And so the clash of the 20-year-olds titans came and went while Ons Jabeur stayed calm and carried on.
And there'll be more
Holger Rune and Carlos Alcaraz have known each other for the best part of a decade and they're only 20. A week separates their birthdays and they both spoke effervescently about playing each other in the last eight. Alcaraz won the quarter-final 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. But he's not going to have it all his way over the coming years. "I think it's great," said Rune after the defeat. "It's really cool that we are very close in age. I hope that we can continue on this level for many years. I think that we have what it takes to play many more battles. He also told me after the match that we'll play many times." Sounds a good and healthy rivalry a-coming.
New Ons
Ons Jabeur mashed up the defending champion Elena Rybakina in three sets. The final set was one-way traffic as she smacked up the third seed 6-1. Hardly a drop shot in sight. We weren't expecting that nor the power drives that Jabeur unleashed. "I think I showed to myself that I can stand up against these players," said Jabeur. "Believing that I can hit as hard as the other players, I think that makes the difference for me. That's what I'm doing right now." Power Ons.
Consistency
Kudos to the second seed Aryna Sabalenka who reached her third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final of the year with a dominant 6-2, 6-4 win over the 25th seed Madison Keys. In January, Sabalenka went on to triumph at the Australian Open and in June she looked good for the final of the French Open before pressing the self-destruct button. Ons Jabeur will present a formidable challenge on Day 11. "She has really good touch," said Sabalenka of her semi-final opponent. "Especially on the grass court, all her slices, drop shots work really well. I feel like mentally she's really strong. I think her tricky game is really, really challenging to play against." And that's not even mentioning the Jabeur hyper drives.
Reign over
And so Elena Rybakina's reign as queen of Wimbledon has ended. The 25-year-old was dethroned by the sixth seed Ons Jabeur. She said she enjoyed her run. "It was kind of a new challenge for me coming as a defending champion," she added. "It's of course a different feeling. I'm actually really proud of the first few matches because it's not easy. It was a positive few weeks for me here." Classy.
Range of vision
Lovely perspective from Christopher Eubanks who reached the last eight for the first time at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. "Wherever my career takes me and I can continue to have the fun that I've been having, where I can continue to work as hard as I've been working and where I end up, I end up," said the 27-year-old after his five-set defeat to the third seed Daniil Medvedev. "Considering the fact I spent five years hovering in that 220 to 150 range, playing so many challenger tournaments, at this point it's just the cherry on top. I'm just enjoying myself. I'm having a great time." Eubanks brought wonderful freshness and verve to his matches and the crowds responded. One of the big winners of the fortnight.
