Wimbledon: Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab woman to reach quarters, Matteo Berrettini eases into last 8

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur created history at Wimbledon 2021 as she became the first Arab woman to reach the women’s singles quarter-final at the Championships. She has continued her dream run, beating 7th seed Iga Swiatek after coming back from a set down in a hard-fought Round of 16 match 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

The Tunisian converted all seven break points she created and served out the match at love with an ace.

The 21st-seeded Jabeur also reached the quarterfinals at last year’s Australian Open, becoming the first Arab woman to reach that stage at any Grand Slam tournament.

Swiatek won last year’s French Open but lost in the first round of her only previous Wimbledon appearance in 2019.

“Did she really do that?!”

Just one of the many world-class plays from @Ons_Jabeur #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/7pNbFOhvOs

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2021

Matteo Berrettini ends 23-year-long wait

Meanwhile, it was a record-setting day for Matteo Berrettini as well as the 7th seed became the first Italian man in 23 years to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Despite landing only 53 percent of his first serves, Berettenni managed to beset unseeded Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 in the men’s singles Round of 16 match. He was not broken even once during the three-setter.

Berrettini won the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament last month and has only dropped one set so far at Wimbledon. He is the first Italian to reach the quarters at the All England Club since Davide Sanguinetti in 1998.

Later in the day, another Italian, Lorenzo Sonego, will have the opportunity to join Berrettini in the quarter-final but he faces 8-time champion Roger Federer in the Round of 16 match at the center court.