LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) – World number one Aryna Sabalenka continues her quest for a first Wimbledon title when she takes on Elise Mertens, while two-times defending champion Carlos Alcaraz faces Andrey Rublev when the fourth round begins on Sunday.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: ARYNA SABALENKA V ELISE MERTENS
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After battling past Briton Emma Raducanu, Sabalenka comes up against a seeded player, who are thin on the ground following a brutal cull over the opening few days, when she meets Belgian 24th seed Mertens.
After coming through a real battle against Raducanu, Sabalenka was not getting carried away about her chances even though she has yet to drop a set.
“As my experience shows, it doesn’t matter,” Sabalenka said.
“This win doesn’t mean that I’m going to win the tournament. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a great match.
“That’s why I love sport. It’s all about challenging yourself. When you go through tough challenges and you get the win, it’s the best feeling.”
Mertens will need to snap a nine-match losing run against Sabalenka in order to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: ANDREY RUBLEV V CARLOS ALCARAZ
Alcaraz also meets a seeded player for the first time in what looks set to be a tough test against Rublev who has grown in confidence as his run continues, having begun with low expectations.
“Before I start to play Wimbledon, I was making fun to my team, like I don’t know what I’m going to do, if we’re going to lose first round then we go home or not,” Rublev said.
“I’m playing good. I’m hitting the ball well. I start to feel that the level is there, and it’s just a matter of time in terms of results.”
Alcaraz holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Russian 14th seed, but this will be their first meeting on grass.
“It’s going to be a really interesting one, to be honest, in the fourth round facing Rublev. I think it’s going to be a really big challenge,” Alcaraz said.
“He’s a really powerful player. I think he plays really well on grass because he always loves to be aggressive.”
LUCKY LOSER SIERRA FACES VETERAN SIEGEMUND
Argentina Solana Sierra is the only lucky loser to make it to the women’s fourth round and the 21-year-old comes up against the oldest female player left in the competition, Germany’s 37-year-old Laura Siegemund.
Siegemund, who made her Wimbledon main draw debut 10 years ago, had never previously made it past the second round, and her opponent is in the main draw for the first time.
“I think we’re both in the position that we didn’t expect to go that far,” Siegemund said.
“We had both many matches. Obviously she’s also a really good upcoming, young player, and I’ve seen her before.”
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON SUNDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
CENTRE COURT (play begins at 1230 GMT)
Sonay Kartal (Britain) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v 24-Elise Mertens (Belgium)
14-Andrey Rublev (Russia) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
COURT NUMBER ONE (play begins at 1200 GMT)
5-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v Jordan Thompson (Australia)
Nicolas Jarry (Chile) v Cameron Norrie (Britain)
30-Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) v 13-Amanda Anisimova (U.S.)
COURT NUMBER TWO (play begins at 1000 GMT)
17-Karen Khachanov (Russia) v Kamil Majchrzak (Poland)
Solana Sierra (Argentina) v Laura Siegemund (Germany)
Reporting by Trevor Stynes
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