Day 8 at The Championships sees the conclusion of singles play in the round of 16.
With Barbora Krejcikova losing to Karolina Muchova on Sunday, we are now guaranteed to crown a new ladies’ singles champion this upcoming weekend at Wimbledon. And the bottom half of the draw is especially open, with only one Major singles title represented. That belongs to Madison Keys, who faces an in-form Linda Noskova on Monday. Jasmine Paolini was the runner-up here in 2024, as well at Roland Garros that same year, but in the round of 16 she plays Alexandra Eala, who gained even more fans on Saturday with her emotional victory over defending champion Iga Swiatek.
The bottom half of the gentlemen’s singles draw also only has one Major singles title represented. That belongs to Alexander Zverev, though he is 0-3 in the round of 16 at The Championships. On Monday, he takes on Jiri Lehecka, who has split two previous meetings with the recent Roland Garros champ. We’ll also see a pair of matchups between top 10 seeds: Alex de Minaur plays Flavio Cobolli, while Taylor Fritz plays Alexander Bublik.
Here’s a rundown of the most notable matches on Day 8 (in chronological order, all times local):
Ashlyn Krueger (Q) vs. Marta Kostyuk (12) – 11:00am on No.2 Court
Kostyuk ousted another American, Emma Navarro, on Saturday in three sets. This is the 24-year-old Ukrainian’s best Wimbledon result, coming on the heels of her first Major semifinal in Paris.
Krueger is a 22-year-old American who was ranked inside the world’s top 30 a year ago, but is now ranked outside the top 100 after nearly a full year of disappointing results. However, since the start of June, she’s gone 16-1 on grass at all levels, and the qualifier upset 2024 semifinalist Donna Vekic in the first round. This is Kruger’s debut in the second week of a Major, thanks to her serving prowess and heavy forehand.
Their only prior encounter occurred at the beginning of last season in Adelaide, with Krueger prevailing in three sets.
Marie Bouzkova (21) vs. Elise Mertens (25) – Second on No.2 Court
Like many Czech players, Bouzkova thrives on grass courts. The 2022 quarterfinalist is on an eight-match winning streak, after claiming the title in Nottingham last month. And the 27-year-old now owns just as many match wins as Wimbledon (13) as she does at the other three Majors combined. Bouzkova defeated another strong grass court player, Liudmila Samsonova, 6-4 in the third on Saturday.
Mertens pulled off an even bigger victory on Saturday, taking out two-time Major champion Elena Rybakina in straights. However, she’s another player who is 0-3 in this round of The Championships, and just 3-13 in this round across all Majors.
These players have split two previous meetings, both on hard courts.
Alex de Minaur (5) vs. Flavio Cobolli (9) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court
De Minaur has dropped just one set through three rounds, as he looks to return to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for a second time. And he’s actually never played a quarterfinal here, as he was forced to withdraw two years ago after suffering an injury on the last point of his round of 16 match.
Cobolli is also vying for her second Wimbledon quarterfinal, just a year after his first. He’s endured a much more complicated path through the first week, dropping four sets along the way, which includes a five-setter against Karen Khachanov in the last round. But this has been a strong effort from the Italian, who is not only defending his quarterfinalist points from a year ago, but also coming off his first Major final at Roland Garros.
The Australian leads their head-to-head 2-0, with two hard court victories.
Jasmine Paolini (13) vs. Alexandra Eala (29) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
It’s been a subpar year for Paolini, who was just 12-12 ahead of this fortnight. Yet despite losing the first set of her opening round 6-0, the Italian grinded out a tough victory against recent grass court champion Robin Montgomery. And a round ago, Jasmine easily dispatched of Maria Sakkari, with the loss of only three games.
Eala outlasted Swiatek in an extended first-set tiebreak on Saturday, before running away with the second set. The 21-year-old was previously just 1-5 at Majors, but is now just a match away from the quarterfinals. She’s sported some strapping on both her leg and her arm during this tournament, though neither has seemed to hamper her play.
Earlier this year in Dubai, Eala defeated Paolini in straights, in their only prior contest.
Grigor Dimitrov (WC) vs. Arthur Fery (WC) – Second on Centre Court
After injuring himself during this event a year ago, Dimitrov missed most of the past 52 weeks, and went only 5-9 at tour level. Yet upon returning to these grounds, he has recaptured the same form that gave him a two-sets-to-love lead over Jannik Sinner last year before that sudden injury. A round after upsetting Jakub Mensik in four, Grigor took out Matteo Berrettini in five on Saturday night. Outside of his semifinal appearance back in 2014, the 35-year-old is 0-4 in the fourth round of this event, but this is a huge opportunity against a qualifier to advance farther.
Fery was previously only 2-4 at Majors, but the 23-year-old Brit has taken advantage of an open section of the draw, where he is yet to face a seeded player. In the last round, he overcame deficits in the both the fourth and fifth sets to come from behind and win in five, with the help of some nervy play from Zizou Bergs. Now Fery plays the biggest match of his life on Centre Court, against an extremely accomplished grass court player.
Madison Keys (26) vs. Linda Noskova (9) – Second on No.1 Court
Noskova survived a grueling battle on Saturday afternoon against a red-hot Sorana Cirstea, saving a match point and eventually prevailing 11-9 in the third-set tiebreak. She’s coming off a title run on the grass of Berlin, as Noskova vies for her second Major quarterfinal.
Keys also claimed a tight three-setter in the last round, over last year’s runner-up, Amanda Anisimova. And Madison is also coming off a grass court title in June, which she won in Eastbourne, the fourth title of her career on this surface. She is a two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist, though this remains the only Major where Keys is yet to reach the semis.
Surprisingly, this will be their first career meeting.
Taylor Fritz (6) vs. Alexander Bublik (10) – Third on No.1 Court
Fritz is another player feeling confident on the grass, after advancing to the finals of both Stuttgart and Halle. He escaped a tight contest on Saturday against Lorenzo Sonego by taking a fourth-set tiebreak. The 28-year-old American has reached the quarterfinals or better in three of the last four years.
Bublik has already endured a pair of five-setters this past week, including one on Saturday night against Frances Tiafoe, which saw Bublik save nine set points in the third-set tiebreak. He’s playing for just his second Major quarterfinal, after first reaching that round a year ago in Paris.
Their head-to-head is tied at 4-4, with Fritz winning four of the last five matches. He’s also claimed both of their matches on this surface, which includes a straight-set victory just a few weeks ago.
Jiri Lehecka (13) vs. Alexander Zverev (2) – Third on Centre Court
Zverev’s three prior appearances in the round of 16 at The Championships have all ended in a five-set loss, which came at the hands of Milos Raonic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Taylor Fritz. A month after finally capturing his elusive first Major title, can Zverev overcome what has been another big hurdle in his career?
Lehecka is in good form: like Zverev, he’s lost only one set thus far. And the 24-year-old achieved his first Masters 1000 final earlier this year in Miami.
These players met twice during 2023, with each securing a win on a hard court.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
