Halep mauls Badosa on Centre Court return to reach quarters

Former champion Simona Halep marked her return to Centre Court on Monday with a scintillating performance to thrash fourth-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa 6-1 6-2 and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Playing on the main showcourt at the grass court Grand Slam for the first time since sweeping aside Serena Williams in the 2019 final, the 16th-seeded Romanian put on another show for the crowd. She smashed 17 winners, kept a tab on her errors and broke Badosa's serve five times to close out the victory in an hour.

“It was the place that I wanted to be today. I think I played a great match,” said Halep, who will meet big-hitting American Amanda Anisimova for a place in the semifinals.

“It's always tough to play against her [Badosa], she's a great player.

“Always nervous before, but I enjoyed a lot to be back on Centre Court, in front of this beautiful crowd, always supporting me. It's a pleasure to be back here.”

Halep has been flying under the radar at the 2022 Championships but is now considered a serious title contender as the only former champion left in the draw and with 11 straight wins on the All England Club's manicured lawns. None of the top 15 women's seeds, other than Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur, have survived either.

Halep has yet to lose a set in the 2022 Championships and faced just a single breakpoint against Badosa.

“I'm really pleased with the way I played this tournament so far. Day by day, it's getting better,” said Halep, who missed last year's tournament with an injury, while Wimbledon was cancelled due to Covid-19 in 2020.

Harmony Tan's dream Wimbledon debut came to an end when the Frenchwoman was beaten 6-2 6-3 by 20-year-old Anisimova in the fourth round on Monday.

World number 115 Tan, who stunned 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in a late-night epic on day two, backed up that win with two more impressive performances. But her wily game was no match for 20th seed Anisimova whose powerful baseline game got the job done in 74 minutes.

Anisimova beat title contender Coco Gauff in the previous round and is the last remaining American woman in the singles.

Since reaching the French Open semifinals in 2019 and being labelled the next big thing in American women's tennis, New Jersey-born Anisimova has experienced a traumatic time. Her father died of a heart attack just before the US Open that year and since then she has been rather overshadowed by other young players who have burst through.

The 20-year-old arrived at Wimbledon under the radar but has thrived to reach her second Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Ajla Tomljanovic's mother gets so nervous about her daughter's tennis matches that she often opts to go on long walks with the family dog to block out the tension. On Monday it became clear why Emina Tomljanovic usually adopts the head-in-sand approach as her daughter put her through the wringer before beating Alize Cornet 4-6 6-4 6-3 in an electrifying fourth-round rollercoaster at Wimbledon.

The nerve-shredding drama left 29-year-old Tomljanovic sobbing as she became the first Australian woman in more than two decades to reach back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals.

“I didn't really think I could do it,” the 29-year-old told the crowd, which included Australian great Margaret Court.

Speaking through tears, Tomljanovic then explained why this year's run to the last eight, where she will face Kazakh 17th seed Elena Rybakina, was extra special.

“The biggest thing that is different this year is my mum's here. She didn't watch any of my matches last year, even on TV,” said the Croatian-born Tomljanovic, whose 2021 Wimbledon adventure was ended by fellow Australian and eventual champion Ash Barty.

“She would walk the dog for hours and then check the score. I was so mad at her because I was like, 'What if I'm never going to do this again, you missed it'.

“Well here you go mum, you're welcome,” she added with a smile as her mother looked on sheepishly from the Court Two stands.