Djokovic Delayed; Federer, Murray Charge Into Wimbledon Quarters
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In the biggest anti-climax of Monday at Wimbledon, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s match against No. 14 Kevin Anderson was suspended after four sets at 6-7(6), 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4 due to darkness.
Wah-wahhhhhhhhhh.
ADHEREL
The action will pick up on Tuesday at 1 p.m. local time.
The eventual winner in the quarterfinals will take on Croatian No. 9 seed Marin Cilic, who defeated American wild card Denis Kudla, who was the last remaining American man in the singles draw, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
No. 2 seed Roger Federer looked in a hurry on Monday, cruising past No. 20 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
“I got off to a good start and kept rolling,” said the seven-time Wimbledon champ. “Maybe Roberto wasn’t at his very best. Midway through the second, he hurt himself. Still, he was out there and he was actually still moving okay, so I had to put him away, which I was able to do.”
The Swiss will next meet No. 12 seed Gilles Simon, who upset No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
No. 3 seed Andy Murray had Wimbledon fans on their feet while taming the dangerous big-serving No. 23 seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
“I just tried to use some variety throughout the match, to not allow him to be too comfortable,” said Murray. “It worked at a few important moments. I took a little bit off my first serve. I wasn’t serving as hard as usual, to try and not allow him the opportunity to sort of go for huge returns or try to come to net off the second serve return. So I went for a high percentage of first serves. When I was in the rallies, I felt comfortable. It’s a tactical match, but it’s tough. It’s quite stressful to play against him.”
Murray will likely be less stressed going into his quarterfinal against Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who he holds a 3-0 career mark against. The unseeded Pospisil gained the quarters by upsetting No. 22 Viktor Troicki on Monday in five sets 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka also punched his ticket into the quarters with a 7-6(3), 7-6(7), 6-4 win over No. 16 seed David Goffin. The Swiss in the quarters will meet No. 21 seed Richard Gasquet, who put down the combustible No. 26 seed Nick Kyrgios 7-5, 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-6(6).
The battle of beautiful backhands will be the first meeting on grass between Wawrinka and Gasquet, who have split their four previous career meetings.
Gasquet on Monday turned around last year’s result when he squandered nine match points in a heartbreaking second-round loss to Kyrgios.
“I’m very happy to be back in the quarterfinals,” said Gasquet. “I lost many times in a Grand Slam in a fourth round. It’s very good for me to be here in the quarterfinals. Now we will see what will happens. I am feeling good.”
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