Vondrousova Wins Final Five Games to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals by Beating Pegula

Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Vondrousova Wins Final Five Games to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals by Beating Pegula

Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova speaks after beating US player Jessica Pegula during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the ninth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 11, 2023. (AFP)

Marketa Vondrousova won five straight games in the final set to beat fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and reach the semifinals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Vondrousova, a left-handed Czech player who reached the French Open final in 2019, trailed 4-1 in the third set but didn't lose another game after that.

“I’m just trying to stay in every game. It can change pretty quickly,” Vondrousova said. “She got so much better in the second set. She was pushing me today.”

Pegula is now 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The 29-year-old American was playing at this stage at Wimbledon for the first time.

Vondrousova had won only four matches on grass heading into the tournament at the All England Club. But she has won five in a row on the surface over the last eight days.

“My best result here was second round. It’s amazing. I’m just loving grass now,” Vondrousova said.

The victory for Vondrousova is her fourth over a seeded player at this year's Wimbledon tournament. She beat No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova in the second round, No. 20 Donna Vekic in the third round and No. 32 Marie Bouzkova in the fourth round.

Pegula was leading 3-1 in the third set when play was suspended so that the roof over No. 1 Court could be closed with rain approaching. Pegula then held serve in the next game to lead 4-1 before Vondrousova took over.

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek was playing Elina Svitolina on Centre Court in another quarterfinal match. The four-time major champion is playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.

The winner of that match will face Vondrousova in the semifinals.

Later Tuesday in the men's quarterfinals, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will face Andrey Rublev on Centre Court and Jannik Sinner will play Roman Safiullin on No. 1 Court.



Novak Djokovic Reaches the Paris Olympics Quarterfinals as He Seeks First Gold Medal

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts to his win over Spain's Rafael Nadal in their men's singles second round tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on July 29, 2024. (AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts to his win over Spain's Rafael Nadal in their men's singles second round tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on July 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Novak Djokovic Reaches the Paris Olympics Quarterfinals as He Seeks First Gold Medal

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts to his win over Spain's Rafael Nadal in their men's singles second round tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on July 29, 2024. (AFP)
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts to his win over Spain's Rafael Nadal in their men's singles second round tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on July 29, 2024. (AFP)

Novak Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself Wednesday at the Paris Olympics before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the Summer Games singles quarterfinals for the fourth time.

A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the resume of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings.

According to The AP, that is why Djokovic, who is the top-seeded man in Paris, has proclaimed success at these Olympics his priority for the year. His one medal so far was a bronze in 2008 at Beijing.

This time, tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the facility that hosts the French Open, which Djokovic has won three times. One of his triumphs in a final at Court Philippe Chatrier came in 2021 against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek who will be Djokovic's opponent on Thursday.

Tsitsipas beat Sebastian Baez of Argentina 7-5, 6-1.

Against Koepfer, Djokovic was patchy in parts at the outset, not as crisp as when he got past rival Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the second round. This one was 5-all in the first set, with Koepfer ripping big forehands to manage to steer Djokovic along the baseline.

Djokovic would look up at his box, where his wife, Jelena, and their son were seated. He sometimes put his arms out and muttered — as much to himself as to them.

But he took the last two games of the first set, eliciting chants of his two-syllable nickname from the crowd: “No-le! No-le!” When Koepfer trudged to the sideline, he chucked his racket at his bench.

Djokovic then began the second set by going up 3-0. That's when Koepfer was visited by a trainer to get treatment for a blister on his left middle finger.

Koepfer is a 30-year-old left-hander who has a sub -.500 career record, only once made it as far as the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament, is currently ranked No. 70 and never climbed higher than No. 49.

Djokovic was wearing a gray sleeve on his right knee, which was operated on in Paris in early June after he tore the meniscus during a French Open match. Surprisingly, he participated at Wimbledon less than a month after the operation and made it all the way to the final before losing to Carlos Alcaraz.

Now Djokovic is the first man to reach the singles quarterfinals four times at the Olympics since tennis returned to the Summer Games in 1988.