The Associated Press

LONDON — The last American male player left at Wimbledon, Taylor Fritz, is making another major run.

Fritz, the No. 6 seed, routed No. 10 Alexander Bublik 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. Fritz’s best finish at Wimbledon was the semifinals last year. He reached the quarterfinals in 2022 and 2024.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, who recently won the French Open for his first major title, is looking good but has more work to do in the round of 16 as his match with Jiri Lehecka was suspended at curfew. Zverev led 6-4, 7-5, 3-3.

Arthur Fery became the first British wild card to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the professional era. He played on Centre Court, where he used to watch Roger Federer as a kid. Federer was in attendance to watch Fery’s thrilling five-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Fery expressed disbelief and excitement, acknowledging Federer in the front row. His next opponent is Flavio Cobolli, whom he previously defeated at the Australian Open. Cobolli mentioned he was unwell during their last encounter but praised Fery’s skills.

On his first match point, Cobolli stepped up and unleashed a 135 mph first serve down the T that landed on the line and sent a puff of chalk into the air on No. 1 Court at Wimbledon.

Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian’s weak return didn’t even go past his own service line.

Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur.

Then the Italian moved on to the performance he’d been waiting for.

Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like Cristiano Ronaldo, he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.

The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted “Siuuu” along with Cobolli.

“I love his celebration. I love him,” said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma’s youth system. “I will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the World Cup ) tonight because of Ronaldo.”

In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.

Antonelli and Sinner

Cobolli’s 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.

At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals two years ago.

Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.

“I met Kimi afterward,” Paolini said. “I’ve been following him a lot lately. I’m becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.”

Coinciding with Italy’s troubles in soccer, Antonelli and defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner — who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals — have become the country’s most popular athletes.

Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets.

American Madison Keys lost to Linda Noskova and American Ashlyn Krueger lost to Marta Kostyuk. Elise Mertens beat Marie Bouzkova.

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Paolini doesn’t let Federer distract her

Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of Roger Federer in the Royal Box distract her.

At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men’s record eight Wimbledon singles titles.

“He is my idol,” the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an on-court interview. “I was like during the match, ‘Please stay focused, stay focused. Don’t think about he’s here.’ I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.”

Paolini’s next opponent will be Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Krueger 6-4, 6-4.

It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, as the temperature rose to 90 Fahrenheit, prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.

Another women’s quarterfinal will feature Noskova against Mertens.

The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where three men reached the quarterfinals despite Sinner’s second-round meltdown in a Paris heat wave.

World Cup and gelato

After the victory over De Minaur, Cobolli’s grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.

Now they can maintain Flavio’s nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove, before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli’s flavor for the tournament).

“An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,” Cobolli said. “So it’s really cool.”

Cobolli’s quarterfinal opponent will be Fery.