London: It turned out to be the mother of all battles and Victoria Azarenka produced some telling blows in an electrifying contest but in the end she lacked the chutzpah to prevent Elina Svitolina from securing a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Sunday's 2-6 6-4 7-6(9) win handed the Ukrainian wildcard a first victory over Azarenka -- the duo being the last two mums left standing out of the six who started in the singles draw -- as she snapped a five-match losing run against the Belarusian.
After soaking up all the tension for close to three hours, world number 76 Svitolina finally toppled 19th seed Azarenka with an ace on her second match point and promptly collapsed onto her back in her moment of triumph.
Svitolina frustrated Azarenka for over 11 minutes in the fourth game of the match which dragged on for five deuces, with the Ukrainian missing a break point chance in the process.
Two games later the pair went toe-to-toe in a ferocious 25-shot baseline exchange that drew a chorus of 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the enthralled Court One crowd which only ended when Svitolina overcooked a forehand.
Even though the records will show the Belarusian romped through the first set by breaking twice, those in attendance will know that the scoreline failed to illustrate just how much drama was packed into those first 41 minutes of the contest.
Pegula produces dazzling display to reach maiden quarters
Jessica Pegula enjoyed one of those scarcely believable days straight out of fantasy land as her racket oozed winners left, right and centre in a 6-1 6-3 fourth-round destruction of luckless Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko at Wimbledon on Sunday.
It was a performance that will live long in Pegula's memory after she reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time by unleashing 22 winners and breaking her anguished rival five times.
"That was great... I came out playing really well, exactly how I wanted to play and I was just trying to ride that momentum as well as I could," Pegula said in a courtside interview after becoming only the fifth American woman in the last 25 years to reach the last eight at all four majors.
For Tsurenko, the day was anything but great.
The 34-year-old was left slapping her thighs and talking animatedly into her racket but no matter what she tried, it seemed like her game had slipped into a terminal coma.
Pegula took full advantage of her opponent's woes as she walloped thunderous winners from the baseline to streak into a 5-0 lead in 18 blinding minutes.
Perhaps still feeling the effects of the mammoth effort she put into overcoming Ana Bogdan in the previous round, when Tsurenko won the longest women’s singles tiebreak (20-18 in the third set) at a slam in the Open Era, the Ukrainian could do little to stop the on-fire Pegula's charge.
Tsurenko was lucky not to be completely wiped out from the opening set as the American fourth seed missed a set point in the sixth game.
That blip allowed Tsurenko to finally get a look-in as she registered her name on the scoreboard, earning her a round of sympathetic applause from the Court One crowd.
That respite, however, was brief as Pegula went on another three-game winning spree to take a 6-1 2-0 lead.
The mounting errors from Tsurenko left her trailing 5-1 in the second set too and while she managed to break Pegula when the American was serving for a place in the quarter-finals two games later, it seemed her body had faced enough punishment for the day.
After saving two match points, Tsurenko winced in pain on the baseline and wasted little time in removing her right shoe and sock, revealing a bloody underfoot blister.
The on-court intervention from the trainer only delayed the inevitable as two points later Pegula was celebrating with a clenched fist as she booked a last-eight showdown with Marketa Vondrousova.
With her name now in the mix with Venus and Serena Williams, along with Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens, Pegula said: "It's amazing to be in that group with these people... I am so glad to make the final eight and I hope I get my name on a wall, or something."
Rublev tames Bublik fightback to advance
Andrey Rublev reaching the quarterfinals is one of the most predictable outcomes at a Grand Slam but there was nothing remotely routine about his five-set win over Alexander Bublik, his fourth round opponent.
Rublev, who has now reached the quarters eight times at the Grand Slams but has never made the last four, was seemingly cruising into the last eight when he took the first two sets on Centre Court.
Yet his Kazakh opponent somehow conjured a way back into the contest and ensured it went the distance before seventh seed Rublev wrapped up a 7-5 6-3 6-7(6) 6-7(5) 6-4 victory.
Had the Russian lost it would have been a remarkably bitter pill to swallow, having been two points away from victory in the third set tiebreak, passed up two match points in the fourth and led 5-3 in the second breaker only to lose four points in a row.
Having secured a decisive break to go up in the fifth, Rublev pulled off one of the most remarkable shots of the tournament so far with a diving forehand winner to bring up match point and then banged down an ace to finish the contest.
"Probably it was the most lucky shot ever," he said in his on-court interview. "I don't think I can do it (the shot) one more time."
Rublev could be known as Mr Quarter-Final at the Grand Slams and his victory ensured he will now have a full set of last-eight appearances at the majors, having never reached that stage at Wimbledon before.
Whether he can go one step further at a major for the first time is a feat few will fancy him achieving at Wimbledon, with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic his likely next opponent, providing the Serb overcomes Hubert Hurkacz later on Sunday.
HUGE SERVE
The six-foot-five-inch Bublik proved a far from conventional opponent for Rublev.
Combining a huge serve and forehand with an almost laissez-faire nonchalance that saw him throw in a handful of drop shots and a couple of underarm serves, Bublik was a puzzle that needed solving.
If Rublev was a refined piece of tennis engineering, Bublik was at times more agricultural, but the Kazakh is by no means a one-dimensional threshing machine.
While he made the most of his serve and clumping forehand, he was not afraid to mix up his game and keep Rublev guessing.
The 23rd-seeded Kazakh, who had beaten Rublev to win the title in Halle two weeks ago, was his own worst enemy at times with his serve going haywire at key moments.
He served two double faults in a row to hand Rublev the first set and another to gift the Russian what proved to be a decisive break point in the second.
Yet he threw in a couple of underarm serves, which has become a bit of a theme at this year's Wimbledon, winning the points with both.
After taking the third set on a tiebreak he faced two match points at 4-5 down in the fourth, saving the first with a 135 mph second-serve ace and eventually winning the game with another huge serve.
He forced another tiebreak, which he won, leaping up and down as Rublev began to see the match possibly slipping from his grasp for the first time.
The Russian quickly regained his composure, however, and when Bublik served another double fault to gift Rublev a break point at 3-3 in the fifth the Russian pounced, breaking and consolidating to move 5-3 ahead before ending the contest.
"I was just thinking it doesn't matter I lost the third set and fourth set," he said. "I said if I keep playing I would have one chance and in the end I had it, played a really good volley and was able to break him."
