Wimbledon Women’s Day 7

Ons Jabeur kept a perfect record this week at Wimbledon as the third seed advanced to the quarter-finals 7-6(9), 6-4 over Elise Mertens on Sunday.

The Tunisian third seed has not lost a set through four matches as she moved into the last eight here for a second straight year.

Jabeur, the world No. 2, finished on her first match point against the Belgian in one and three-quarter hours.   

Mertens was beaten for the ninth time in a dozen Grand Slam fourth-round matches and missed the chance to become the first from her nation to reach a Wimbledon quarter-final Kirsten Flipkens in nine years ago.

Jule Niemeir dismissed Britain’s last Wimbledon women’s singles hope with her 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Heather Watson to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday.

The 97th-ranked German playing in only her second Grand Slam main draw, overwhelmed the 30-year-old Watson in 77 minutes with 22 winners and four breaks of serve.

Niemeier will face compatriot Tatjana Maria for a place in the semi-finals.

“I can’t believe what I’ve done,” Wimbledon debutante Niemeier said, “I’m sorry I had to kick out a British player.

“I was nervous before the match but as soon as I stepped onto the court, I felt pretty comfortable.

“I just focused on my game, played point by point and it went well.”

Niemeier added: “I’m super proud of myself, I played not a great match two days ago, But I didn’t miss much today and I’m pretty happy.”

Watson said she did what she could against a tricky opponent.

“It’s hard to find rhythm against players like her. She just didn’t let up at all,” the Briton said..

“Even after I did my homework and saw the bits of her game that might have had holes and that, she just didn’t today, didn’t let up all. 

“Even at the net, I thought I might get some passes there, some more free points. But nothing – I think she played really well.”

Mother of two Maria saved a pair of match points to stretch her fourth-round contest with Jelena Ostapenko into a third set, with the German reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

The 34-year-old Maria was handed a late chance to close it out in the third set as former Roland Garros winner and 12th seed Ostapenko missed a smash to lose serve.

Maria served out the win on the second of two match points and was overjoyed with the result. The 10-time Wimbledon entrant was stunned by her success and the support she got from Court No. 1 fans.

“There are no words for this amazing crowd,” she said. “They were believing in me – so I had to believe in me.

“That’s what kept me going.”

The winner was ranked outside the Top 250 as recently as this March and had returned from her second maternity leave just under a year ago.

Maria, with her husband and children in the stands, came from 4-1 -down in the second set to grab a lifeline, saving a pair of Ostapenko match points to stay in the chase.   

“I’m now in the quarter-final of Wimbledon, so it’s really amazing for me,” she said. 

“This means also that you always have to keep going. Doesn’t matter how old you are, doesn’t matter how many kids you have, you just have to keep going and to believe in yourself.”

Ostapenko had a simple explanation for her loss: “I just made mistakes. She just collected all my mistakes, unforced errors, and that’s how she won today.”

Czech Marie Bouzkova broke new ground with her last-eight place after beating Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-2.

The Frenchwoman had been on an eight-match win streak until running into the 23-year-old challenger, who completed victory with just four unforced errors.

“Since the first match it has been a really tough journey for me,” the winner said. 

“I’ve been feeling many emotions.To be now in the quarters, it’s something very special for me. 

“I’m just really proud right now that I’ve been able to handle everything the way I have and just enjoy the moment.”