Cameron Norrie continues Wimbledon adventure after reaching quarter-finals

British ninth seed beats Tommy Paul 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday

Cameron Norrie during his 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory win over Tommy Paul at Wimbledon on Sunday, July 3, 2022. AFP

Home hope Cameron Norrie will continue his Wimbledon adventure after an impressive straight-sets win over Tommy Paul on Sunday.

The British No 1 is already enjoying his best run at a Grand Slam and will now play in first major quarter-final following his 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory on Court One.

Norrie's victory makes him only the fifth British man to reach the last-eight stage at the championships and the first since two-time champion Andy Murray in 2017.

"To make the quarters for the first time, in front of my family and friends here from college is so special," said ninth seed Norrie on court amid loud cheers from the crowd.

"In a huge match, to play the way I did, was really good. To execute everything. I really enjoyed it. It is pretty crazy, I have a lot of feelings.

"I think from the first round everyone has been behind me and supported me and I definitely think it has helped in some of the tougher situations in matches.

"When I was serving for the match there, I was going through a lot of different scenarios in my head. I was able to stay calm enough to close it out. It was great and you guys helped me through it."

Norrie will now face David Goffin after the Belgian came through a brutally long battle against 23rd seed Frances Tiafoe.

He beat Tiafoe of the United States 7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted four hours and 35 minutes on Court Two.

In the women's draw, Heather Watson could not add to the British cheers after her best run at SW19 came to an end against Jule Niemeier.

The world No 127 enjoyed a memorable charge to the fourth round, her finest showing in any Grand Slam.

But a quarter-final spot proved beyond the 30-year-old from Guernsey as German youngster Niemeier won 6-2, 6-4.

Niemeier, 22, may be unseeded but she beat No 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round and proved too good for Watson.

Tatjana Maria pulled off another upset at Wimbledon to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the age of 34.

Maria eliminated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 after saving two match points in the second set against her 12th-seeded opponent.

She will now face 22-year-old Niemeier, who is making her All England Club debut, in an all-German showdown for a place in the semi-finals.

Heading into the second week at Wimbledon, only two of the top 15 seeds remain in the women’s draw, which has just one Grand Slam champion – Simona Halep – left.

“I always believed that at one point I can show what I can do,” said the 103rd-ranked Maria, who beat fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the third round.

“I’m happy that today, I mean, I came back when I was down, so I’m proud of myself.”

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is also out of the picture, the two-time French Open champion having lost to Alize Cornet of France in straight sets on Saturday.

Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic also reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final by beating Caroline Garcia of France 7-5, 6-2.

“There’s no reason why not to keep this going. Kind of believing in myself right now,” said Bouzkova, who withdrew from the French Open after testing positive for Covid-19. “Yeah, I just going to go all out again in the quarter-finals.”