Simona Halep, the No 3 seed from Romania, remains the favourite to win the women’s singles after defeating Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1, 6-1 in exactly an hour. “I feel very, very good now,” Halep said after coming into the tournament with ankle problems. Halep now plays Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian fifth seed, who was two points away from losing to Croatian qualifier Petra Martic before fighting back for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win. Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Garcia also progressed to the quarter-finals.
Injury scuppers Anderson
After defeating Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in a five-setter to reach the fourth round, Kevin Anderson, of South Africa, was forced to retire at 6-3, 3-0 down against the Croatian Marin Cilic with a left thigh injury. “It hurts just to retire,” he said. “I would like to just finish the match, but with the grass [season] just around the corner, I have to look after my body.” Stan Wawrinka is Cilic’s next opponent, after the 2015 champion defeated France’s Gaël Monfils 7-5, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.
Jamie misses golden opportunity
Jamie Murray suffered one of the more disappointing losses of his career in the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles with his Brazilian partner, Bruno Soares. Despite serving for the match in the second set and bringing up a match point, Murray and Soares could not get across the line, losing 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) to Santiago González, of Mexico, and the American Donald Young. “We had our chance and didn’t take it,” Murray said. “It came back to haunt us.”
End of the British juniors
British representation in the junior singles events came to an end yesterday when Emily Appleton and Francesca Jones were both knocked out. Appleton, 17, lost 6-1, 6-2 in the second round to the Russian Marta Paigina, while Jones, 16, was defeated 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 by the 16th seed, Mai Hontama, of Japan. There were no British competitors in the boys’ singles.