Wimbledon PIX! Dimitrov ousts Tiafoe; Pegula, Sinner advance

Images from Day 7 of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Sunday.

Grigor Dimitrov dispatched American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe in straight sets with a convincing 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory on Sunday to move into the fourth round of Wimbledon where he will meet Danish sixth seed Holger Rune.

Tiafoe arrived at the All England Club having captured his first grasscourt title at the Stuttgart Open last month but it was the experienced Dimitrov, a former semi-finalist here, who prevailed over two days.

The first things Tiafoe highlighted when asked to give his thoughts on Dimitrov prior to the match were the Bulgarian's first serve, his net game and his slice.

Tiafoe had clearly done his homework, having beaten Dimitrov four years ago at the Australian Open in a last-16 clash he described as "an absolute war", but this time the American had no answer for the variety of shots in his opponent's arsenal.

Dimitrov did not disappoint and was virtually unstoppable on serve, firing 13 aces and winning 92% of his first serve points to go two sets up and leave Tiafoe on the ropes before play was suspended on Saturday early in the third set.

When they resumed on Sunday, Dimitrov consolidated an early break and Tiafoe lost his cool in no time, taking his frustration out on a ball by launching it into orbit between points.

Dimitrov, on the other hand, was calm and collected as the 32-year-old went about his business with powerful shots from the baseline and flawless touches at the net to fire 33 winners, leaving the younger and faster Tiafoe with no answers.

The Bulgarian brought up three match points without breaking a sweat and sealed victory with a deft volley at the net after sending Tiafoe desperately scrambling for a return.

Pegula reaches first Wimbledon quarters

Jessica Pegula enjoyed one of those scarcely believable days at Wimbledon as her racket oozed winners left, right and centre in a 6-1 6-3 fourth-round destruction of luckless Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.

Tsurenko was left slapping her thighs and talking animatedly into her racket but no matter what she tried, it seemed like her game had slipped into a terminal coma.

Pegula took full advantage of her opponent's woes as she walloped thunderous winners from the baseline to streak into a 5-0 lead in 18 blinding minutes.

Perhaps still feeling the effects of the mammoth effort she put into overcoming Ana Bogdan in the previous round, when Tsurenko won the longest women’s singles tiebreak (20-18 in the third set) at a slam in the Open Era, the Ukrainian could do little to stop the on-fire Pegula's charge.

Tsurenko was lucky not to be completely wiped out from the opening set as the American fourth seed missed a set point in the sixth game.

That blip allowed Tsurenko to finally get a look-in as she registered her name on the scoreboard, earning her a round of sympathetic applause from the Court One crowd.

That respite, however, was brief as Pegula went on another three-game winning spree to take a 6-1 2-0 lead.

The mounting errors from Tsurenko left her trailing 5-1 in the second set too and while she managed to break Pegula when the American was serving for a place in the quarter-finals two games later, it seemed her body had faced enough punishment for the day.

After saving two match points, the 34-year-old winced in pain on the baseline and wasted little time in removing her right shoe and sock, revealing a bloody underfoot blister.

The on-court intervention from the trainer only delayed the inevitable as two points later Pegula was celebrating with a clenched fist as she booked a last-eight showdown with Marketa Vondrousova.

Vondrousova beats Bouzkova 

Marketa Vondrousova recovered from an error-strewn start to seal a quarter-final berth at Wimbledon with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory over Marie Bouzkova in their all-Czech clash on Sunday.

Vondrousova looked uncomfortable throughout the contest, committing 44 unforced errors, but held her nerve to grind out a win despite dropping the first set.

"It was a very tough match. We played a long match, and we know each other from the very young age, so it was very tough also mentally," Vondrousova told reporters.

"I'm just very happy that I stayed in the match and I stayed focused. I just wanted to stay in the match and be more active and going for the volleys and everything."

Vondrousova will next meet Jessica Pegula for a place in the semi-finals, after the fourth-seeded American beat Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.

Sinner in quarters

Eighth seed Jannik Sinner reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second successive year as he broke the stubborn resistance of unseeded Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan with a 7-6(4) 6-4 6-3 victory on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Italian's progress was relatively routine although he looked tetchy at times against the big-serving South American as he twice got involved in arguments with umpire Marijana Veljovic over Hawkeye calls.

Sinner, who has dropped only one set so far, is the first Italian man to reach the quarter-finals twice at Wimbledon.

While he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at any of the four Grand Slams he now has a great opportunity to break new ground with 92nd-ranked Russian Roman Safiullin up next.

Sinner's explosive groundstrokes and much-improved serve are paying dividends on the Wimbledon lawns -- with former Australian player Darren Cahill's influence paying off.

He has worked with Cahill this summer and says the best advice he has been given is to be 'friendly with the grass'

"This is a quote that Darren gave me," Sinner said. "You'll have chances but sometimes there are some bad bounces or you can get unlucky a couple of times because your opponent is serving good. You have to always have the right mindset.

"Also sometimes trying to smile because you also have to enjoy to play here."

Rublev tames Bublik 

Andrey Rublev reaching the quarter-finals is one of the most predictable outcomes at a Grand Slam but there was nothing remotely routine about his five-set win over Alexander Bublik, his fourth round opponent at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Rublev, who has now reached the quarters eight times at the Grand Slams but has never made the last four, was seemingly cruising into the last eight when he took the first two sets on Centre Court.

Yet his Kazakh opponent somehow conjured a way back into the contest and ensured it went the distance before seventh seed Rublev wrapped up a 7-5 6-3 6-7(6) 6-7(5) 6-4 victory.

16-year-old Andreeva reaches second week 

Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva, playing in her first senior grasscourt tournament at the age of 16, upset her compatriot and 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova 6-2 7-5 on Sunday to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Andreeva, who had to come through qualifying, was playing her sixth match of the tournament but looked fresh and composed on Court Three and produced some stunning strokes to down her seasoned 22-year-old opponent.

The teenager, ranked 102 in the world, caught the eye when she reached the third round at her first Grand Slam at the French Open last month and has now gone one better.

She took the first set on Sunday in half an hour before Potapova had time to settle, with a rare move to the net and a volley winner.

Potapova found some range and consistency at the start of the second set and broke twice to lead 4-1 but Andreeva discovered new reserves of energy and fight and took three games in a row.

A clearly frustrated Potapova then needed to defend seven break points in an exhausting game lasting almost 10 minutes.

But Andreeva was undeterred and continued to show remarkable maturity and calm. She broke serve for 6-5 and triumphed after an hour and 35 minutes when Potapova dumped a lob into the net.

Andreeva will play American Madison Keys, the 25th seed, in the fourth round.

Safiullin knocks out Shapovalov 

Unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final when he secured a shock 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-3 win over Denis Shapovalov at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Safiullin looked out for the count after Shapovalov made a strong start to the fourth-round tie but he weathered the storm and his steady approach paid dividends as a misfiring serve and injury issues led to his opponent self-destructing.

"I don't think I realised it before, but going to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, then to a fourth round and now to the quarter-finals, I'm super happy," Safiullin said in his on-court interview.

"I hope Denis can recover soon."

Canadian 26th seed Shapovalov raced through the first set before Safiullin hit back to break in the sixth game of the second set courtesy of a double fault, an advantage he would not relinquish.

After the match was all square, Shapovalov committed two more double faults in a dismal start to the third set as Safiullin broke and then held to love for a 2-0 lead.

Minutes later, Safiullin had a 4-1 double-break after yet another double fault from Shapovalov, the seventh of 11.

The situation went from bad to worse for Shapovalov in the fourth set when he appeared to aggravate an injury to his left leg, which left him hobbling around in pain and struggling to cover the court.

He was quickly put out of his misery by the Russian, who broke and then closed out the victory on serve.

Safiullin becomes just the 12th man to reach the quarter-finals on his Wimbledon main-draw debut, adding to the likes of Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Nick Kyrgios.