Wimbledon surprise package Tatjana Maria said she was living out a dream after reaching her maiden grand slam semi-final.
Maria also matched a feat achieved by Serena Williams and only two other players since 1984 – Mirjana Lucic (1999) and Zheng Jie (2008) – in reaching the last four at Wimbledon as a player ranked outside the top 100 on the WTA list.
The 34-year-old German, who beat compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6 6-2 7-5 on Tuesday, is ranked 103rd, and despite her efforts at Wimbledon she will not soar in the standings after the WTA's decision to strip the grand slam of ranking points.
Yet that will matter little for the mother of two, who knew she would face either Marie Bouzkova or Ons Jabeur in her first slam semi-final.
"I have goosebumps everywhere. It was such a tough match against Jule. I think today we made Germany really proud after our match," said Maria in her on-court interview.
"My two little girls, it's a dream to live this with my family, to live this with my two girls. Almost one year ago I gave birth, it's crazy.
"Ons [Jabeur], I mean it would be really nice to play her [in the semi-final]. She is part of my family, she loves my kids, she is playing with them every day.
"It would be great to play her, we never know. But I am only happy that I am in a semi-final now."
'I don't know when I'll play again' – Nadal casts doubt on Monte Carlo comeback
Rafael Nadal has cast doubt on a possible return at next month's Monte Carlo Masters after revealing he is still unsure when he will be ready to make his comeback.
The 22-time grand slam champion has been struggling with a left hip issue that contributed to his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.
Nadal pulled out of hard-court contests at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open as he continued to recover from the problem.
Speaking two weeks ago, Monte Carlo Masters director David Massey said Nadal was the first player to register for this year's Masters 1000 event, which begins on April 8.
The tournament's official Twitter account more recently suggested Nadal will "definitely" take part.
However, Nadal – who has slipped out of the world's top 10 men's tennis rankings for the first time in almost 18 years – denied that is the case.
"I don't know who gets this information," he is quoted as saying by Spanish publication Marca.
"Obviously if it were true, I would confirm it, but unfortunately I can't. I'm following my course and I don't know when I'll play again, that's the truth.
"I'm in a phase of increasing work. If I knew when I was going to return, I would say so, but I don't know.
"I can't confirm that I will play in Monte Carlo. Things are seen day by day. I prefer to say things when I really know them."
The Monte Carlo Masters kicks off the clay-court season ahead of events in Madrid and Rome, with the French Open – Nadal's favourite event – now just two months away.
Nadal has won the Monte Carlo Masters a record 11 times, though his most recent triumph came in 2018 with victory over Kei Nishikori in the final.
Rybakina extends winning streak to 11, Pegula and Sabalenka advance into Miami Open quarter-finals
Reigning Wimbledon and Indian Wells Open champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 11 matches with Monday's 6-4 6-3 victory over Elise Mertens in the Miami Open fourth round.
Rybakina, 23, has been one of the most in-form talents in the sport this year, with her only two losses since the start of the Australian Open coming in three-setters against Aryna Sabalenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The Kazakhstan representative produced 10 aces against Mertens on her way into the quarter-finals, becoming the first player this WTA season to finish with at least 10 aces in three consecutive matches.
She will look to keep her sparkling form alive when she meets Martina Trevisan for a spot in the semi-finals, after the Italian got the better of Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3.
Sabalenka showed why she is the top remaining seed after Iga Swiatek's withdrawal, beating 16th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 6-2. Krejcikova was one of two players this season to beat Sabalenka – with Rybakina the other – and by avenging that defeat the Belarusian improved her record in 2023 to 20-2.
America's top hope Jessica Pegula needed only 79 minutes to eliminate Magda Linette 6-1 7-5, winning the first five games of the match to set the tone early, and she will now meet Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the quarters.
Potapova finished with just one ace compared to Qinwen Zheng's nine, but she showed enough guile to overcome the Chinese international's power advantage.
Romania's Sorana Cirstea kept her great run going with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 triumph over Marketa Vondrousova, making it eight wins from her past nine matches, and Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire through injury while down a set 7-6 (7-0) 0-2 against Ekaterina Alexandrova.
High seeds Auger-Aliassime, Hurkacz and Tiafoe all fall in Miami Open third round
Three of the top seeds in the Miami Open field were eliminated on Monday as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe were all sent packing.
Fifth seed Auger-Aliassime was taken out 6-2 7-5 in one of the biggest wins of Francisco Cerundolo's career, with the Argentine avenging recent losses to the Canadian at both the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Open.
Adrian Mannarino's 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-0) victory over eighth seed Hurkacz was arguably an even bigger upset, as it snapped his streak of nine consecutive losses against top-10 opponents at Masters 1000 events.
The 34-year-old Frenchman absorbed 20 aces from Hurkacz and still came out on top, limiting his own unforced errors to 13 for the match.
A third upset of the day saw unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego play a near faultless match to eliminate 12th seed Tiafoe, finishing the contest with 22 winners and only two unforced errors, while not facing a single break point in the brief 68-minute battle.
There was no drama for Daniil Medvedev as the fourth seed received a walkover against Alex Molcan, and he will face France's Quentin Halys in the fourth round after his 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 triumph over Mackenzie McDonald.
Two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas almost joined the long list of seeded victims, but he prevailed 6-3 4-6 6-4 against Christian Garin in the day's only three-setter.
The Greek star will meet Russian 14th seed Karen Khachanov in the fourth round after his comfortable 6-2 6-4 result over Jiri Lehecka, while unseeded American Christopher Eubanks finished the day's play with a 6-3 7-6 (9-7) defeat of Gregoire Barrere.
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