Terrific tweeners and miracle recoveries for Sinner, Alcaraz, a Kiwi qualifier reaches the last eight and injury heartbreak for American Madison Keys.
Here are five quick hits from Wimbledon 2024 day seven.
1. Sinner stuns Court 1 with tweener magic on key point against Shelton
It seems like every player these days practices running back and hitting the perfect tweener, but Jannik Sinner found a new twist on an old favourite on day seven.
Sinner was trying to wrap things up against American Ben Shelton, and having some problems getting it done.
The world number one had come from 4-1 down in the third set — having won the opening two sets — and he was trying to serve out to get back to 5-5.
He ripped a serve wide to Shelton's forehand, and would have thought he was in solid position, but the American left-hander walloped a ball right back at him, jamming the Italian.
Instead of turning his back, Sinner had to manufacture a front-facing tweener — he not only did it, but his inside-out shot caught Shelton on the hop. The American lunged and picked the ball up off his toes, but Sinner stepped in and crushed a cross-court forehand winner that left his opponent flailing.
As the crowd roared, there was a kind of a sheepish grin from Sinner, as he raised his hand in apology to his American opponent.
Sinner and his point of the day allowed him to hold for 5-5.
Sinner then saved one set point at 6-5 and three more in the tiebreaker before converting his second match point when the hard-serving Shelton double-faulted.
"I'm not the kind of player to have a lot of trick shots. But in this case, it was still the easiest shot," Sinner said after the match, calling it a "lucky shot".
"I didn't have space to go right and left."
Perhaps, but as the old saying goes, the more he practices, the luckier he gets.
2. Alcaraz falls down, still can't be beaten
If you thought the world number one's shot improvisation was good, can we introduce you to a young Spanish player? Has a great future ahead of him? Name of Alcaraz, Carlos Alcaraz.
Earlier in the day, on Centre Court, the defending men's singles champion was up against Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
Humbert was serving at 4-5 down in the second set, having lost the first 6-3.
It was advantage Alcaraz, giving him set point, so Humbert was desperate to avoid going two sets to love down.
He swung a dipping serve down the "T" which Alcaraz managed to block back with his forehand. A couple of shots later Humbert ripped an off-forehand into the far corner of the court, and the Spanish star slipped and did the splits as he fell on his backside reaching to return it.
Now what? Give up on the point and get ready for the next? No way. Alcaraz popped to his feet, sprinted to his left to get to a backhand wide of the doubles alley, then raced forward to reach a short shot and, eventually, watched his opponent send a volley long.
That allowed Alcaraz to claim the second set of what would become a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 victory against number 16 seed Humbert. The defending champion celebrated the moment by raising his right index finger in a "number one" gesture and shouting "Vamos!" as thousands of spectators rose to salute him.
“Unbelievable, I guess. I just try to fight every every point, every ball," he said afterwards. "It doesn’t matter what part of the court.”
Next up, Alcaraz faces American Tommy Paul, while Sinner will play fifth-seed Daniil Medvedev.
If they both win, we will have a battle of the impossible shots in a Centre Court semifinal.
3. New Zealand's Sun outshines hometown heroine Raducanu
It may not have been the result that home fans wanted, but there was history made as New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun beat Emma Raducanu on Centre Court.
Sun eliminated the 2021 US Open champion 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to become the first woman to get through qualifying and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 2010, and the first woman from New Zealand to get that far at the All England Club in the Open era, which began in 1968.
Sun, who will now face Croatia's Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals, showed ice-cool composure and unflappable bravery to outplay Raducanu in front of a pumped-up home crowd.
"It was a great match. I really dug deep to get the win," Sun said in a teary on-court interview.
"I really had to fight tooth and nail because she was obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end. I don't even have the words right now."
Raducanu, who had shown glimpses of her best form over the opening week at the All England Club, looked once again a shadow of the player whose stunning triumph as a qualifier at Flushing Meadows nearly three years ago stunned the sport.
Raducanu seemed unable to build any sustained pressure on the unflappable and indefatigable Sun, whose level rarely dipped below a ferocious intensity.
The New Zealander was superior in all departments, racing into a 3-0 lead in the opening set with a double break before comfortably holding off a Raducanu fightback with another break to claim the opener.
The Briton was clinging on for dear life after that, but managed to take the match into a decider with a decisive break in the final game of the second set, yet that was as close as she got to turning the match on its head.
After a nasty fall and some lengthy treatment, Raducanu was broken in the first game of the third set and again as Sun took a 5-2 lead.
Raducanu staved off one match point but Sun would not be denied, smacking a forehand winner to earn another and wrapping up victory when the Briton hit a return long.
4. Heartbreak for Madison Keys as injury ruins winning position
It's hard enough to win a match at Wimbledon at the best of times, but sometimes injury turns up at the absolute worst of times.
That's what happened on Court 1, with French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini reaching her first Wimbledon quarterfinal when Madison Keys had to retire with a leg injury at 5-5 in the third set of their fourth-round match.
Keys had served for the match at 5-2 in the last set but then started limping more and more and needed a medical timeout to get her left leg worked on after Paolini made it 5-4.
She had her left thigh taped as she served for the match for a second time but was broken again — double-faulting on break point — and was in tears by the end of that game, with her movement clearly restricted.
Keys tried to play on but the American finally went to the net to tell the chair umpire that she was retiring after Paolini hit an ace for 15-15 in the final game.
The Italian had won the first set 6-3, before Keys won the second 7-6 (8/6).
Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open runner-up, had been two points from the win when the score was deuce at 5-2 in the third.
"I'm so sorry for her. To end the match like this, it's bad," Paolini said in her on-court interview.
"What can I say? We played a really good match. It was really tough. A lot of ups and downs. I'm feeling a little bit happy, but also sad for her. It's not easy to win like that."
We hope Keys's injury isn't too serious, and that she can bounce back to have a big tournament on home soil at the US Open in August.
5: Seeds in strife in women's draw as Navarro downs Gauff
The chaos continued in the women's singles draw, with only two of the top 10 seeds remaining after day seven of the tournament.
The latest domino to fall was American Coco Gauff, who lost to 19th seed Emma Navarro.
Gauff has yet to make it past the fourth round at Wimbledon, and she exited at that stage again this year, eliminated by Navarro 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American match-up.
"We had a game plan going in, and I felt that it wasn't working. I don't always ask for advice from the box, but today was one of those rare moments where I felt I didn't have solutions," said Gauff, the reigning US Open champion and second seed.
"I don't want to say I didn't have any, because I think I'm capable of coming up with some. Today, mentally, there was a lot going on. I felt like I wanted more direction."
Hers was the latest in a series of departures by top women from the Wimbledon bracket this year: top seed Iga Swiatek lost on Saturday, number three Aryna Sabalenka withdrew with an injured shoulder before playing a match and number six Marketa Vondrousova, last year's champion, was defeated in the first round.
The only top seeds that remain are 2022 champion Elena Rybakina — seeded four — and Jasmine Paolini, who is seventh seed and meets Navarro next.
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