A lot to get through today after the weather had other plans for us on day four. A jam-packed order of play saw 5 matches scheduled on Centre Court.
Starting us off – a Wimbledon Champion up against a Queen’s Champion, Elena Rybakina versus Tatjana Maria. A story we’ve seen before on this court, the slice game of Tatjana Maria frustrating the big hitters. In this case, it was Elena Rybakina looking troubled as she went a set down to our 2025 champion. In the second set, the two-time Grand Slam Champion still struggled to make a real impact but managed to get the all important break at the right time, and held serve to win the set 7-5. Making a fast start in the decider, Rybakina broke Maria’s serve twice to give herself a 3-0 lead and take command of the match. Rybakina seemed to just focus on playing her own game in the final set and out played her opponent to win it 6-0.
Next up we had home favourite Emma Raducanu facing 36 year old Sorana Cirstea who, after announcing her retirement earlier this year, came to London off the back of a very good run in Paris. Raducanu came out firing and raced to a 4-0 lead. The Romanian started to claw it back but Raducanu was eventually able to serve it out 6-4. The second set saw Raducanu continue to stamp her authority on the match. The British number 1 looked confident on the grass and got the better of her opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Over on Court 1, Katie Boulter won her match against Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets, so a positive morning for the Brits!
Onto match three, an all American face off and our first quarter-final! The Number two seed, Amanda Anisimova, made the final here last year and continued her form in SW19 where she was also a finalist. At just 18, our number six seed Iva Jovic took position on the other side of the net. Jovic got herself ahead in the first set and there were early signs of frustration from Anisimova, whilst the teenager came out on top 6-2. Serving from both players was very poor in the second set, with 10 double faults between them. The second seed crafted herself a 5-0 lead and eventually served the set out at 6-3. In the final set it was Jovic who came out looking the most fired up. A number of breaks of serves were exchanged but it was the break from Jovic to make it 5-3 which was the decisive one. She won her final service game to love and claimed her spot in the semi-finals.
With the sun shining on Centre Court, match four was underway and it was Elena Rybakina back out to face Katie Boulter in the quarter-finals. In the first set there wasn’t much to separate the two, Boulter soaked up some pressure on her serve, and at 5-5 grabbed her opportunity to get the first break of serve in the match, and backed it up with the all important hold of serve to give herself a set lead. It looked in the second set as if things were starting to go Rybakina’s way and she finally got the breakthrough on Boulter’s serve to get a 3-1 lead. Rybakina took control of this one and took us to a decider with a 6-2 scoreline in the set. In the third set, again these two players remained so close. Each game was a real battle and the atmosphere on Centre Court was electric. The noise from the crowd when the Brit went a break up to serve for the set at 5-4 was amazing. Boulter brought it home and booked her place in the semi-finals after a sensational match!
**Image is Getty images for LTA**