Wimbledon PIX: Djokovic whips Rune; Fritz stuns Zverev

Images from Day 8 of Wimbledon 2024 at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday.

Novak Djokovic produced his best display so far at this year's Wimbledon to dispatch Denmark's Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals before launching a tirade against 'disrespectful' fans on Monday.

The 37-year-old Serb won the opening 12 points of his Centre Court clash against the 15th seed and apart from a minor blip at the end of the second set was clinical throughout as he reached the last eight here for the 15th time in his career.

But the seven-time champion was riled by some of the crowd who greeted Rune's occasional moments of brilliance with chants of "Ruuune!" and did not hold back in his on-court interview.

"Well to all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart I appreciate it," Djokovic said.

"And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a goooooood night!"

When the on-court interviewer interjected and suggested the fans had merely been chanting the name of his young opponent, Djokovic begged to differ.

"I don't accept that, no, no, no. I know there they were cheering for Rune but that's an excuse to also boo. Listen, I've been on the Tour for more than 20 years. So trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It's fine. It's fine.

"I focus on respectful people that have respect that paid the ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort they're putting in.

"I've played in much more hostile environments. Trust me, you guys, you guys can't touch me."

It was a strange post-script to a one-sided match in which Djokovic put down a serious statement of intent under the roof, closed again on yet another rainy day in south west London.

Any doubts about the knee that was operated on after he withdrew from the French Open were dispelled as he glided around the Centre Court turf in his usual silky precise fashion.

His only brief blip came when Rune served at 3-5 in the second set and fell 0-40 behind but managed to save those set points and three more before holding serve.

In the next game Rune suddenly looked dangerous and had a point to get back to 5-5 but once Djokovic saved that and brought up another set point with a backhand threaded down the line, which he then converted, it was as good as over.

The 21-year-old Rune occasionally produced the kind of shot-making that make him so good to watch but there were too many errors and a lack of belief as he lost a 10th successive Tour-level match against a top-five opponent.

Djokovic, bidding to become the first player to win 25 Grand Slam titles, will contest his record-extending 60th Grand Slam quarter-final against Australia's Alex De Minaur on Wednesday.

Fritz ousts Zverev in five-set thriller

Taylor Fritz blew a hole in Alexander Zverev's perfect serving record at this year's Wimbledon by producing a storming comeback from two sets down to topple the German fourth seed with a 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory to reach the quarter-finals.

For two-and-a-half sets on Monday fourth seed  Zverev's serve was impenetrable, as it had been during the championships as he notched up 56 successive holds over the course of four matches.

Zverev looked well set to reach the last eight of the grasscourt major for the first time as he led by two sets to love and was locked at 4-4 in the third.

But a double fault from Zverev handed Fritz an unexpected break in the next game and from then on the 13th seeded American's performance caught fire.

He chased down everything the German could throw at him and produced some eye-popping diving winners in the fifth set to leave Zverev staring at defeat.

A backhand winner into an open court left Fritz raising his arm in triumph, while Zverev was left to digest yet another disappointing exit from Wimbledon.

The American 13th seed will next face Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

De Minaur ends Fils fightback to advance

Australia's Alex De Minaur reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time as he beat rising Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Monday.

The ninth seed looked in control for two sets against the 20-year-old but Fils, bidding to become the youngest Frenchman in the professional era to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final, responded superbly to extend the Court One contest.

De Minaur, watched by his girlfriend Katie Boulter, the British number one, moved clear in the fourth set though to nip the Fils comeback in the bud.

Worryingly for the 25-year-old, who will play seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Denmark's Holger Rune in the quarter-finals, he appeared to be in some discomfort at the end.

"I'll be alright," De Minaur said on court when asked if he had sustained an injury.

"I made it harder than I should have and happy to get over the finish line."

De Minaur has previously reached two Grand Slam quarter-finals, losing to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 U.S. Open and Alexander Zverev at the French Open this year.

Ostapenko races to win over giant-killer Putintseva

Former French Open champions Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova will clash on Wimbledon's grass after the pair reached the quarter-finals in contrasting fashion on Monday.

Ostapenko, who won in Paris in 2017, raced through her 6-2, 6-3 win over giant-killer Yulia Putintseva, wrapping up the match under the Court One roof in just over an hour.

The Latvian 13th seed has lost only 15 games in her first four rounds and was merciless in her treatment of Kazakhstan's 35th-ranked Putintseva, who upset top seed Iga Swiatek in the last round.

"I feel like I'm playing more my game, and especially in deciding moments I'm just going for the shots. I don't care if I miss it," Ostapenko, who thumped down 29 winners, said.

The 27-year-old, Wimbledon junior champion in 2014, beat Krejcikova on grass at Birmingham last year and has looked very comfortable on the surface.

Krejcikova, who secured the 2021 Roland Garros title, took her time to overcome American 11th seed Danielle Collins, who struggled with a leg injury during the second set, winning 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 42 minutes.

Collins, who is retiring from tennis at the end of the season, lost 12 points in a row, dropping her serve with two double faults, before taking a medical time-out off the court midway through the fifth game.

She returned with her left thigh heavily strapped and won two more games but was clearly in discomfort and the 28-year-old Czech broke once more to win the match and reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final.

Tearful Svitolina reaches quarters

Elina Svitolina powered into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over China's Wang Xinyu on Monday but the result was secondary for the tearful Ukrainian whose thoughts were on the war back home.

Shortly after setting up a showdown with 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, Svitolina burst into tears in her post-match interview over the news that Ukraine's main children's hospital in Kyiv had been hit by missile strikes.

"For sure it was a good performance from my side today. It's a difficult today for Ukrainian people," said Svitolina, before breaking down.

The 21st seed, who last year matched her best run at the grasscourt Grand Slam with a run to the semi-finals, wore a black ribbon on her white top on Monday.

"It wasn't easy to focus today on the match. Since the morning it was difficult to read the news. To go on the court is extremely is tough," she added.

Russia rained missiles down on cities across Ukraine in broad daylight, killing at least 36 civilians and badly damaging the hospital in the deadliest air strike in months, officials said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out strikes on defence industry targets and aviation bases in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Rybakina through as Kalinskaya retires with wrist problem

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina reached the quarter-finals after ailing Russian 17th seed Anna Kalinskaya retired from their clash with a suspected right forearm injury while trailing 6-3, 3-0 on Monday.

Big-hitting Rybakina, who came into the match as the only woman remaining in the decimated draw to have lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, found herself an early break down but the 2022 champion settled her nerves quickly to reel off the games.

The fourth seed is the also the highest-ranked player left in this year's tournament but said she faced no added pressure heading into the business end.

"Every opponent is difficult and I know that I must always bring my best. That's what I try to do form every match," said Rybakina, who will face 21st seed Elina Svitolina in the last eight.

"I'm just really enjoying every time I step out on the court and I'm happy I'm going fine in the draw.

"Hopefully I can go to the end."

The Moscow-born Kazakh broke back before drawing level at 3-3 when Kalinskaya began to struggle with a forearm problem that she had treated after losing another game.

Kalinskaya appeared to have overcome the problem, much to the relief of her boyfriend and world number one Jannik Sinner who was watching on from the Centre Court stands, but she was unable to prevent Rybakina from winning the first set.

The 25-year-old saved a breakpoint with a powerful ace and consolidated a break in the second set for a 2-0 lead, but the problems returned for Kalinskaya.

She dropped another game to go a double break down before throwing in the towel and walking off disappointed.

Musetti tames big-serving Perricard

Italian Lorenzo Musetti turned party pooper as he ended the dream run of big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on the Frenchman's 21st birthday at Wimbledon on Monday.

Musetti, the 25th seed, lost the opening set on Court Two but showed his extra quality to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the quarter-final of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Armed with a formidable serve, Mpetshi Perricard had taken full advantage of being a lucky loser from qualifying to advance to the second week on his Wimbledon main draw debut.

In the first round he banged down 51 aces during his defeat of 20th seed Sebastian Korda and had already gone into treble figures ahead of his clash with Musetti.

His 140mph weapon was working well in the opening set against Musetti but when he began to tire the Italian took full advantage to emerge victorious.

"It's such a big day for me and I'm really happy and proud of this win against a tough opponent," Musetti said.

"I struggled a little at the beginning against a big serve. I'm a little bit shaking still but at the end it's a really phenomenal day for me."

Mpetshi Perricard, who looks destined for bigger things after breaking into the world's top 100 in May, fired 10 aces against Musetti but was still broken five times by the 22-year-old.

While his fairytale run is over, Mpetshi Perricard leads the aces charts with 115 for the tournament - a total unlikely to surpassed this year.

Musetti will play 13th seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.