Wimbledon News 2022: Simona Halep cruises past Paula Badosa to return to quarterfinals

It was the second empathetic victory of World No. 19 Simona Halep against Paula Badosa this year. She had previously defeated the 24-year-old American 6-3, 6-1 in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open. The first match between two Top 20 seeds at Wimbledon was entirely dominated by the former World No. 1 Simona Halep.

Simona Halep fired 17 winners to nine unforced errors compared to just seven winners and 20 unforced errors by her Spanish opponent. The 30-year-old Romanian broke the serve of Paula Badosa five times while saving all the break points she faced to wrap up the match with a victory after just 59 minutes of play. 

In a post-match interview, No. 16 seed Simona Halep said, "It means a lot that I'm back in a quarterfinal after I struggled so much with injuries and self-confidence. I am thrilled with the way I play. I'm confident. It's a pleasure to be on the court.

Simona Halep has now advanced to the quarterfinal at Wimbledon for the fifth time. She will face Amanda Anisimova of the United States in a quarterfinal clash at Wimbledon on July 6. 

No. 20 seed Amanda Anisimova advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2019 French Open after beating Harmony Tan of France 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round. 

Elena Rybakina powers past Petra Martic into first Wimbledon quarterfinal

No. 17 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in her career. The feat makes her the second Kazhak woman to reach the stage since Yaroslava Shvedova first did it in 2016.

Elena Rybakina took control of the game in the first set with powerful and accurate strikes and raced to a 3-0 lead. Petra Martic launched a counterattack and won four straight games to get a 3-4 lead with a break in the opening set. The 31-year-old Croatian broke the rhythm of her Kazhak opponent, sending the match into a tiebreak. 

Elena Rybakina regained control at 6-5 and clinched the first set with an excellent forehand winner. She tried to build on the winning momentum in the second set and got a breakthrough when she converted her second breakpoint on a backhand shot by her Croatian opponent. Elena Rybakina fired 13 winners to just three unforced errors in the second set to seal her victory after one hour and 20 minutes of play.

In a post-match interview, Elena Rybakina said, "I'm just happy that no matter how I play, maybe it's not the best, best shape physically, shots-wise, but overall I'm just glad that I'm managing to win these close matches.

The victory improved the win-loss record of Elena Rybakina against Petra Martic to 2-0 and her record for the season to 23-4. She will lock horns with Ajla Tomljanović of Australia in a quarterfinal clash on July 6.

Ajla Tomljanovic beat France's, Alize Cornet

Australian No. 1 Ajla Tomljanovic booked a quarterfinal berth with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Alize Cornet of France.

Ajla Tomljanovic had also won a close three-set encounter against the French No. 1 Alizé Cornet in the second round of last year's Wimbledon. The history repeated on July 5 as the Australian improved here win-loss record against Alizé Cornet to 3-2.

There was not much to separate both opponents throughout the match. Ajla Tomljanovic edged past Alizé Cornet by doing slightly better by eight of the 14 break points she faced compared to seven for 16 by Alizé Cornet. The victory made Ajla Tomljanovic the first Australian woman to make consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinals since Jelena Dokic in 1999 and 2000.