American 10th seed Ben Shelton and Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva made headlines at Wimbledon on July 7, as they both advanced to the quarterfinals with strong performances in their Round of 16 matches.
In a thrilling match, Shelton overcame Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in four sets, finishing with scores of 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5. The 22-year-old, showing great resilience, bounced back after losing the first set. He took charge of the game with his aggressive baseline style and powerful serving. With this victory, Shelton notched his third win against Sonego this year, having previously beaten him at the Australian and French Opens.
This achievement also means Shelton has surpassed his father’s best result at Wimbledon. His dad, Bryan Shelton, reached the Round of 16 back in 1994. The younger Shelton has already made it to the semifinals at both the US and Australian Opens, and his performance on grass marks a new milestone in his career.
On the women’s side, 18-year-old Andreeva delivered an impressive performance against American 10th seed Emma Navarro, winning 6-2, 6-3 on Centre Court, drawing the attention of tennis legend Roger Federer in the Royal Box. This victory makes Andreeva the youngest player to reach the women’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon since Maria Sharapova in 2005.
Andreeva excelled with her powerful groundstrokes and served effectively, not dropping a single point on her first serve during the opening set. While Navarro fought hard in the second set, trying to create break opportunities, Andreeva kept her cool and secured the win without dropping a set.
After the match, Andreeva shared a light-hearted moment, admitting that she lost track of the score during match point. “Honestly, I kept telling myself I was facing a break point… and in the end, I completely forgot the score,” she said. “I’m happy I did, otherwise I would have been three times more nervous.”
Looking ahead, Shelton is set to face the winner of the match between Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov, while Andreeva will go up against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals.
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