Sabalenka storms into Wimbledon quarters with Mertens romp; Fritz moves into last 8 as opponent quits

US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz moved into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the third time in four years on Sunday, advancing when his injured opponent, Jordan Thompson, quit while trailing 6-1, 3-0 after 41 minutes.

The unseeded Thompson’s movement and power clearly were compromised. The Australian entered the match with back and leg issues and left the court for a medical timeout in the second set, then stopped after trying to play for three more points.

“Just got significantly worse today,” said Thompson, who was competing in singles and doubles at Wimbledon. “Just played a lot of tennis on a body that shouldn’t have been, and it just took its toll.”

For the No. 5-seeded Fritz, it was a shorter workday after playing a pair of five-setters and one four-setter earlier in the tournament.

“It’s obviously not the way that I want to go through,” Fritz said.

“It’s just sad. ... Respect to him for coming out. His body’s not right.”

Taylor Fritz reacts during his men's singles fourth round match against Jordan Thompson of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Sunday. AP

Now the American will meet No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia on Tuesday for a berth in the semifinals - a round neither has reached at the All England Club.

Khachanov has been a Grand Slam semifinalist twice, at the U.S. Open in 2022 and the Australian Open in 2023. Fritz made it that far at a major for the first time when he got to the final at Flushing Meadows in September before losing to No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

Khachanov beat Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 Sunday and is 2-0 against Fritz, although their most recent meeting was in 2020.

“We practice all the time, so we’re pretty familiar with each other’s games,” Fritz said.

“But I think I improved a ton and have become a much, much better player since the last time we played.” No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals at her 11th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, defeating No. 24 Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-6 (4), and will play Laura Siegemund, the 37-year-old German who followed up her elimination of Australian Open champ Madison Keys by beating lucky loser Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2. When Siegemund’s age was mentioned during an on-court interview, the crowd applauded, and she joked: “It’s not that often you get such a compliment for being old.”

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcame a missed call late in the first set when the electronic system that replaced line judges at Wimbledon this year was shut off but ended up beating Sonay Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4 to return to the grass-court major’s quarterfinals for the first time in nine years. Pavlyuchenkova’s opponent Tuesday will be No. 13 Amanda Anisimova or No. 30 Linda Noskova.

The men’s matches later Sunday were two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 14 Andrey Rublev, and Cam Norrie vs. Nicolas Jarry.

The quarterfinals will be set after Monday’s play, which leads off at Centre Court with 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic against No. 11 Alex de Minaur at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET).

They were supposed to face each other in last year’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but de Minaur was forced to withdraw before the match with a hip injury. That’s to be followed by No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro, who eliminated 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova in the third round, and then No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov. Others in action: Iga Swiatek, Ben Shelton and Marin Cilic.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon’s automated line-calling technology came under fire on Sunday after a malfunction robbed Pavlyuchenkova of a point in her last-16 clash with Britain’s Kartal.

Pavlyuchenkova had reached game point at 4-4 in the opening set on Centre Court and Kartal hit a shot that looked clearly long but there was no call and Pavlyuchenkova stopped play.

Confusion reigned with television replays showing that Kartal’s shot was well out, but after seeking advice via telephone umpire Nico Helwerth said that because the Hawk-Eye technology had been unable to track the shot, the point had to be replayed. Russian Pavlyuchenkova went on to have her serve broken and was clearly fuming at the changeover, telling the umpire: “Because she is local, they can say whatever.

Agencies