Kerber rallies past Sasnovich, Tomljanovic upsets Ostapenko to reach Wimbledon last 16

There were contrasting fortunes over three sets for two of the last four Grand Slam champions left in the Wimbledon draw.

No.25 seed Angelique Kerber, the only former Wimbledon winner remaining, extended her winning streak to eight with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 comeback over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. But Ajla Tomljanovic recovered from a set and a break down to deny Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the fourth round of a major for the second time.

Sasnovich has form for an upset: the Belarusian owns six career Top 10 wins, including a first-round Wimbledon stunner over Petra Kvitova in 2018. Having benefited from Serena Williams's retirement in the first round this year, World No.100 Sasnovich had her sights set on another Wimbledon champion as she raced through a near-flawless opening set.

Fifteen winners flowed from Sasnovich's racquet, including three clean return winners and three aces, to just five unforced errors. A rain delay as she led 5-1, 0-40 did not prevent the 27-year-old from resuming her fine form to serve out the set.

But following the pause in proceedings, Kerber found all of the answers she had lacked in the opening set. A netted drop shot and double fault from Sasnovich in the second game constituted her first sign of weakness, and Kerber pounced quickly.

The German let out a "c'mon!" after successfully pulling off a canny combination of short slice and volley putaway, and thereafter nailed winner after winner to whitewash Sasnovich. There were nine in total, of which the highlight was an exquisite counterdrop en route to breaking for 5-0.

Kerber's level rose even higher in a deciding set that saw her commit no unforced errors and win all 15 points behind her first serve. Sasnovich halted a run of seven games against her with three successful dropshots, but it was a tactic Kerber swiftly caught on to.

Having spent 3 hours and 19 minutes quelling Sara Sorribes Tormo on Court No.2 in the previous round - the longest women's singles match at Wimbledon since 2011 - Kerber was able to hit a similar peak of intensity against Sasnovich. The former World No.1 smothered Sasnovich with her attacks down the line while simultaneously proving impermeable on defence; out of ideas, Sasnovich began to leak wild errors, tallying 10 in each of the last two sets.

"I really had a late start, let's say like this," Kerber said afterward. "Of course, it was good that it was raining a little bit. But I think for me the key was at the end that I came back on court and I was pushing myself, trying to be aggressive, not only pushing the balls. She played really well in the first few games, but then I started going out there starting from zero, not thinking about the score."

The result puts Kerber into the second week of a Grand Slam for the 22nd time and sixth at SW19. Having ended a three-year title drought on home soil in Bad Homburg last week, she has now won eight straight matches for the first time since January 2018, when she won Sydney and made the Australian Open semifinals. 

Tomljanovic triumphs in fiery encounter

Kerber may have extended her winning streak from a pre-Wimbledon title, but Eastbourne champion Ostapenko saw hers halted at seven. The Latvian dominated proceedings to go up 6-4, 2-0, but Tomljanovic turned the match in her favour and was able to close it out despite flaring tempers and a controversial medical timeout in the third set.

Ostapenko's superior panache off the ground was evident in a first set in which she struck 11 winners to Tomljanovic's four. She was able to create shot-making opportunities from more positions on court, and her weight of shot dictated the baseline exchanges.

But Ostapenko's play was not without moments of carelessness - a double break proved necessary after dropping serve once with a slew of errant forehands. The former Roland Garros champion paid the price for this in the second set. Having gone up 2-0 via stellar returning, one of her eight double faults allowed Tomljanovic to level at 2-2.

The Australian grabbed her opportunity, finding joy from her backhand wing in particular, as Ostapenko's mistakes began to pile up. Having limited her unforced errors to 10 in the first set, Ostapenko committed 21 over the next two.

Her serve also began to lose its efficiency: having won 71% of her first service points in each of the first two sets, Ostapenko won only 23% of them in a decider that rapidly got away from her. Tomljanovic broke twice, sealing each with brilliant backhand winners, and trailing 0-4 Ostapenko opted to take an off-court medical timeout.

"I had a problem with my abdominal already in the second set," Ostapenko explained afterwards. "I pulled it, and I couldn't really serve well because I had pain when I was serving, when I was doing one motion... It already was getting worse and worse, and I should have called physio earlier than that. I was just trying to forget that I have this pain and trying to focus more on the game."

The 11-minute delay led to fiery exchanges between the players and threatened to derail Tomljanovic's momentum. The World No.75 resumed play with a wild error and a double fault, and proceeded to lose both of her subsequent service games.

But Ostapenko continued to struggle on her own serve, and Tomljanovic was able to win both of her last two return games to close out a significant victory. Having reached the fourth round of a major for the first time in 2014 on her Roland Garros debut, seven years on the 28-year-old has now made that stage for the second time.

"My feelings towards winning exceeds any drama that happened," said Tomljanovic. "Because for me it's a huge moment in my career, especially with everything that I have been through. I'm extremely happy to be in the fourth round for the first time, especially here in Wimbledon.

Tomljanovic said afterwards that she had been all too aware of past matches in which she had been unable to close out big leads - most recently at the Australian Open in February, where she had lost from 5-2 up in the third set against Simona Halep.

Read more: Halep holds off Tomljanovic in Melbourne

"It was very tough mentally, because the whole third set I felt I'm playing well, but it was still a battle for me just to keep it together mentally. I have lost many - not many, but I have lost a few big matches in my career where I maybe could have made the second week of a slam or third round against really good players when I was up.

"So already, that was an effort where I was like, OK, I'm doing well but it can still switch. That came into play when she goes off court, which completely threw me off, and when she came back, I was definitely flustered.

"But I thought to myself, look, I have lost many matches that I thought I wouldn't and that still hurt to this day, so what's one more going to do if it happens? So I kind of came to terms with that and just thought, OK, well, I'd rather be up 4-1 than in her position. So, yeah, I just thought one point at a time and got away with the win."

Tomljanovic explained that during the Covid break, she had also struggled when reflecting on her career achievements.

"My whole career, I always strive to do more and get better," she said. "Maybe I expected more from myself over the years and at the same time, putting in a lot of work. So I'm kind of waiting for that moment.

"It got to me. At the age of 27 it definitely got to me where I'm, like, Well, when is it going to happen? When is it going to click? Then you question a lot of things. So there were so many small steps that I had to take over the last year - wins that maybe to someone [else] don't look big, but to me were so precious. Making the fourth round here is just such a huge pat on the back to myself and the people around me that saw it. I'm very proud of that, no matter how I go from here."

Elsewhere, No.30 seed Paula Badosa sealed back-to-back second-week runs at Grand Slams with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Magda Linette in two hours and 26 minutes.

The Spaniard had only won two WTA-level main draw matches on grass before this tournament. But after a breakthrough clay season that culminated in a first major quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Badosa's confidence remains undimmed. The 23-year-old lost the first set from 4-2 up after the rain delay had halted her momentum, but came from 0-3 down in the third to deny Linette her own Grand Slam last-16 debut.