Wimbledon 2025: Bencic reaches her first quarterfinal on ninth attempt; Samsonova defeats Bouzas Maneiro
Belinda Bencic advanced to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal — 11 years after her All England Club debut — by beating 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Monday.
Bencic, who lost in the fourth round on three previous occasions, failed to convert five match points while serving at 5-3 in the second set. But on the sixth one, Alexandrova sent a forehand long on No. 1 Court.
“For you guys it was entertaining,” Bencic said about that marathon game at 5-3, where Alexandrova finally converted her fourth break point to stay in the match. “For me it was a big stress.”
Bencic’s best result at a Grand Slam was reaching the semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Open, where she also reached the quarters on two other occasions.
The Tokyo Olympic champion, playing at Wimbledon for the ninth time, had not been into the last eight at any of the other three majors, until now.
“I always got stuck in the fourth round (at Wimbledon),” Bencic said in an on-court interview. “So it was so important for me today to be able to kind of break through to the quarterfinal.”
Bencic missed last year’s grass-court Grand Slam tournament while she was on maternity leave, having given birth to her first child — a daughter named Bella — in April 2024.
She said traveling with a child on tour is still relatively easy while Bella is so young, but that she’s spending a lot more time taking pictures when she’s at tournaments.
“I’m juggling it like every mom does,” Bencic said. “So, props to the moms.”
Bencic will next play seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva or No. 10 Emma Navarro, who were playing on Centre Court later. Navarro beat defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in the previous round, ensuring there will be yet another first-time champion. It will be the ninth different women’s champion in the past nine editions of Wimbledon. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016.
Also, No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5 on No. 2 Court.
Samsonova has yet to drop a set this tournament and will next face No. 8 Iga Swiatek or Clara Tauson.
