Bouzkova, Niemeier's Wimbledon breakthroughs continue into quarterfinals

Maria Bouzkova is through to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in her career after beating Caroline Garcia at Wimbledon 7-5, 6-2. 

Day 7 Recap: Jabeur advances | Maria stuns Ostapenko

The 2014 US Open junior champion hadn't been past the second round of a Grand Slam in 13 prior tries entering Wimbledon, but she's now won eight straight sets since losing the opener to No.7 seed Danielle Collins in Round 1.

Bouzkova's win over World No.56 Garcia is her third win this week against players ranked ahead of her. In addition to Collins, the World No.66 also upset No.28 seed and former quarterfinalist Alison Riske-Amritraj in Round 3. 

Tale of the tape: Bouzkova snapped Bad Homburg champion Garcia's eight-match grass-court winning streak in 83 minutes by breaking serve four times. She's now 2-0 in her career against the former World No.4, also beating her on grass last year in Birmingham. 

Bouzkova started the match with a break, and though Garcia got the set back on serve at 4-4, quickly took back momentum. From 5-4 down in the set, Bouzkova won nine of the match's last 11 games. 

Bouzkova's run this fortnight has been defined by her consistency and turning defense into offense; she hit just four unforced errors against Garcia -- plus 13 winners -- marking the third time this event she's hit fewer than 10 unforced errors in victory.

Up next: Though she's unseeded, Bouzkova is the last Czech player remaining in the draw. A Czech has now reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in three straight years. She will next face either No.3 seed Ons Jabeur or No.24 seed Elise Mertens. 

"It's going to be a special one again, for sure," Bouzkova said. "There's no reason why not to keep this going.

"[I'm] kind of believing in myself right now. But most importantly enjoying my tennis, enjoying every day here. All these new emotions that I'm feeling this week, that's already very special for me. I'm just going to go all out again in the quarterfinals."

Niemeier ends British hopes on Centre Court, defeats Watson in last 16

In just her second Grand Slam main draw, the 22-year-old German Jule Niemeier in also through to her first major quarterfinal. To get there, Niemeier ended the hopes of the last British player remaining in the draw, Heather Watson, in a 6-2, 6-4 win. 

Interview: Jule Niemeier, the natural talent leading Germany's next generation

The World No.97 lost in the last round of qualifying at Wimbledon 12 months ago and didn't make her major debut until last month at Roland Garros. What she's done so far this fortnight, from upsetting No.2 seed Anett Kontaveit in Round 2 to now, is a feat not lost on her.

"I came here, I just wanted to win my first round after losing in Paris. Now, being in the quarterfinal in Wimbledon, I don't know, I'm speechless. It just feels not real," she said. "I'm just so happy. ... It has been a great journey so far. I'm looking forward to the next match."

In her Centre Court debut, the German showed no signs of nerves. She won five games in a row to win the first set and won six of the last eight from 2-0 down in the second set. 

Stat of the day: For the first time in 10 years, two Germans will play for semifinal berth at Wimbledon. Niemeier's next opponent is her 34-year-old compatriot and mother-of-two Tatjana Maria, who saved two match points in a three-set defeat of No.12 seed Jelena Ostapenko. 

"It's amazing, I have to say. Having two kids, traveling with two kids the whole year, it must be so tough, especially because the younger kid is not even one year. It's just incredible how they're handling all the situations," Niemeier said of what Maria's done so far.

"I'm expecting a really good match from both of us. She's a tricky player. She's using the slice on the forehand, on the backhand. She's playing dropshots. She's, let's say, not a usual woman tennis player. I'm looking forward to the match and let's see how it goes."