American Ben Shelton into Wimbledon quarterfinals

LONDON — Ben Shelton reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal — doing a round better than his father-turned coach, Bryan, did in 1994 — by beating Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Monday. Shelton, a 22-year-old American who won the 2022 NCAA singles title for the University of Florida, improved to 3-0 against Italy's Sonego in Grand Slam action this season. It's the first time two men faced each other in a year's initial three majors since John McEnroe went 3-0 against Jimmy Connors in 1984. The 10th-seeded Shelton also eliminated Sonego in the Australian Open's quarterfinals in January, and the French Open's first round in May. "Every time I need a big point, he comes up with a highlight shot," Shelton said, "and maybe the same, vice versa." Shelton finished this latest meeting with a flourish, breaking the 47th-ranked Sonego to avoid heading to a tiebreaker, then throwing his head back, yelling "Come on!" and pounding his chest. "I'm happy with the way that I played that last game. I feel like that was my best tennis, my best returning, and that's what I'm going to need to continue in this tournament," said Shelton, who advanced to a matchup against No. 1 Jannik Sinner. "So for me to end the match with that sort of game gives me a lot of confidence moving forward." Up in the stands at No. 1 Court were Shelton's parents, his sister Emma — who stuck around at the All England Club after he made a public plea for her not to have to return to her job at Morgan Stanley on Monday, as originally planned — and his girlfriend, U.S. national soccer team star Trinity Rodman. "I've got a lot of people that I love over there," Shelton said during his on-court interview. He credited his father with inspiring the way he plays on grass courts. "He was in the round of 16 here — 31 years ago? Give or take. He was a serve-and-volleyer. Big serve. Came forward all the time. He would like to see me coming forward a little bit more than I am. My argument is I think I'm better than him from the baseline," Shelton said. But he's also showing that he has a knack for success on the slick surface, doing the sorts of things that constitute what Shelton termed "vintage style" tennis of moving forward and cutting off angles and generally being "a little bit unpredictable." Against Sonego, Shelton won the point on 43 of his 58 trips to the net, including 11 of 17 when serve-and-volleying. If he can produce those sorts of numbers in his next match, that could help get him to a third career Grand Slam semifinal, after the 2023 U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open. American Emma Navarro eliminated LONDON — Mirra Andreeva was the last person on Centre Court to realize she had won her fourth-round match against Emma Navarro on Monday, a result that made her the youngest woman since 2007 to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Andreeva was so focused on not thinking about the score that she didn't grasp that the match was over when Navarro netted a forehand in a 6-2, 6-3 win for the 18-year-old Russian. So instead of celebrating, the seventh-seeded Andreeva calmly turned back toward her baseline and then started fiddling with her racket, seemingly getting ready for the next point. It wasn't until she noticed the reaction from the crowd — and coach Conchita Martinez celebrating — that it dawned on her that she had won. "Honestly, I just kept telling myself that I'm facing break points. I tried to tell myself that I'm not the one who is up on the score, I'm the one who is down," Andreeva said in an on-court interview. "In the end, I completely forgot the score. I'm happy that I did it because I think that (otherwise) I would be three times more nervous on the match point." With the win, Andreeva became the youngest player since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 to reach the women's quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The score wasn't the only thing that Andreeva tried to ignore. She was also afraid to look up at the Royal Box, where eight-time men's Wimbledon champion Roger Federer was watching the match together with his wife, Mirka. "I really tried my best not to look over there in the box, because I knew that as soon as I would look there I would just completely lose my focus," she said, before addressing the couple directly. "Honestly, it means a lot to me that you came and watched my match. It's been one of my dreams to see you in real life. So when I saw both of you I got really, really nervous." The No. 10-seeded Navarro beat defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in the previous round, ensuring there will be yet another first-time champion. It will be the ninth different women's champion in the past nine editions of Wimbledon. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016. Andreeva will next face Belinda Bencic, who also reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal — 11 years after making her debut at the All England Club. Bencic beating 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 6-4 earlier on No. 1 Court.