 | « Back to article | Print this article |
PHOTOS from day four of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Saturday
Top seed Kerber lives to fight another day
Top seed Angelique Kerber lived dangerously for more than two hours before finally subduing the tenacious challenge of American outsider Shelby Rogers 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon fourth round on Saturday.
The German, who was runner-up to Serena Williams last year, has struggled for form in recent months and at times was blasted off court by Rogers' heavy hitting from the baseline.
However, the world number one kept faith with her error-filled game plan to seal victory when Rogers, ranked 70th in the world, belted a service return long.
She will face 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Muguruza powers past Cirstea into fourth round
Former runner-up Garbine Muguruza continued her untroubled progress at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Romania's Sorana Cirstea to reach the fourth round.
Cirstea, who reached the third round after American opponent Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a horrible knee injury on Thursday, matched Muguruza for power but made too many errors to pose a serious threat to the 14th seed.
The Romanian held on to her opening service game with an ace but Muguruza was quickly into her groove and reeled off the next five games before Cirstea managed to stem the tide briefly.
The same happened in the second set. Cirstea again held in the opening game with a backhand winner, before Muguruza changed gear and went on a five-game streak.
Muguruza, 23, showed there was more to her game than power with some silky dropshots as she powered on to victory in a little over an hour on Court Two.
She will face top seed Angelique Kerber or American Shelby Rogers in the next round.
Another former Grand Slam champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, eased into the second week with a 6-4, 6-0 defeat of Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Wozniacki back from the brink to reach last 16
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki came within two points of defeat against unseeded Estonian Anett Kontaveit before recovering to win 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon.
The Dane, seeded five, was getting overpowered as she trailed by a set and 3-5 to the powerful Kontaveit but she hung on grimly and turned the match around.
Kontaveit, one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the women's draw having won the Den Bosch grasscourt title in the build-up to Wimbledon, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and was 30-0 ahead in that game.
She missed a routine backhand that would have given her three match points and Wozniacki levelled at 5-5.
World number 38 Kontaveit broke again to lead 6-5 but faltered on serve once more with the winning line so close.
She crumbled in the tiebreak and Wozniacki's experience paid off in the decider as the Dane moved through to a last-16 clash with hard-hitting American Coco Vandeweghe.
Radwanska fights back to beat Bacsinszky
Poland's ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska recovered from a slow start to beat injury-troubled Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday and reach the last 16.
Radwanska, beaten finalist in 2012, will face Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round on Monday -- a player she has beaten just four times in 17 meetings.
The 28-year-old Bacsinszky, playing on Centre Court for the first time, mixed up the pace of her shots well to take the first set, but had to call a medical time-out at the end of the second set and received heavy strapping on her thigh.
The injury, picked up when sprinting to the net, clearly affected the Swiss in the third set.
"It's quite frustrating, because I think I played a great first set. I was putting so much strength as well in my shots and I could go for the winners and I was able to really plant my feet solidly," said Bacsinszky.
"At around 3-2 in the second set, there was this sharp pain coming to my quad and more the adductor muscle. I was struggling a lot to get low in my knees and which had helped me very much in my first two rounds. I'm pretty sad that happened," she said.
Radwanska though clearly felt that the momentum had already turned in her direction.
"I had a great match, especially (given) she's a really tricky opponent. She can do everything on court and you can expect everything. Playing aggressive and then also slices, mixing up all the things. I think it was a great match from the beginning till the end.
"After the second set I just found my game and I was trying to be more aggressive. I think, as well, I was serving better in the third set," she added.
Kuznetsova has proved a tough opponent for the Pole, who last beat the Russian on clay at Madrid in 2014 although she did triumph at Wimbledon in 2008.
"We have played so many matches, so many good ones, so many three-setters. Playing her is always very challenging. You know, every ball is going to go to your side over and over again. You're not going to have any free points," said Radwanska.
Coco overcomes brief wobble to ease into last 16
Coco Vandeweghe continued her seamless progress at Wimbledon as she booked her spot in the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over fellow American Alison Riske.
The 24th seed, who is coached by former men's winner Pat Cash, has yet to drop a set in her three opening matches and is looking a good bet to defy the odds as the women's draw becomes increasingly hard to predict.
While her form has swung between the extremes of a semi-final run to the Australian Open in January and a first round exit at the French Open in May, she has some pedigree on grass, having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2015.
She has hired Cash hoping he can give her an extra edge, 30 years after the head-band wearing Australian lifted the trophy at the All England Club.
She broke twice to race through the opening set against Riske and twice more at the start of the second to take a 4-0 lead.
The wheels threatened to come off at that stage as her compatriot fought back to level at 4-4.
Vandeweghe, however, steadied her nerves to break again and set up three match points with an ace before checking out with a service winner.
Dimitrov gets easy ride into fourth round
Grigor Dimitrov enjoyed an easy one-hour workout to reach the Wimbledon fourth round after his opponent, Dudi Sela, became the ninth player to retire from the men's draw.
The Israeli needed attention on what appeared to be a groin injury and ended up going off court with the trainer at the end of the first set to receive treatment.
The 10-minute interruption failed to throw Dimitrov off stride and once he was up 6-1, 6-1, Sela indicated he could no longer continue.
The Bulgarian 13th seed will face either title favourite and seven-times champion Roger Federer or Germany's Mischa Zverev.
Querrey through in quick time against Tsonga
Sam Querrey needed a matter of minutes to book his place in the last 16 at Wimbledon when he polished off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after bad light had stopped play the day before.
Tsonga began the second instalment of the match serving at 5-6 in the fifth set and buckled on the eighth point after the resumption, going wide with a forehand to hand 24th seed American Querrey a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5 victory in a match lasting almost three hours.
Frustrated 12th seed Tsonga thrashed a ball high over the Court Two stands after losing and Querrey sympathised.
"I've been in that situation before (coming out to serve to stay in a match) and it's tough," Querrey, who knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic on his way to the quarter-finals last year, said after his short workout.
"After such a great match it was a bit of an anti-climax in the end, a bit of a bummer."
Tsonga was philosophical about his abrupt exit.
"That's just tennis," he said.
Sure-footed Raonic strides into second week of Wimbledon
Milos Raonic changes his shoes, sometimes twice, during his matches at Wimbledon to avoid slips and the big Canadian maintained his sure-footed progress to stride into the fourth round.
The sixth seed, runner-up last year to Andy Murray, was given a decent workout by Spanish claycourt specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas on a sunny Court One but his extra firepower proved decisive as he won 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-5.
Raonic will face fast-rising German wunderkind Alexander Zverev next, when some more changes of footwear might be needed to stay on course for the latter stages.
"You have the little pimples on the bottom of the shoes," 1.95m Raonic told reporters.
"New shoes probably have fresher pimples."
The 26-year-old arrived at Wimbledon somewhat under-cooked after losing in the first round at Queen's Club. He was also nagged by a hamstring injury earlier in the season.
But Raonic appears to be back in the groove as he continues his search for a maiden grand slam title.
Such was his confidence he even smacked down a second serve ace at 138mph.
