Key events
Wow, Arthur Fery just won’t go away … or Dimitrov keeps thinking the job is done, losing focus. I nip to get a drink, return, and find the Brit’s broken back for 4-4 in the fourth, then he holds to love and suddenly a bit of scoreboard pressure is in his favour: Dimitrov must hold to stay in the set.
We’re on serve in both our active sets, Fery missing a line backhand at 3-3 30-15 and Dimitrov probing the slice before waiting for a ball to hit, a forehand whipped to the corner giving him break point. And doesn’t he take it well, forehands followed by more backhand fun – a short, oblique slice – opening up the volley, and that’s another break. Griggzy is two games away at 4-3 in the fourth, while Fritz leads Bublik 7-6 1-2.
There’s a right rum do going on in men’s doubles, with the ATP proposing to take money being taken out of that system to be fed to singles players. They actually attempted something similar in 2005, but Federer and Nadal went into the board meeting and said not a chance you’re doing that, they dubs players are tennis professionals who shouldn’t be losing their jobs – they earn a fraction of the overall money and the best singles players are doing well enough.
Now, though, the top 10 are giving it the it’s a business thing – which it isn’t, the ATP, behind the change, are a governing body, and the money involved remains minute. Reilly Opelka, say, 109 in the world, has won six tennis matches this year and made about half a million dollars, similar to those ranked around him, and he’s saying doubles players earn too much. If there was no doubles and the money saved was distributed among the relevant singles types, they’d earn around $550,000 instead.
The idea is to give the doubles money to players ranked 50-80 in singles – who’ve already made close a million this year with more to come. There are no extra jobs being created – none of the money is going to grass routes to get more people earning a living through tennis. Rather, it’s being taken from the people who make the least and given to those who make enough.
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Gosh, Bublik has vanished, Fritz racing to a 5-0 lead and all his hard work over the last 39 minutes for nothing. His mercurial talent just doesn’t have solid enough fundamentals, whereas Fritz pretty much knows he can’t dip below a certain level – an ace gives him 6-1, then a netted return seals the set, and he leads 7-6(1). Meantime, Fery breaks Dimitrov back for 2-2 in the fourth; he’s not quite out of this match yet.
Dimitrov is undeniable. He makes 30-40 on Fery serve and, sent out wide, he guides a luscious flat backhand down the line for a winner. He leads 2-1 2-1 with a break, his young opponent in over his head. But let’s focus on No 1 now, where a Bublik hold has taken us to a first-set tiebreak.
Fery gets to 30-all on the Dimitrov serve; an ace follows, but when he sees Dimitrov making to slice, he nashes in to intercept it with a volley; deuce. So he tries the same again, nailing a return and setting off, but this time his putaway is poor, a backhand winner stroked down the line earning deuce, and from there, the hold is secured for 2-1-1. On No 1, meantime, Fritz leads Bublik 6-5.
Fery misses a forehand, then is caught at net and passed for 15-30. And though Dimitrov then directs a line backhand into the tape, he stays in the next point before taking it over via forehand, raising break point. But it’s really well saved, Fery saying calm under consecutive overheads, a service-winner raises advantage, and from there he closes out a vital hold that effectively keeps him in the contest. Dimitrov leads 2-1 0-1, while Fritz is up 5-4 on Bublik in the first.
Dimitrov holds to 30 and leads Fery 5-7 6-3 6-4. He’s playing very well now and to stop him, Fery will need to find a new level some way above the best he’s hit in his career so far. I’ve got high hopes for where he might end up, but in a couple of years – today, I fear he’s done for.
Katy and I were just chatting about whether Noskova is a serious contender. She mentioned that Jon Wertheim picked her and the way she’s been gradually improving is certainly a good sign. It takes a good performance to beat Ooor Maddy when she doesn’t beat herself, and she didn’t today, but I’d be surprised if she gets by the winner of Kostyuk v Paolini, especially if it’s Kostyuk, who I think has more to her game.
Yeah, about that. Fritz breaks back easily, to 15, two of the best servers on tour made to look anything but – principally by themselves. I doubt we see the American play so loose a game again and, as I type, he backs me up with a love hold sealed with an ace. He leads 3-2 while, on Centre, Fery holds through deuce, forcing Dimitrov to serve for the second set.
Bublik raises break point, burns it, then again, burns it again. But the third time, he rockets forehands, ball taken early, and Fritz can’t respond. First blood to the neck beard, and the way Bublik serves, it’s a long way back in this set at 1-2.
Another starting to wonder if this is it will be Wa Griggzy, who didn’t play all that well in beating Mensik, but any win over him is a win worth having, and he was excellent against Berrettini. I’d love him to get it done, and a quarter-final against Cobolli would be fantastic. He leads 1-1 4-3, and the sense is that he’ll find whatever level he needs to get it done from here.
Thanks Katy and hi again all. Something I’m loving about this year’s jamboree is how many players are thinking “This is my time.” Taylor Fritz is one such, his steady improvement over the last couple of years bringing him to this moment; he’s a great chance of winning the bottom half. Bublik, if he’s at it, has the wider range of shots, but lacks the reliable power and accuracy, which I think’ll be the different if the match gets tight. So far, it’s 1-1 on the first.
Right, Daniel is back to guide you through the next couple of hours. See you later …
A hold apiece and it’s 5-7, 6-3, 3-1 to Dimitrov, as No 1 Court rises to welcome Taylor Fritz and Alexander Bublik, the enigma who was wrapped in an enigma but is slowly finding a way to take his tremendous talents a bit more seriously. It’s still very unorthodox though: underarm serves, tweeners, countless drop shots, no-look volleys, more drop shots … here’s a taster of what’s to come:
After a break of nearly 10 minutes on Centre Court, Fery returns … and is promptly broken to love. The crowd fall silent. They love Dimitrov, of course (who doesn’t?), but they’re rooting for their local hero even more. They find their voices again when Dimitrov hands Fery 15-40 amid a flurry of errors – but Dimitrov finds his first serve when he needs it and the Bulgarian makes it 30-40, deuce, advantage, game. Dimitrov backs up the break. He leads 5-7, 6-3, 2-0.
It means the quarter-finals in this half are Kostyuk v Paolini and Noskova v Mertens. Noskova is the highest-ranked player of the four. This is the greatest chance of her short career. Czech-born women + Wimbledon = the perfect match – Navratilova, Novotna, Kvitova, Krejcikova, Vondrousova are proof of that – could Noskova add her name to the list of champions? She’s got the game for it, especially on grass, let’s see if she has the nerve.
Noskova defeats Keys 6-4, 7-6!
Keys and Noskova are, indeed into a breaker, which Keys must win to take this to a third set. They change ends with Noskova leading 4-2 … which very quickly morphs into 6-2 and four match points. And a lovely drop shot from the crafty Czech seals the deal! Noskova is into her first Wimbledon quarter-final, having taken out a grand slam champion, and the 21-year-old is shaking her head in disbelief. Keys goes the way of Swiatek, Rybakina, Anisimova and Svitolina before her, and in this bottom half of the draw absolutely anything could happen.
Dimitrov wins the second set 6-3
15-0, 15-all, 30-15, 40-15, game and set Dimitrov. Not much Fery could do there, with Dimitrov’s first-serve percentage so high. But he’ll still be kicking himself about the previous game. He scurries off court in an attempt to regroup.
“All aboard the Fery” was banally chanted – followed by crowd imitating a ferry horn – during the Brit’s five-set win over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the third round. Thankfully I’ve not heard that yet today, though that’s not to say it hasn’t happened. He’s looking um, fery, vulnerable though when he loops long at deuce when trailing 3-4, and if Dimitrov takes this break point he’ll be serving for the second set. They go forehand to forehand to forehand, before Fery bludgeons his backhand beyond the baseline! I don’t know if that was careless or nervy, but that was a rare blip from Fery, which could prove to be very costly. Dimitrov leads 5-7, 5-3.
If Keys goes out here, the only former grand slam champions remaining in the draw will be Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka. Many would love either of those to win the title (myself included): both are so engaging and humble, and speak so well on issues that go far beyond tennis. But anyway, that’s for another day, because right now Keys is serving for her survival. That the American does, holding to 15, before Noskova nudges ahead once more for 6-4, 6-5. Can Keys take this to a tie-break?
7-5, 1-1 turns into 7-5, 2-2. Meanwhile on No 1, a wildly unpredictable second set has gone from Noskova leading 3-0, to Keys coming back to 3-3 – with the help of a Noskova service game featuring FOUR double faults – to Noskova admirably showing the memory of a goldfish (Ted Lasso would be proud) to forget that and secure two love holds. It means Keys is serving to stay in the match at 6-4, 5-4.
As is so often the story when the underdog snatches a set, however, there’s a let-down at the start of the next. Fery falls 15-40 down on serve at 0-1, and Dimitrov has his first break points of the match. But Fery deals with the danger well, saving both, before securing the next two points as well for the hold for 7-5, 1-1. He’s playing with such composure here, as if this is his 19th time in the fourth round of a slam (as it is for Dimitrov), rather than his first. He’s provided some much-needed British calm this fortnight after all the carnage in the first and second rounds.
Fery wins the first set 7-5
At 30-15, Dimitrov, cap backwards, as if he’s the 23-year-old rather than the 35-year-old, balloons a backhand well long! So two set points for Fery … Dimitrov’s return is punchy … Fery somehow gets it back … Dimitrov charges forward to Fery’s mis-hit … volleys … and a stumbling Fery succumbs. But Fery fizzes down a fine serve on the second set point and Dimitrov isn’t getting that back! The British wildcard, with only one previous match win at Wimbledon before this year, has taken the first set against the former semi-finalist!
Well, well, well! Dimitrov, having been absolutely untouchable on serve, is wobbling at 0-30. And then 0-40, when after a lengthy duel, Dimitrov hits long! Fery has three break points, his first of this fourth-round match … and Fery attacks Dimitrov’s first serve as if it’s a second … getting it back with interest … and Dimitrov’s reply lands just in front of the scoreboard! Fery will serve for the first set at 6-5!
The serve-off continues, with another hold, but Dimitrov does drop his first two points of the match on his serve before moving 5-4 ahead. Fery deals with the scoreboard pressure well, advancing to 40-15 when Dimitrov’s backhand return lands well into the tramlines, but Dimitrov’s next return is too hot to handle for Fery, who nets. A punchy serve out wide gets the game done, though. They’re locked at 5-5.
Anything Grigor can do … after another love hold from Dimitrov for his 16th (!) consecutive point on his serve, Fery races to 40-0 and seems set for another routine game, before Dimitrov drags the Brit back to deuce. But no bother. Fery shuts Dimitrov out from there and they’re still on serve at 4-4.
Meanwhile over on No 1 Court, out of nowhere, Keys, the Australian Open champion, is in trouble, set point down against Noskova, who has advantage on Keys’s serve at 5-4. Both of these players came into Wimbledon in form: the 31-year-old Keys having won in Eastbourne, the 21-year-old Noskova in Berlin, and they’ve got games made for grass, despite Keys curiously having never gone beyond the Wimbledon quarter-finals. And Keys misfires on the forehand! Noskova, the Czech ninth seed, snatches the first set 6-4.
Four games so far. Four holds. And no break points. Make that five as Dimitrov, the 35-year-old once known as Baby Fed, holds to love, in front of the actual Fed, who’s in the Royal Box this afternoon. Dimitrov has been flawless on serve so far, winning 12 out of 12 points, while Fery has been fairly comfortable too, dropping only four points in total as he holds to 15 for 3-3. Both have found their serving groove from the off, but who will find their receiving range first?
Fery against Dimitrov is something of a historic match, with two wildcards meeting in the men’s last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time. It pits the most local of local heroes Fery, who grew up only five minutes from the All England Club and is playing on Centre Court for the first time, against an ageing Wimbledon favourite who is on a mission to make up for having victory snatched away from him by his own body at this stage last year, when he led the eventual champion Jannik Sinner by two sets to love before being forced to retire with a torn pectoral muscle. Crowd loyalties may be divided today, despite Fery being the last Brit standing in the singles.
Those wins for Paolini and Cobolli mean that up next on Centre Court it’s Arthur Fery v Grigor Dimitrov, and on No 1 it’s Madison Keys v Linda Noskova.
Paolini hadn’t won more than two matches in a row in 2026 before this tournament, partly because of a persistent foot injury, but she’s made it four in a row here and it’s an Italian double after Cobolli’s win only minutes before. After the exits of Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina and Anisimova at the weekend, opportunity awaits for all the remaining women in the draw, but Paolini will have an extremely tough assignment in the quarter-finals against the increasingly impressive Marta Kostyuk, who won earlier.
