Wimbledon Day 7 recap: Djokovic, Murray roll into quarterfinals
LONDON -- What's that song about rainy days and Mondays? Wimbledon's Manic Monday wasn't quite so frenzied this year, as rain delayed play for much of the day. The women's draw lost No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, leaving No. 3 Simona Halep as the only top-four seed remaining, while the men's side continued to hold to form.
What happened?
No Americans in fourth round for first time since 1911: John Isner and Madison Keys found themselves playing in the second week on a technicality, with both of their third-round matches being held over until Monday. Then Keys retired before the resumption of her match against Yaroslava Shvedova because of a left leg injury, and the ninth-seeded Isner lost to No. 19 Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 7-5. It's not surprising that no U.S. men reached the fourth round, as Isner is the only one ranked in the top 60. On the women's side, however, No. 1 Serena Williams' third-round loss to Alize Cornet was her earliest defeat at Wimbledon since 2005. But there are a lot of bright spots in the future for the American women, including Keys and Sloane Stephens. This felt like a blip.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic continue to coast: The third-seeded Murray beat No. 20 Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) and the top-seeded Djokovic eased past No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5). They're joined in the final eight by two first-time quarterfinalists, No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov (who defeated Leonardo Mayer in straight sets) and No. 26 Marin Cilic (who got past Jeremy Chardy in straight sets). Murray will face Dimitrov in a highly anticipated match, and Djokovic will meet Cilic, who is 0-9 against the Serb, including a four-set loss at the French Open last month.
'Ova' and above: The quarterfinalists in the bottom half of the women's draw are set. Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, advanced to her fifth consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Peng Shuai. She is joined by three first-timers in Czech Fed Cup teammates Lucie Safarova (who dominated Tereza Smitkova 6-0, 6-2) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (who eliminated Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-5), and Russian Ekaterina Makarova (who stunned Radwanska 6-3, 6-0).
Sabine Lisicki recapturing her Wimbledon magic: Here's all you need to know about Lisicki and her ability to play her best tennis at Wimbledon: Her 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over No. 11 Ana Ivanovic was her first victory against a top-35 player since ... Wimbledon last year, when she knocked off four players ranked that high.
Wawrinka, Federer voice concerns about Wimbledon schedule changes
It rained ... again: More weather problems caused scheduling delays. Maria Sharapova's fourth-round match against Angelique Kerber was postponed until Tuesday. That means Eugenie Bouchard, who advanced to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over Cornet, will get a day off as she waits to see if she'll oppose Sharapova for the second Grand Slam tournament in a row.
Photo of the day
Novak Djokovic is pumped after defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
