Alexander Zverev rallied his way into the last 16 at Wimbledon despite having multiple treatments on his knee after suffering a tumble halfway through his third round match. 

The fourth seed beat Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(15), to continue his perfect record against the Brit, who he now leads 6-0 in their ATP Tour head-to-head. He has won 21 consecutive matches against last-handed players and is through to the fourth round at SW19 for the third time in his career. Zverev is yet to drop a set in the tournament. 

“Cam is an incredible player, grass is his favourite surface, so I knew I had to play my highest level.” He said afterwards.
“It’s an honour to play on Centre Court, we had so many great guests in the Royal Box today, a football legend in Pep Guardiola. 
“When I saw Pep I got so nervous, so it’s a great privilege and honour to play.”

Coming into the third round encounter, Zverev had only dropped 15 games in the tournament which was almost half the amount of Norrie’s (29). The German first struck seven games into the match by hitting a wide forehand shot to draw an unforced error from Norrie and broke for 4-3. Two games later, he earned his first set point but failed to capitalise before sealing out the opener in less than 40 minutes.

Zverev then faced a new challenge after suffering a nasty fall close to the net and jarring his left knee. Prompting a halt in play as the trainer came out to assess his injury. Immediately afterwards, he was moving gingerly around the court before quickly finding his footing again. A huge relief for the tennis player who previously retired from a major semi-final after suffering a mid-match injury at the 2022 French Open.

On the court, he took the second frame by breaking Norrie once before closing it out with a smash at the net. Then in the third, the home player continued to produce stern resistance and drew cheers from the crowd when he unexpectedly hit an underarm ace to move ahead 6-5. However, Zverev was still able to weather the storm by coming through a marathon 32-point tiebreak that saw him fail to convert five match points and save five set points before sealing victory with the help of a Norrie error. 

“It is what it is, I managed. I do feel restricted, but I will check it out and see what it is.” Zverev later commented on his knee.
“If I’d have dropped my level I’d have had no chance.”

Zverev has won 97 Grand Slam matches so far in his career. He is yet to drop serve at Wimbledon this year. 

“I’m happy that it’s working the way it is,” he said. 
“I’ve spent hours and hours just working purely on my serve.”

Zverev will next play either Alejandro Tabilo or Taylor Fritz. 

Alex de Minaur has sealed his place in the last 16 at Wimbledon for the second time in his career in unfortunate circumstances. 

The world No.9 was set to take to the court on Saturday to play qualifier and former top 10 player Lucas Pouille. However, the Frenchman has been forced to pull out of the tournament due to an abdominal injury. Making it the first time in this year’s tournament that a singles player has won a match without playing a point as the result of a walkover. 

Fears about Pouille’s fitness started earlier in the week when he received medical treatment during his second round meeting against Thanasi Kokkinakis, who coincidentally retired from the third set of that encounter after slipping and injuring his knee. 

“I called the physiotherapist, he put two tapes on me. I told him to put on the thing that holds the most,” Pouille said after his match against Kokkinakis on Thursday. 
“I don’t know what I have, we’re going to do the exams and treatments to give ourselves a chance to be as good as possible and, above all, on the court on Saturday.” 

Sadly for Pouille, he wasn’t able to get fit enough in time for today’s match. 

Meanwhile, de Minaur has become the third active male player from Australia to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon on multiple occasions after Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic. Coming into this year’s draw he has experienced mixed results on the grass after winning his ninth ATP title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch before losing in the first round at Queen’s. 

“What’s driving me this Wimbledon is that I need to put up a decent performance here on the grass because I don’t want to be classified as a clay court specialist,” joked de Minaur who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open earlier this year.
“So I’m pushing hard. I’m trying to keep on going. Hopefully I can have a better result.”

The ninth seed will next play either Arthur Fils or Roman Safiullin. 

An upbeat Jannik Sinner says his Wimbledon run has been ‘pretty good’ so far after sealing his place in the last 16 of the tournament. 

The world No.1 was in clinical form during his latest clash against Miomir Kecmanović who he easily defeated 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, on Friday evening. Sinner has now won 41 matches so far this season which is currently more than any other player on the men’s Tour. According to statistics from the ATP, in his latest match, he spent 27 per cent in attacking positions and produced 35 winners, including 11 aces.

Sinner’s solid win comes after his roller-coaster encounter against former finalist Matteo Berrettini who took a set off him in a closely contested encounter. He also dropped a set in his opening match against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann. 

Nevertheless, the Italian is confident he is on the right track in his bid to win Wimbledon for the first time. 

“Pretty good I’d say,” he told Italian media when asked to evaluate his first three matches.
“Obviously every match is a little different and all three are opponents I’ve played against. All three were different, so today (Friday against Kecmanović) there was a little more pace, and with Matteo there was a little less because he served a little better and changed the game a lot.  With Yannick Hanfmann it was another different story. 
“So I think it has been pretty good so far. The situation on the court.
“I expect a tough challenge, an even different opponent in the next round.”

Sinner is hoping to surpass his result at Wimbledon 12 months ago where he reached the semi-finals before falling to Novak Djokovic. A player who he has beaten in three out of four meetings since then. He is aiming to become the first Italian to win a singles title at Wimbledon. 

The next challenge for Sinner will be either Ben Shaleton or Denis Shapovalov whose match on Friday was suspended due to rain. Both those players have spent time in the top 20 and have reached the last four of a major before. 

“They’re two lefties play against. It’s a little bit different.” He said of the North American duo.
“The big thing (notes from watching the Shelton-Shapovalov match) my team makes, then they talk to me about the key things. But for sure I’m going to watch a little bit. It’s good for me.”

Wimbledon is the fifth Grand Slam in a row that Sinner has reached at least the fourth round stage.