Cameron Norrie happy to be last British man standing after victory Mattia Bellucci to reach fourth round of Wimbledon; Sonay Kartal powers through
Updated 04/07/2025 at 19:44 GMT+1
Cameron Norrie booked his place in the fourth round after dispatching Mattia Bellucci. Meanwhile, Sonay Kartal recovered from a very tricky start against French qualifier Diane Parry to seal her place in the fourth round. Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka was left feeling incredibly disheartened after her defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, despite recognising her improvements playing on grass.
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Cameron Norrie is largely unfazed by being the last British man standing at Wimbledon after cruising his way to a straight-set victory over Mattia Bellucci.
The former British No. 1 prevailed in a 7-6(5) 6-4 6-3 victory over the Italian to set up a clash with Nicolas Jarry.
Norrie remains the only Brit left on the men’s side of the draw following Jack Draper’s exit to Marin Cilic on Thursday, but seemed largely nonplussed afterwards in his on-court interview.
He said: "I honestly don't really care about that too much. I was just enjoying my tennis on Court No. 1, it was so fun.
"I was hitting the ball playing point for point. The atmosphere was amazing, and I was so happy to be back on this court, and I was just enjoying my tennis.
"Apparently, I’m the last man standing, so I'll take it."
Norrie made an inauspicious start after being emphatically broken in the first game, and agonisingly spurned four break-point opportunities himself, allowing the Italian to take a 2-0 lead.
But he would take the opener after breaking back at 4-4 to move the match back on serve, ahead of prevailing in the tie-break.
Norrie continued that momentum by claiming a hard-fought break at the start of the second set, before the world No. 73 broke back at 2-2.
But the Brit claimed the double break at 4-3 and took a crucial two-sets-to-love lead after set point number two.
The third set was much more straightforward for Norrie, with Bellucci looking increasingly vulnerable on serve after surrendering the double break at 4-1 down.
Nonetheless, the Italian made things a little bit interesting by breaking through Norrie’s serve at the second opportunity.
However, Norrie broke straight back to win the contest by latching onto Bellucci’s second serve to book his place in the last 16.
Kartal with 'nothing to lose' mentality after powering past Parry
Sonay Kartal is relishing the added scrutiny which comes from being a Brit competing at Wimbledon following her straight sets victory over Diane Parry.
The world No. 51 claimed a 6-4 6-2 win on Court No. 1 to clinch a fourth-round meeting with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Kartal showed her immense powers of recovery by surging her way back from 4-1 down to claim the next nine games, which were ultimately decisive in overcoming the French qualifier.
The 23-year-old remains unfazed by the increasing pressure which comes from advancing further into the competition, describing it as "an honour" in her post-match press conference.
She said: "I enjoy it. I think it's an honour. Obviously you've got a lot of attention on you, it means you're doing good things.
"I'm pretty calm and pretty collected. I don't think it's going to affect me too much. But no, I'm just enjoying it all. I'll still pretty young. It's my first fourth round.
"I feel like I'm going to go out on the court in the next round kind of with nothing to lose at the minute.
"I'm going to go swinging. I think the pressure that I'll feel is the pressure I will be putting on myself just wanting to perform as best as I can."
It had been a sobering start to the contest for the British No. 3, though, who was a break down at 3-0 in the opening set.
However, momentum swung in her favour by taking the match back on serve at 4-3 by breaking back against the world No. 118.
There was simply no stopping the 23-year-old from that point onwards, taking the double break on her way to securing the first set.
Parry could offer scant resistance and was down a double break at 3-0, before Kartal followed that up with an emphatic hold to love at 4-0.
The job was done on Kartal's first match point as she advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Osaka 'really upset' with ‘nothing positive to say’ after Pavlyuchenkova defeat
Naomi Osaka was left feeling "really upset" with "nothing positive to say" after her three-set defeat to Pavlyuchenkova at Wimbledon.
Osaka’s third-round Wimbledon hoodoo continued after a 3-6 6-4 6-4 victory for the Russian, and struggled to find many reasons for optimism after a pulsating contest on Court No. 2.
The Japanese had her moments in this contest and did stress that she is competing better on grass, but was left feeling very downbeat when reflecting on the match.
When asked if she is closer to making a deeper run at a Grand Slam again, she told the media: "Yes, but honestly, right now I'm just really upset. I think if I look back on it, I can be happy with how I played. I think I started getting a lot more comfortable on grass.
"Clearly, I need to work on a couple things, but yeah...Overall, I don't know if she is a great grass court player. I didn't look at her grass record, but she was playing pretty well to me.
"I'm just going to be a negative human being today. I'm so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on.
"It was my daughter's birthday, so I was happy about that this week. Other than that, it's just today I'm just constantly replaying the match now."
It could have been a very different story after Osaka began in rampant fashion, claiming an early break on her way to a 3-0 lead.
Despite Pavlyuchenkova managing to penetrate through her serve, Osaka would claim a double break on route to drawing first blood with little fuss after 37 minutes of play.
However, momentum swung back in favour of the Russian, which highlighted the inconsistencies in Osaka's game.
This time, it was Pavlyuchenkova who would race into an early 3-0 lead after seizing on Osaka’s second serve.
Despite managing to break back at 3-2 down, Osaka would be left to rue two more opportunities in the ninth game.
Pavlyuchenkova punished those missed chances by taking the double break - and set - with a rasping winner.
The 34-year-old claimed five straight games to seize the advantage in the contest, with Osaka seemingly losing confidence in her shot placement.
Pavlyuchenkova claimed an early break in the decider and consolidated that with a comfortable hold to 15, leaving the four-time Grand Slam champion on the ropes.
But this sparked a much-needed comeback for Osaka, who took a crucial hold at 3-1 to rein in the Russian.
She then followed that up with a break back, sealed thanks to a brilliant winner of her own.
This was the first of three consecutive games for Osaka, before Pavlyuchenkova bounced back in a slugfest of a seventh game, staving off two break points to take a hard-fought hold at 4-3.
These two players were so evenly matched, as Pavlyuchenkova laid down the gauntlet to Osaka with an emphatic love to hold.
Osaka was serving to stay in the match, but failed to do so after sending a forehand long on an ultimately disappointing afternoon at SW19.
Fonseca dumped out by Jarry
Joao Fonseca's landmark Wimbledon run came to an end after a four-set defeat to Jarry.
The Chilean secured his place in the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6(4) win over the 18-year-old, setting up a meeting with Norrie in the last 16.
Fonseca became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010, but this proved to be his farewell from SW19.
The world No. 54 faced a mountain to climb after moving two sets behind, but managed to take the match into a fourth set by taking a crucial break at 3-1 up in the third.
Fonseca fought all the way in a bid to take the match into a fifth-set decider, but Jarry prevailed 7-4 in the tie-break.
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