Wimbledon, day 7: Tatjana Maria and Jule Niemeier in the quarterfinals

The Wimbledon fairy tale of the debutante Jule Niemeier and the wondrous journey of the experienced Tatjana Maria are continued. They meet in the quarterfinals. Defending champion Novak Djokovic is also in the last eight.

Tatjana Maria first thought of her family – and then of tennis Germany. “That’s great. One of us is definitely in the semi-finals. Nobody would have thought that.” In fact, neither Maria nor Jule Niemeier was to be expected before Wimbledon, they meet on Tuesday. The exit? Totally open. Both bring self-confidence and class on grass.

On a memorable day of the round of 16 at the All England Club, the Bundesliga colleagues won the hearts of the fans on the big stage and played their way into the next round. With irrepressible will, Maria turned a match against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko that she had thought lost and won 5:7, 7:5, 7:5, fending off two match points. Niemeier triumphed over Heather Watson (6: 2, 6: 4) on Center Court on a holiday and apologized in embarrassment.

“Sorry that I threw out a Brit today,” said the 22-year-old, earning the sympathy of the spectators in the 100-year-old sanctuary of tennis. Before Niemeier’s match, two dozen champions had enjoyed themselves in it, including Angelique Kerber, record winner Roger Federer, Björn Borg and Stefan Edberg. Everyone came for the anniversary, some stayed for Niemeier, and what they saw must have convinced them.

The fearless newcomer acted aggressively and served well. Just like in the first two rounds and significantly improved in terms of play compared to the trembling victory over Lesia Zurenko on Friday. The historical stage, the stars and superstars and also the thousands of home fans of her opponent: All of this only seemed to motivate Niemeier.

Wimbledon: Tatjana Maria at the start for the tenth time

Her victory, said national coach Barbara Rittner proudly in an interview with the SID, was “impressive proof that something is still to come after the golden generation”. It’s surprising that it happened so quickly. After all, Niemeier is playing Wimbledon for the first time.

Tatjana Maria is there for the tenth time – and stronger than ever. “I’m very proud of German women’s tennis these days,” said Rittner. Also on Maria, who needed all her strength and the support of the fans to get into a Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time – the fourth round was already a premiere.

They love the mother of two with the unusual undercut, Maria feels that in every round. Without the spectators, she would not have made the comeback against former French Open winner Ostapenko, she said: “They were always there, and if they believe in me, then I believe in myself too.”

Her family is always there too. Her husband Charles Edouard and their two daughters Charlotte and Cecilia. “It makes me so proud to be a mom, it’s the best thing in the world. I love it, I love my kids and being able to experience that with them,” Maria said.

Rittner also had extra praise for her: “It’s unbelievable that she can play her best tennis with her tactical masterstroke on grass and play her way into the quarter-finals with the biggest fighting spirit,” she said. Strange but true. A German holiday awaits in Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Defending champion Djokovic confidently in the quarterfinals

Defending champion Novak Djokovic hardly gave Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven a chance in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. The six-time tournament winner from Serbia prevailed 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2 late on Sunday evening and thus ended a series of world rankings 104.

Van Rijthoven surprisingly triumphed at the preparatory tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and then received a wild card from the All England Club. The 25-year-old, who hadn’t won a match on the ATP tour until ‘s-Hertogenbosch, was also convincing in Wimbledon.

His run ended against Djokovic, although he had briefly robbed the third in the world rankings and surprisingly won the second set. As a result, however, the 35-year-old tournament favorite turned up the heat.

In the quarterfinals Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner on Tuesday. In the duel of the young stars, the Italian defeated the Spanish shooting star Carlos Alcaraz 6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 7 (8:10), 6: 3.

Against the world number 13. Alcaraz fell behind early on. After just 32 minutes, the climber on the tennis scene lost the first set, after which his opponent successfully defended an early break to take a 2-0 lead.

In the tie-break of the third round, Alcaraz fended off two match points and forced the Italian into the fourth set. There, after 3:35 hours of play, Sinner used his sixth chance to win.

Wimbledon: Czech Bouzkova in the quarterfinals against Jabeur

Despite the defeats of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova, a Czech can still hope for the title in the All England Club. Marie Bouzkova (23) made it into a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time with a 7: 5, 6: 2 win over Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.

There she meets Ons Jabeur, who is third seeded on Tuesday, and winner of the preparatory tournament in Berlin. The Tunisian beat Elise Mertens (Belgium), who knocked out Angelique Kerber (Kiel) in the third round, 7:6 (11:9), 6:4.

Bouzkova or Jabeur will meet the winner of the German duel between Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) and Jule Niemeier (Dortmund) in the semifinals on Thursday. As in all four Grand Slam tournaments, the women’s final in Wimbledon takes place on Saturday.

Wimbledon: Venus Williams eliminated in mixed

The five-time individual winner Venus Williams (42) from the USA was eliminated in the round of 16 on her comeback in the Wimbledon mixed alongside Briton Jamie Murray. The duo lost in a tiebreak thriller to Jonny O’Mara/Alicia Barnett from Great Britain 6:3, 4:6, 6:7 (16:18).

The older of the two Williams sisters had returned to the tennis stage after a break of almost a year at the All England Club, but only competed in mixed doubles.

Serena Williams (40) also made her comeback in Wimbledon after a long break in singles. However, the 23-time Grand Slam winner failed in the first round at the French Harmony Tan.

Wimbledon, Day 7: The round of 16 matches at a glance

*estimated start