Top seeded Novak Djokovic was perhaps oblivious to the halted actions on other courts as rain played havoc yet again. Playing at the close-roofed Center Court against the 14th seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Djokovic was all business in his straight sets victory. In a rain-interrupted fourth round match Andy Murray defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa to seal his place in the quarterfinals. Djokovic and Murray were joined by Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic, who also recorded straight set victories against their fourth round opponents. While the Bulgarian 11th seed defeated Leonardo Mayer, the 26th seeded Croat beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The only notable casualty of the day was the upset loss of 4th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who was beaten by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
Novak Djokovic’s master class was evident in the first two sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In the first set, Djokovic held his serve and broke Tsonga in the sixth game, which was enough for him to take the first set in 25 minutes. In second set too, Tsonga never got close to breaking Djokovic’s service but the Serbian obtained the required break to move ahead 4-3, after which he held his serve to close the second set. The third set went the distance with Tsonga not yielding any breaks of serves and sent down 13 aces. In the tie-break, Djokovic kept his cool and closed the match 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in 1½ hours to enter the round of eight.
In another fourth round match, Andy Murray defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 to advance to his seventh consecutive quarterfinals at Wimbledon. His service was top class and 81% points came to him from the booming first serve. dm alone, including 11 booming aces. Murray played an exemplary court game that left Anderson scurrying from side to side. Murray kept his unforced errors down to just 12 against 49 winners and that became a decisive factor in the end. Anderson tried to stay in the first set, helped by a slice of luck that saw him win points on second serve on a few occasions. He also avoided service breaks three times but strong play from Murray finally put Anderson on the defensive, who broke once, and wrapped up the set. Murray raced to 3-0 lead in second set, when rain halted play. When they returned, Anderson squandered a break-back opportunity but Murray composed himself and after a couple of service games, broke Anderson for the third time and closed the set at 6-3. The third set proved a little difficult for Murray, who squandered a 4-3 lead to allow Anderson to come back and take the set to tie break. Anderson pushed Murray with a 6-5 lead but Murray held his nerves to close the tie break 8-6 and entered the quarterfinal with a well-deserved 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 victory.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov played a forceful game against talented Argentinian Leonardo Mayer and settled the issue in straight sets to enter the round of eight. The 23-year old played superbly and took the first set with ease. He slipped a bit in the second but a double fault from Mayer sent the set to tie break. Keeping his composure, Dimitrov won the tie break and then dominated in third set to finish the match with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 victory. Dimitrov will now take on the defending champion Andy Murray for a place in semifinals.
The last men’s quarterfinalist on Monday was Marin Cilic. The Croatian saw off the challenge from Frenchman Jeremy Chardy to win 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a showdown with Novak Djokovic. The Croat sent down 33 aces in the match and his service became a big weapon in his victory over Chardy.
Among women, 4th seed and 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska suffered a straight sets loss to Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, who didn’t have to work too hard in her 6-3, 6-0 victory. Radawanska played below her par and exited Wimbledon to join Serena Williams and Li Na. Fast-improving Canadian Eugenie Bouchard also reached the quarter-finals after trailing 3-5 in the second set against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who had upset the top seeded Serena Williams just the other day. But the 20-year old Bouchard fought back to finish the tough match 7-6, 7-5. In another upset on Monday, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated 16th seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Strycova has had a great tournament so far and her first victim was China’s no. 2 seed Li Na. Strycova’s quarterfinal opponent will be compatriot Petra Kvitova, who scored an easy 6-3 6-2 victory over China’s Peng Shuai.
