Murray Lines Up Baby Fed Dimitrov; Federer, Nadal Lead Blockbuster Tuesday at Wimbledon
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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was in fine form on Monday at Wimbledon, moving into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over No. 14 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
“[Tsonga’s] a top player,” said Djokovic, “and he loves the big stage. So to be able to win against him in straight sets on the surface that I feel suits him the most is a great result. I was very happy with consistency today, mental consistency, and variety in my game. I played very well from back of the court.”
Djokovic advances to a meeting with No. 26 Marin Cilic, who was likely dominant with a 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-4 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Cilic has never beaten Djokovic in nine meetings.
No. 3 seed Andy Murray was a straight-set winner over No. 20 seed Kevin Anderson, setting up a mouth-watering meeting with No. 11 seed Grigor “Baby Fed” Dimitrov, who likely dismissed Argentine Leonardo Mayer in straights.
“Now he’s starting to come into his prime,” said Murray of Dimitrov. “He’s won a lot of matches this year. He’s a tough player. Will be a hard match for me. It’s a big opportunity for him, as well, playing on the Centre Court at Wimbledon for the first time. It’s a great opportunity for him. Hopefully we can play a good match.”
Winning third round matches were No. 19 Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez upsetting No. 9 John Isner 6-7(8), 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 7-5; No. 5 Stan Wawrinka handling Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; and No. 10 Kei Nishikori outlasting unseeded Italian Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
“A lot of aces,” said F-Lo of beating Isner and setting up a meeting with Wawrinka. “A tough match to play. I knew it was going to be like this. I knew we were going to play a lot of tiebreaks, so this is the match I was excepting to play.”
Upsets galore continued on the women’s side Monday as three lower seeded or unseeded players ousted higher-ranked opponents.
Unseeded Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova had one of the biggest upsets, topping former No. 1 and No. 10-seeded Caroline Wozniacki to move into the quarterfinals 6-2, 7-5.
No. 6-seeded Petra Kvitova and No. 23 Lucie Safarova joined Zahlavova Strycova to make three Czechs in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time — ever.
Kvitova defeated unseeded Chinese Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-2, and Safarova outmatched Czech qualifier Tereza Smitkova 6-0, 6-2.
No. 22-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova, a consistent fast-court performer, added to her resume with a 6-3, 6-0 rout of No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.
“Agnieszka, she’s really good on grass, and she’s had great results here,” Makarova said. “I just beat her once in the US Open last year, so in this match I was just trying to remember my emotions and my game from there, and how I was playing. And it really worked today. I was so solid and so calm during all the match and all the points. I just waited until I was comfortable and then I was aggressive.”
Third-round winners Monday were No. 19 Sabine Lisicki upsetting No. 11 Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and Yaroslava Shvedova advanced when American Madison Keys was unable to resume their match from the day before with a thigh injury, retiring at 7-6(7), 6-6.
“The crowd knows my story here,” Lisicki said after her three-set win. “I came here as a young girl, and I came back from injury, and it’s a big story with me and Wimbledon. I love the support that I’m getting here. It’s so much more enjoyable.”
No. 13 seed Eugenie “The Canadian Sharapova” Bouchard set up another possible Slam meeting with Maria Sharapova after edging No. 25 seed Alize Cornet 7-6(5), 7-5.
Tuesday highlights are (5) Maria Sharapova vs. (9) Angelique Kerber, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. young Aussie Nick Kyrgios, (6) Petra Kvitova vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, (4) Roger Federer vs. (23) Tommy Robredo, (23) Lucie Safarova vs. (22) Ekaterina Makarova, (8) Milos Raonic vs. (10) Kei Nishikori, and (5) Stan Wawrinka vs. (19) Feliciano Lopez.
TUESDAY WIMBLEDON SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT – 1:00PM
1. Angelique Kerber (GER) [9] v Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5]
2. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2]
3. Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6] v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)
NO.1 COURT – 1:00PM
1. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [23] v Roger Federer (SUI) [4]
2. Lucie Safarova (CZE) [23] v Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [22]
3. Serena Williams (USA) [8] / Venus Williams (USA) [8] v
Kristina Barrois (GER) / Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
NO.2 COURT – 11:30AM
1. Simona Halep (ROU) [3] v Zarina Diyas (KAZ)
2. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [5] v Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [19]
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