Wimbledon 2025 Day Eight Recap

The final day of fourth-round action at Wimbledon 2025 delivered a mix of tension, heartbreak, and resilience as the men’s quarter-final lineup was locked in.

Novak Djokovic came from behind to grind out a four-set win over Alex de Minaur, Jannik Sinner survived a major scare after Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire while leading by two sets, and Ben Shelton powered past Lorenzo Sonego to reach the last eight at SW19 for the first time.

Dimitrov’s retirement, his fifth in as many Slams, cast a sombre tone over what had been a brilliant performance up until his injury struck midway through the third.

Meanwhile, Flavio Cobolli’s inspired run continued with a four-set win over 2017 finalist Marin Cilic, as the Italian booked his place in a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.

With the quarter-finals now set and matchups like Fritz vs. Khachanov and Norrie vs. Alcaraz set for tomorrow, here’s everything that happened on Day Eight at Wimbledon.

Day Eight Wimbledon 2025 Round of 16 Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Jannik Sinner (1)
Grigor Dimitrov (19)
3-6 5-7 2-2 RET

Ben Shelton (10)
Lorenzo Sonego
3-6 6-1 7-6(1) 7-5

Flavio Cobolli (22)
Marin Cilic
6-4 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(3)

Alex de Minaur (11)
Novak Djokovic (6)
1-6 6-4 64 6-4

Djokovic Finds A Way Past De Minaur

Novak Djokovic overcame a rocky start in his fourth round, battling past 11th seed Alex de Minaur 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to secure his 16th quarter-final appearance at SW19.

De Minaur made a blazing start, but he couldn’t capitalise, and as the match wore on he became meeker as Novak found his stride.

The Aussie dominated the first set but missed breakpoint chances at 4-5 in the second, where Djokovic’s crucial hold shifted the momentum.

From there, Novak found his trademark control from the baseline, moving De Minaur side-to-side before staging a stunning comeback from 1-4 down in the fourth to advance. Impressive, but I thought De Minaur went out with a whimper rather than a bang.

Djokovic faces 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli next, who outlasted Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) for his first Wimbledon quarter-final.

I am still trying to process the whole match and what happened on court. It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for him. He broke my serve three times in the first set. Very windy, swirly conditions on the court. He was just managing better with the play from the back of the court. I didn’t have many solutions but I managed to reset myself. It was kind of a tough game to close out the second set. Perhaps that was a momentum shift where I just felt like ‘OK, I am back in the game’. It was a lot of cat-and-mouse play, a lot of slices and he is so good at it. He is one of the quickest players we have on the Tour and on grass where the ball bounces so low, it is extremely difficult to play someone like him if you are not feeling the ball really well. He exposes all your weaknesses and I was pleased to hang in tough in the right moments. It was a very difficult encounter, some very challenging moments for me. Sometimes, I wish I had a serve and volley and a nice touch from the gentleman who is standing right there, that would help. Djokovic on his win and having Federer watching on in the stands.

Sinner Somehow Makes Last Eight

Grigor Dimitrov’s injury woes persisted on Monday, as the Bulgarian was forced to retire while leading top seed Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in their fourth-round clash.

The world No. 1, Sinner, suffered a heavy fall in the opening game on Centre Court, struggling to counter Dimitrov’s versatile play through the first two sets.

However, Dimitrov, who picked up a pectoral injury in the fourth point of the fourth game, halted play in the third set after two hours.

Dimitrov was completely on top for the two sets, using his highly effective slice to control the pace of the rallies, and he had one of his best serving days that I’ve seen in a long time, averaging around 130mph and even clocking 140mph on the speed gun.

Did that extra effort catch up with him? His injury came directly from slamming down a serve at 30-15 in the third. He won the next point, but you could see from the betting activity before his serving at 40-15 that people saw the potential injury as a lot of money came in for Sinner. Perhaps the roof closing (prematurely in most people’s minds) also played a role, as it meant there was a 15-minute break in play.

So a very crap finish after two imposing sets, and Sinner can count himself very lucky to be still in the tournament.

However, conditioning is part of the sport, and Grigor has now retired from 5 consecutive Grand Slams. That is an unenviable record.

After retiring at the French Open, he set up a training camp in London five weeks before Wimbledon, and he claimed in the press that he was feeling pain-free due to a new approach of fewer practice sessions, more rest, and a strict focus on injury prevention. However, it’s the same old story, albeit a more unusual injury.

Sinner now faces 10th seed Ben Shelton, who battled past Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 earlier in the day.

I don’t know what’s what to say because, he is an incredible player. I think we all saw this todau. He’s been so unlucky in the past, you know, couple of years. An incredible an incredible player, good friend of mine also, and and we understand each other very well, off the court too. And, you know, seeing him in this position, it’s honestly, you know, if there would be a chance, you know, that he could play, you know, the next round, you know, he would deserve to. And, but now, mostly, I hope he has a speedy recovery. You know, very very unlucky from from his side. I don’t take this as a win at all. You know, this is just, a very unfortunate moment to to witness for all of us and and yeah, he struggled a lot with with injuries and seeing him now again having this this kind of injuries is very, very tough. And and we all saw this, you know, with his reaction, how how much he cares about the sport. He is one of the most hardworking players on tour and, yeah, it’s very unfortunate. Thank you for coming, but this is not the end we wanted to see and it’s very sad and, yeah. We we all wish him only the best. Let’s give all, an applause for him and and his team. Sinner on Dimitrov;s retirement.

Other Round 4 Matches

Ben Shelton def. Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5

Ben Shelton powered into his first Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday, overcoming Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 on No. 1 Court.

I hadn’t realised, but Sonego has now lost to Shelton at every Grand Slam so far in 2024. This time, he struck first, breaking Shelton with aggressive baseline play in a 35-minute opening set, but the American overcame a shaky start and Sonego’s dogged resistance to come through in 3 hours and 4 minutes.

Sonego arrived battle-worn after a 5-hour, 4-minute third-round epic against Brandon Nakashima, but he started brightly, albeit slowly, using deliberate ball-bouncing tactics that unsettled Shelton, who also drew an umpire’s warning for delaying his receiving stance.

Shelton, however, roared back, finding his rhythm in the second set. He crushed Sonego with blistering serves and forehands, breaking twice in a 30-minute rout to level the match.

In the third, Sonego’s resilience forced the set to a tiebreak, but Shelton dominated 7-1. Although the fourth set was also close, Shelton secured his spot in the last eight by breaking serve when leading 6-5.

Both these guys play some fun tennis, and Sonego always brings some action to proceedings, but I wish he didn’t have to take so long on serve. We saw the same with Cilic and Djokovic, as they all bounce the ball excessively before starting their service motion.

Flavio Cobolli def. Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3)

Flavio Cobolli progressed to his first Wimbledon quarter-final, defeating former finalist Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) in a 3-hour, 27-minute clash on No. 2 Court.

Cobolli wasn’t someone I expected to do well on grass, but he played tidily in Halle, and he’s produced the goods at SW19, showing great athleticism in his matches, and he’s got that relentless baseline style.

Cobolli seized control early, breaking Cilic with sharp groundstrokes in a 40-minute set as his energetic style kept the veteran off balance.

Maintaining his momentum, Cobolli broke Cilic again, blending solid baseline exchanges with deft volleys to claim the set.

Cilic, perhaps a bit hampered by fatigue as he alluded to in his press conference (he didn’t enjoy the morning start time), struggled to find his rhythm, allowing Cobolli to dictate rallies and extend his lead to 2-0.

Cilic knows his way around the court, though, and while it would have been easy to roll over, his powerful serve and baseline aggression clicked in the fourth, edging out the Italian in a tight breaker to extend the match and be the first blemish on Cobolli’s perfect set record at Wimbledon 2025.

The fourth set was a battle, with Cilic breaking for a 4-3 lead, raising hopes of a decider, but Cobolli broke back immediately with a scorching backhand winner, pushing the set to a tiebreak, where his cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof type play allowed him to seal it.