches at the WTA level. She played one season of college tennis at the University of Texas (2020-21) and won the national championship-clinching match.
On Tuesday it will be Paolini vs. Navarro and Vekic vs. Sun.
“I don’t know a lot about her,” Vekic admitted. “I think the coaching team will be studying all night to try to get ready for the match on Tuesday. No one makes the quarterfinals of Wimbledon by accident. She’s obviously playing great tennis. It will be a tough match.”
And the stakes could not be higher in either match. We are only in the quarterfinals, and a surprising Wimbledon finalist is already guaranteed.
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who ya got?
Very very unbalanced draw now. Think I would pick Navarro to go through now but God knows. She was very good against Coco.
Tracy Austin just said it could be anybody!
I thought we didn’t trust Tracy Austin after her leading us up the garden path over Coco?!
Just reporting….;) But i probably agree with her. Has her son been playing at Wimbledon, or am i completely making that up? More than likely.
At the moment, I am watching Barbora and Danielle and pulling for Barbora with all my energy. Watching Barbora play well again and hearing her winner’s speech are great. The 2021 Roland Garros winner and Czech Champion is so sweet and humble, and it’s nice to see her going deep at Wimbledon. Of course, like her next opponent, she’s been focusing a lot on doubles. It’s too tough for me to predict who will win. Good luck to both! 😀
Elina Svitolina was on TC being interviewed after her win over Xinyu Wang. She described what it means for her (Elina Svitolina) to be back in the QF of a GS and play for her home country. She talked about the missile bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Hence, the black ribbon:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/svitolina-wears-black-ribbon-wimbledon-143753377.htmlv
Absolutely thrilled Jasmine has come through. She is simply delightful.
Just mentioned you on main thread Margot!! And you picked her to the final!
Cheers, Amy. She’s a little pocket rocket. Not sure how she’d do against Rybs playing her best though, so much power.
Rybs awesome today. Not sure she is beatable if she plays like that.
Barbora through!!😄
Jasmine and Barbora for me. Joi de vivre from J. and artistry in motion from B.
OMG! What a match Both women were absolutely fabulous! Down to a 10 point tie break and Jasmine comes through!
Well done!
Out of those 4 I would have picked Navarro, and I would have been WRONG!!!
After her performance against Gauff I thought Navarro would be in the final. Didn’t do herself justice really…not sure she has the belief to win consecutive big matches..
OMG! Amy she won! She was terrific, all her skill set was on display.
What a day of tennis and the women’s final I wanted.
You were RIGHT Margot!! Amazing day for women’s tennis although I missed the first match because I was on the coast path all afternoon.
u must be very tired if you watched both! But thrilling stuff…
The first match was exhausting, on a knife edge till the last point. The second not so much. Barbora took control from the second on and once she showed she could handle Rybs’ power, her variety made that outcome inevitable.
Great for Jasmine and Italian tennis , but have to say sorry for Madison, should have won that .
I haven’t seen any Thursday matches yet, a full day behind . But know I know the results, I mightn’t bother.Delighted if Jasmine wins, she so nice. Her name suits her
Fritz really highlighted why he the carthorse. Complete contrast to the guile and artistry of Mussetti
Exactly as I gleefully pointed out on the match day thread. Some of his tennis was simply awesomely awful. His lumbering, clodhopping gait really was something to behold at times.