Second seeded Simona Halep ended Victoria Azarenka’s hopes of becoming the first mother in 37 years to win Wimbledon with a 7-6(3), 6-2 fourth round victory on Monday.
The Romanian hit 19 winners and had 11 unforced errors to Azarenka’s 21 winners and 32 unforced errors. Halep converted five of the nine break points she had on Azarenka’s serve and saved three of the six break points on her serve. She won 63% points on her first serves to Azarenka’s 53% and won 57% points off her second serves. In comparison, the Belarusian won 50% points on her second serves. Totally, for the match, Halep finished off with 76 points to Azarenka winning 64.
Halep, who will become the new world No 1 if she makes the semi-finals, next faces Britain’s sixth seed Johanna Konta.
Konta: The new favourite moves on
Sixth seed Johanna Konta became the first British woman for 33 years, since Jo Durie in 1984 to make the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday with a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 win over France’s Caroline Garcia.
Konta is aiming for a second Grand Slam semi-final appearance following her run at the 2016 Australian Open.
Virginia Wade was the last British woman to win Wimbledon in 1977.
“It’s pretty special. I’m very excited about that and really looking forward to the fact that I get to play again,” Konta said.
Konta hit 29 winners to Garcia’s 39 and had 14 unforced errors to the Frenchwoman’s 22. Konta won 75% points on her first serve to Garcia’s 68%, and 56% points on her second serves to Garcia’s 54%. She also converted three of the five break points she had on Garcia’s serve and saved six of the nine break points she faced on her serve.
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