Day 9 at The Championships sees the beginning of the quarterfinals in singles play.
Each of Tuesday’s singles quarterfinals feature a multi-time Major champion against a player still fighting to achieve that feat for the first time. Defending champion Jannik Sinner takes on Jan-Lennard Struff, who is a Major quarterfinal debutante at the age of 36. In an All-American matchup, two-time Major singles champ Coco Gauff faces her friend and doubles partner, 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula. Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic goes up against two-time Major semifinalist Felix Auger-Alliassime. And four-time Major champ Naomi Osaka plays 2023 Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Jan-Lennard Struff – 1:00pm on No.1 Court
Sinner has not dropped a set since contesting a five-setter in the first round, and he is 9-1 in his last 10 Major quarterfinals. Struff has played 18 out of a possible 20 sets through four rounds, which includes a trio of five-setters. On Sunday, he came back from two-sets-to-love down, though he benefitted from Hubert Hurkacz suffering an injury during the fourth set. The German was previously 0-3 in the round of 16 at Majors, and hadn’t won a set in those three appearances.
The World No.1 leads their head-to-head 3-0, but two years ago in Halle on grass, Struff pushed him to a final-set tiebreak. Regardless, Sinner is a huge favorite to achieve his third Wimbledon semifinal.
Jessica Pegula (4) vs. Coco Gauff (7) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Gauff just barely completed her fourth round match on Sunday before the 11:00pm curfew went into effect, finishing off Belinda Bencic 6-4 in the third. That was a third consecutive three-setter for Coco, who is making her Wimbledon quarterfinal debut. The 22-year-old is 5-5 in quarterfinals at other Majors, winning four of her last six.
It was only a few years ago when Pegula was 0-6 in Major quarterfinals. But since making changes to her coaching team in 2024, she’s now 3-0. The 32-year-old is 34-8 on the year, and advanced to a grass court final just a few weeks ago in Berlin, after defeating World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. This past week, Pegula only lost one set, which came in the last round against another American, Iva Jovic.
Pegula is 5-3 against Gauff, though they split their two most recent meetings, and they’ve also split their two meetings on grass. Based on recent form, as well as their comfort levels on grass, I give the slight edge to Pegula on Tuesday. Gauff has showed significant levels of grit to advance this far, but her double faulting remains an issue.
Felix Auger-Aliassime (3) vs. Novak Djokovic (7) – Second on Centre Court
Djokovic has now lost a set in three of his four matches, yet never felt at risk of going down in defeat. This is a ninth consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinal for Novak, and he’s 13-2 lifetime in this round of The Championships. At Majors, he is 52-10 in quarterfinals, and has amazingly won 22 of his last 24.
Auger-Aliassime claimed his first three matches in straights, but then required five sets to advance beyond Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Canadian hadn’t been broken through four matches, until the Spaniard took an injury timeout mid-game at the end of the fourth set, with Felix double faulting the set away as play resumed. He is 2-3 in Major quarterfinals, with one of those victories coming via a mid-match retirement.
These players have only clashed two times, with both matches taking place during 2022. Djokovic prevailed in Rome on clay, while Auger-Aliassime prevailed at the Laver Cup on a hard court. At this tournament, where Djokovic was dominant for so long, he must be considered the favorite. However, if Auger-Aliassime can continue serving at such a high level, he has a shot at pulling off arguably the biggest win of his career.
Naomi Osaka (14) vs. Karolina Muchova (10) – Second on No.1 Court
Speaking of big wins, Osaka’s straight-set victory over Sabalenka on Sunday was her biggest since her return from child birth in 2024, and the first time she’s ever beaten a top 10 player outside of a hard court. This is also her first time in the quarterfinals at a non-hard court Major. She’s never looked more comfortable on the grass, taking all eight sets she’s played thus far. Osaka is a perfect 4-0 in Major quarterfinals, though of course all of those victories have come on hard courts.
Muchova has lost just one set, against former champion Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday. After reaching the quarterfinals in her first two appearances at SW19, Muchova lost in the first round four times in a row. Now in her seventh appearance, she’s back in the quarterfinals, and eager to advance farther. Muchova has advanced to the semifinals or better at the three other Majors, with a record of 4-3 in this round.
This is a rematch from just over a week ago, when Muchova defeated Osaka in the final of Bad Homburg, though Osaka retired from that match shortly after losing the first set due to injury. Their head-to-head is tied at 3-3 overall, with Naomi twice defeating Karolina at hard court Majors during 2025.
As impressive as Osaka’s form has been this fortnight, especially on serve, I favor Muchova in this quarterfinal. She possesses so many more options in her game, and should be able to make Osaka uncomfortable by moving her around the court.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
