Wimbledon Day 8 preview: Monday’s full order of play and key matches

The bottom half of the women’s draw features six seeded players, with Iga Swiatek facing Clara Tauson and Mirra Andreeva meeting Emma Navarro in fourth-round action.

12:38

WIMBLEDON — After a slew of upsets in the first three rounds, things have settled down in the bottom half of the draw. 

Six of the eight players left are seeded. Three of them — No. 4 Iga Swiatek, No. 7 Mirra Andreeva and No. 10 Emma Navarro — are ranked among the PIF WTA Rankings Top 10.

Wimbledon: Scores Order of play | Draws

The two unseeded players: Tokyo Olympic singles gold medalist Belinda Bencic, mounting a comeback after giving birth to daughter Bella, and 22-year-old Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, ranked No. 66.

With the losses by Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova, a first-time Wimbledon champion is guaranteed.

Monday’s order of play

Centre Court: 13:30 startNo. 6 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 11 Alex de MinaurNo. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro

No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov

No.1 Court: 13:00 startNo. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda BencicNo. 10 Ben Shelton vs. Lorenzo Sonego

No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson

No.2 Court: 11:00 startNo. 22 Flavio Cobolli vs. Marin Cilic

No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Breaking down Monday’s fourth-round matches

No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro

Head-to-head: 1-0, Andreeva, a 6-2, 6-2 win in the 2024 Cincinnati Round of 64.

Mirra Andreeva was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Hailey Baptiste, while Navarro defeated defending champion Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Match fact: Andreeva is the youngest woman to reach the fourth round at each of the first three Grand Slam events of the season since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.

No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson

Head-to-head: 1-0, Swiatek, three years ago in the Round of 32 at Indian Wells in three sets.

Tauson defeated No. 11 Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 6-3 and later Swiatek was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Danielle Collins.

Match fact: Swiatek now holds the 11th highest winning percentage in women’s singles Grand Slam events in the Open Era (82.8%, 96-20), surpassing Martina Hingis (82.7%).

No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic

Head-to-head: 4-all, with Alexandrova winning the most relevant meeting, 6-1, 6-2 two weeks ago in Bad Homburg’s first round.

Alexandrova was a 6-3, 7-6 (1) winner over Zeynep Sonmez while Bencic defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 [7].

Match fact: In the past seven years, only Ons Jabeur (41) has claimed more WTA main-draw wins on grass court than Ekaterina Alexandrova’s 37 over that span.

No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

Head-to-head: 0-0.

Samsonova was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 16 Daria Kasatkina and Bouzas Maneiro defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

Match fact: Best result at a Grand Slam has been Round of 16 finish — four times including 2021 Wimbledon.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *