Vandeweghe sinks Safarova for Wimbledon last-eight spot – Network Ten

Defeat for Vandeweghe ends her best-ever grand slam showing – but should also put a stop to a lengthy bout of soul-searching for her true persona in professional tennis.

Wimbledon officials said the rain wasn’t due to last long and play was expected to start within an hour.

The 23-year-old claims her once-household American name does not weigh heavily, but the exploits of her relatives doubtless adds pressure.

Vandeweghe took the fourth round contest to match point with an ace, then won it with an unreturned serve. But after precarious and emotional victories against Heather Watson and her sister Venus, the younger Williams sister was back at her remorseless best against Azarenka, after a first-set hiccup.

In the final set Sharapova quickly seemed to take control with a break in the second game to race to a 3-0 lead but Vandeweghe refused to lay down or ease off and broke back to trail 3-2, again urging the crowd to get behind her as she marched back to her chair.

“I was pretty dominant in the first and early in the second set but things slipped away”, said the five-times grand slam champion.

The All England Club is where Sharapova won her first Grand Slam – and only Wimbledon title so far – in 2004 at the age of 17.

The explosive Keys, who opened the season reaching the Australian Open final four, is bidding for her second trip to a Grand Slam semifinal.

“They have been tough matches, but at the same time, I felt like I should have won them, which is kind of a different experience for me”, she said. “I’m just through so that gives me a lot of confidence”.

Thursday’s semi-final between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will not be a quiet one.

Advancing to the semifinals in the bottom half of the draw was 20th-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-5, 6-3 on Court 1.

“It could have been a match in two sets”.

“Being down in matches, there’s no easy road to victory”.

Nevertheless, despite a spirited fightback in the second set, it was more than enough for Sharapova to progress to the semi-final for only the second time since 2006.

“What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not, I don’t think, sportsmanlike, in my opinion”, Vandeweghe said.

But it was two consecutive double-faults by Anderson that proved crucial, leaving him 15-40 down in the 11th game.

A sloppy game combined with some sharp forehand returns allowed Sharapova to break Vandeweghe at love.

Djokovic served out the match in the next game, completing the men’s quarterfinal lineup.

“It’s good to see other Americans doing well for the sport of tennis in the United States, but for me, it doesn’t affect me either way”, Vandeweghe said. “Been in the Round of 16 a few times”.

Sharapova owns a 19-3 career record in Grand Slam quarterfinals with all three of those losses come at Roland Garros. “But just wasn’t close enough”.