Emma Navarro's Wimbledon run ends in fourth round to No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva
Emma Navarro's run at Wimbledon ended in the fourth round Monday against the No.7-seeded Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian, on Centre Court.
Andreeva was so focused on not thinking about the score that she didn't grasp that the match was over when Navarro netted a forehand in the 6-2, 6-3 win.
So instead of celebrating, the seventh-seeded Andreeva calmly turned back toward her baseline and then started fiddling with her racket, seemingly getting ready for the next point.
It wasn't until she noticed the reaction from the crowd — and coach Conchita Martinez celebrating — that it dawned on her that she had won.
Navarro, who managed to play "scrappy" clean tennis throughout most of her time at Wimbledon, crumbled against Andreeva.
The Russian will face Belinda Bencic, the 2022 Credit One Charleston Open champion, in the quarterfinals.
"I was super nervous before playing -- first time -- on the Centre Court," Andreeva said in an interview after the match. "I'm just super happy that I managed to keep playing focused."
With the win, Andreeva became the youngest player since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 to reach the women's quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
“Honestly, I just kept telling myself that I’m facing break points. I tried to tell myself that I’m not the one who is up on the score, I’m the one who is down," Andreeva said in an on-court interview. “In the end I completely forgot the score. I’m happy that I did it because I think that (otherwise) I would be three times more nervous on the match point.”
Bencic advanced to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal — 11 years after her All England Club debut — by beating 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Monday.
Navarro, the No. 10 seed at Wimbledon, faced a slew of challenges to make it to the round of 16.
She eliminated Barbora Krejcikova, 2024's Wimbledon champ, in a match that went the distance on Saturday.
In the 2025 Wimbledon contest, there will be yet another first-time champion.
It will be the ninth different women's champion in the past nine editions of Wimbledon. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
