All-British pair reach women’s doubles quarter-finals for first time in 40 years
Wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden hailed becoming the first all-British pair to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon women’s doubles in 40 years as “surreal”.
The rookie duo added Slovakians Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova to their impressive list of scalps thanks to a stirring 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.
Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs were the previous British team to reach the last eight of the tournament in south-west London, doing so in 1983 before being beaten by top seeds Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.
“I guess it puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? That’s something we didn’t know,” said Leeds-born Bains. “It feels surreal to be honest.
“We wanted to back up last year’s result of a first-round win. We wanted to go one better. But we’re just taking it one match at a time and can’t complain.”
Bains and Lumsden, both 25, led by a set and a break on Court 18 but were forced to dig deep after being taken to a decider having narrowly failed to overturn a four-point deficit in the second-set tie-break.
Victory over Hruncakova and Mihalikova in two hours and 36 minutes sets up a last-eight clash with the winners of Tuesday’s meeting between third seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens and Czech duo Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.
“During it, I didn’t think I was going to get back playing sport,” the Scot said of coronavirus, which she contracted in October 2020.
“That was like a year where I couldn’t really do any exercise.
“I never really thought I would get back to playing professionally, so it’s obviously unbelievable that I have got back to it now and I’m very grateful that I can.”
Fellow Briton Neal Skupski also enjoyed progression in the doubles, alongside Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.
The top seeds reached the third round of the men’s tournament thanks to a 7-6 (3) 6-2 success over Australians Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.
In the the mixed doubles, there were second-round exits for Jamie Murray and his American partner Taylor Townsend and British pair Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury.
Murray and Townsend went down 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Marcelo Arevalo and Marta Kostyuk, while Watson and Salisbury were edged out 2-6 6-3 7-6 (5) by Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan.
There was better news for Britons Jonny O’Mara and Olivia Nicholls, who beat Koolhof and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-4 3-6 6-2 in the same competition.