London: Tunisia’s sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur got the better of two-time former champion Petra Kvitova while second seed Aryna Sabalenka got the better of Ekaterina Alexandrova as both of them advanced to the ladies’ singles quarterfinals here on Monday.
In a Centre Court encounter between the top 10 players, Jabeur cruised past No.9 seed Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3 in a Round of 16 clash.
Jabeur, who reached her first Grand Slam final last year at Wimbledon, needed only 63 minutes to defeat Kvitova for only the second time in their six career meetings. Jabeur moves into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the third straight year.
Jabeur’s win sets up a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final as Jabeur will now aim for a measure of revenge in the quarterfinals, where she will take on No.3 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Rybakina defeated Jabeur in last year’s Wimbledon final after Jabeur had won the opening set. They have split their four career meetings overall.
Sabalenka took another step towards a maiden Wimbledon title by coming through a match of two halves against Ekaterina Alexandrova on No.1 Court on Monday.
After finishing off a tight opening set, the second was very much one-way traffic as the world No.2 powered back into the quarterfinals 6-4, 6-0 in 71 minutes. The victory sets up a meeting in the last eight with American Madison Keys.
Sabalenka, the 25-year-old Australian Open champion, looked in great rhythm as she came up with another dominant performance that reinforced her status as one of the favourites for the title.
What would have pleased her the most was the overall quality of her play against an opponent who has caused her problems in the past.
Alexandrova went into the match with a winning 3-2 record over Sabalenka having taken their last two meetings, the most recent of which was on a grass court in the Netherlands last summer.
But, having won her maiden Grand Slam title in Australia in January, Sabalenka came up with her best tennis when it matters most as she made it to the quarterfinals.
