Wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden hailed becoming the first all-British pair to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon women’s doubles in 40 years as “surreal”.
The rookie duo added Slovakians Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova to their impressive list of scalps thanks to a stirring 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.
Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs were the previous British team to reach the last eight of the tournament in south-west London, doing so in 1983 before being beaten by top seeds Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.
“I guess it puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? That’s something we didn’t know,” said Leeds-born Bains. “It feels surreal to be honest.
“We wanted to back up last year’s result of a first-round win. We wanted to go one better. But we’re just taking it one match at a time and can’t complain.”
Bains and Lumsden, both 25, led by a set and a break on Court 18 but were forced to dig deep after being taken to a decider having narrowly failed to overturn a four-point deficit in the second-set tie-break.
Victory over Hruncakova and Mihalikova in two hours and 36 minutes sets up a last-eight clash with the winners of Tuesday’s meeting between third seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens and Czech duo Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.
The British pair’s fine run at the All England Club is even more impressive given Lumsden feared her professional playing career may be ended by long Covid.
“During it, I didn’t think I was going to get back playing sport,” the Scot said of coronavirus, which she contracted in October 2020.
“That was like a year where I couldn’t really do any exercise.
“I never really thought I would get back to playing professionally, so it’s obviously unbelievable that I have got back to it now and I’m very grateful that I can.”
Fellow Briton Neal Skupski also enjoyed progression in the doubles, alongside Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.
The top seeds reached the third round of the men’s tournament thanks to a 7-6 (3) 6-2 success over Australians Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.
Former US Open champion Thiem to retire from tennis this year
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
Thiem memorably fought back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the 2020 tournament at Flushing Meadows, also reaching three other grand slam finals during his career.
Having reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in the aftermath of that US Open success, Thiem has since struggled with wrist and knee injuries, failing to progress beyond the second round of a major since the 2021 Australian Open.
The Austrian failed to reach the recent Madrid Open, going down to Thanasi Kokkinakis in qualifying on the clay, which he had previously regarded as his strongest surface.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, the 30-year-old said: "I have to tell you a very important, and very sad but very beautiful message. The 2024 season will be my last one, I'm going to finish my career at the end of the season.
"There are reasons behind it; first of all, my wrist is not exactly the way it should be, and the second reason is my inner feeling.
"I was thinking about this decision for a very long time, thinking about my whole journey as a tennis player, which was incredible.
"I've had success and won trophies I would never have dreamed of. It was an incredible journey that I am so thankful for, but in the end I came to the conclusion that this decision is the only right one."
Osaka beats Kostyuk for landmark win at Italian Open
Naomi Osaka recorded her first win over a top-20 opponent on clay at the Italian Open on Thursday, posting an impressive 6-3 6-2 victory against Marta Kostyuk to reach the third round.
Having opened her first Italian Open campaign since 2021 with a straight-sets win over Clara Burel on Wednesday, Osaka produced another slick performance to down the world number 20 one day later.
Osaka blitzed Kostyuk to take the opener in just 36 minutes, taking advantage of a sloppy start from the Ukrainian, who served at just 40 per cent in the first set and tallied 15 unforced errors.
The former world number one then forced a break within three games in the second set, only for rain to halt proceedings after she went 3-1 up.
She showed no signs of rustiness upon returning to the court, though, even responding to a late loss of serve with an immediate break back to tee up a third-round clash with 10th seed Daria Kasatkina.
Data Debrief: First for Osaka on least favourite surface
Osaka has never considered herself a clay-court specialist, failing to reach a single tour-level final on the surface throughout her career.
Ahead of Thursday's match, she was 0-8 on clay against opponents in the top 20 of the WTA rankings. However, a routine victory should give her hope of repeating the feat against Kasatkina next time out.
Nadal fights back to win opener in Rome
Rafael Nadal fought back from a slow start to defeat Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match at the Italian Open.
Nadal endured a poor first set, losing five of the last six games, but turned things around in impressive style, spending two hours and 47 minutes on the court on Thursday.
The 10-time Italian Open champion saved all five break points he faced in the second and third sets to take key points and earn a seventh win of the season.
Nadal is competing in his third consecutive tour-level event after missing most of last year due to a hip injury that required surgery before his comeback was halted by a muscle tear in January.
"That was not my best match, I was practising better than I played today, but I found a way to win," he said after the match.
"That’s so important at the beginning of the tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn’t play much tennis for the last two years, so have some ups and downs, on and off, but I think I can do much better than today and I hope to do it next round."
The Spaniard will face seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
Data Debrief:
Nadal had only lost one of his previous 18 opening-round matches in Rome before Thursday and avoided adding to that tally in his final appearance at the tournament.
He has the most wins at the Foro Italico (70), where he first claimed the title on his debut in 2005.
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