LONDON, Great Britain - The day began with an absolute epic between Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska, continued with two great comebacks from Serena and Venus Williams, and ended with yet another marathon, between friends and doubles partners Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. When the dust finally settled on a fantastic showcase of tennis, the quarterfinals are now set for Tuesday.
Quarterfinal Tuesday: The women take center stage on Centre Court and No.1 Court on Tuesday.
Centre Court - 1pm start
Simona Halep vs. Angelique Kerber (1-1)
Serena Williams vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (5-0)
No. 1 Court -- 1pm start
Venus Williams vs. Yaroslava Shvedova (first meeting)
Dominika Cibulkova vs. Elena Vesnina (3-3)
A Truly Manic Monday: The second Monday at Wimbledon is, for many, the best day on the tennis calendar. All 16 men's and women's fourth round matches play, providing a delicious smorgasbord of tennis for any fan. But this Manic Monday was particularly memorable because not only did the women's slate of matches feature nail-biter after nail-biter, but during the early part of the day the tense action was underway simultaneously on different courts.
As Radwanska and Cibulkova were locked in their gripping final set, one that lasted 84 minutes and saw both women save match points and fend for their tournament lives, Simona Halep and Madison Keys were locked in their own coin-flip of a match, which saw Keys reel past Halep in the first set, only for the Romanian to mount her own comeback in the second set.
After Cibulkova and Halep prevailed in their three-setters, it was Serena Williams and Venus Williams who were locked in simultaneous drama. As Serena found herself down 4-5 with Kuznetsova set to serve out the first set on Centre Court, Venus was battling back from two breaks down to get back on serve against Carla Suárez Navarro on No.1 Court. A rain delay then took all four women off the court, with Serena and Kuznetsova locked at 5-5 in the first set, and Venus leading Suárez Navarro 4-2 in the first set tiebreak.
The sisters would prevail in straight sets, but not before causing a few grey hairs for their mother, Oracene Price.
One more match would go the distance, with Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova needing two hours and 48 minutes to settle their fourth round match, which saw a rollercoaster third set end 9-7 in favor of Vesnina. Vesnina served for the match at 5-4, was broken to 5-5, Makarova fended off two break points to hold to 7-6, Vesnina held in a deuce game to 7-7 and then broke Makarova at love and served out the match with an ace out wide.
And with that, everyone could finally breathe.
Dominika Cibulkova's Big Day: The 27-year-old actually didn't expect to be playing in her Wimbledon whites this week. In fact, if it were up to Cibulkova's initial plans, she'd be going through the final fittings for her wedding whites. The Bratislava native never backed her talents on grass - she had made it past the third round just once in 2011 - and so scheduled her wedding to fiance Michal Navara for July 9th, which happens to also be the day of the women's final at Wimbledon.
"We chose this because I never saw myself as such a great grass court player," Cibulkova said after her win over Radwanska. "But winning Eastbourne and now, being in a quarterfinals I would change my mind.
"If I would win tomorrow, then we will change it. Then we will postpone it because it will be a lot of rush. It's still really, really far. I want to get a good rest and I just want to play well tomorrow."
Cibulkova told reporters it had not even crossed her mind that she might need to postpone the wedding until she was sitting in the ice bath on Monday.
"I said to my team, 'Okay, now it's getting more serious,'" Cibulkova said. "So I told them, 'If I win tomorrow, then we seriously have to deal with this.' So everything, we'll see after tomorrow."
The World No.18 scored a massive win over No.3 Radwanska, winning, 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in three hours to make her second Wimbledon quarterfinal. Cibulkova saved match point late in the third set and the two went back and forth with the match on a knife's edge before Cibulkova's offense finally broke Radwanska's defense.
It was, for many, the best women's match of the season so far.
"You know, today was, I would say, the most physically tough, it was the toughest match for me I would say my whole career," Cibulkova said.
"After I didn't make the first match point the momentum changed and then she was up," Cibulkova said. "Today she was playing really, really good. She tried to play much more aggressive than the matches before, and her defense was just so good, as always. Sometimes when you play against different players, it's just enough one winner, but against Aga today I felt like I have to put six, seven, eight winners to earn the point."
The two shared a nice moment after the match, a heartfelt hug after a gritty battle.
Tournament Info
Tier: Grand Slams
Prize Money: $19,174,575
Prize Money: $19,174,575
Surface: Grass
Director: Richard Lewis
Director: Richard Lewis
Wimbledon, also known as The Championships, is considered by many the world's most prestigious tournament. Launched in 1877, the event is held in late June and early July at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London and is the only major still played on grass - the game's original surface.
Other traditions include no matches on the middle Sunday, a strict player dress code, the eating of strawberries and cream, the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts and royal patronage.
Since 2001, Wimbledon's courts have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass. The main show courts, Centre Court and Court 1, are normally used just during The Championships' fortnight, and the remaining 17 courts are used regularly for other events hosted by the club. To the delight of players, fans and media, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 staging. The show courts were competed on an additional time in 2012, as the facility hosted the Summer Olympics tennis event three weeks after Wimbledon.
In another break from tradition, starting in 2015, The Championships will begin a week later on the calendar, allowing for three weeks instead of two between the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon.
WTA legend Martina Navratilova has the ladies tournament record with nine singles titles. She also has the Open Era record with seven doubles titles. On top of that, she has four mixed doubles crowns, giving her a remarkable 20 Wimbledon triumphs altogether. Others who have dominated the event in the Open Era include Steffi Graf with seven singles titles and Serena and Venus Williams, with five each.
CloseOther traditions include no matches on the middle Sunday, a strict player dress code, the eating of strawberries and cream, the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts and royal patronage.
Since 2001, Wimbledon's courts have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass. The main show courts, Centre Court and Court 1, are normally used just during The Championships' fortnight, and the remaining 17 courts are used regularly for other events hosted by the club. To the delight of players, fans and media, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 staging. The show courts were competed on an additional time in 2012, as the facility hosted the Summer Olympics tennis event three weeks after Wimbledon.
In another break from tradition, starting in 2015, The Championships will begin a week later on the calendar, allowing for three weeks instead of two between the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon.
WTA legend Martina Navratilova has the ladies tournament record with nine singles titles. She also has the Open Era record with seven doubles titles. On top of that, she has four mixed doubles crowns, giving her a remarkable 20 Wimbledon triumphs altogether. Others who have dominated the event in the Open Era include Steffi Graf with seven singles titles and Serena and Venus Williams, with five each.
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