Federer, Murray, Williams cruise through
July 4, 2016
Roger Federer ticked another box in his quest to rewrite tennis history when he advanced to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the 14thtime on Monday, beating unseeded American Johnson 6-2 6-3 7-5 with relative ease on Centre Court.
It was the Swiss maestro’s 306thvictory in a grand slam singles match, equaling the record set by former women’s great Martina Navratilova.
The competition has opened up invitingly for Federer, who has 17 major titles to his name, following the shock exit of world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday at the hands of Sam Querrey.
Third seed Federer was expected to meet the Serb in the last four but now has a good chance of marching through his side of the draw into the final.
Pinpoint serving
Johnson, the world number 29, has never progressed beyond the last 16 at a Grand Slam and had no answer to Federer’s pinpoint serving.
“I hope I can win Wimbledon one more time,” Federer told reporters. “I’m happy about my game. I’ve been able to rise to the occasion and play a really good match.”
The 34-year-old is yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament and will take on former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the last eight.
The ninth-seeded Croat went through after Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori withdrew due to a recurrence of a rib problem.
Cilic is in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the third straight year and defeated Federer two years ago on the way to his triumph at Flushing Meadows.
Fast-rising Australian
Some predicted a tough assignment for Murray against Nick Kyrgios but the second seed needed only three sets to tame the fast-rising Australian 7-5 6-1 6-4.
Wimbledon champion in 2013, Murray next plays French showman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who advanced when compatriot Richard Gasquet was forced to retire with a back injury.
In the women’s draw, world number one and top seed Serena Williams was tested in the first set before making smooth progress in her quest to match Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
Williams, who won her 21stmajor at Wimbledon last year, dispatched old foe Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-0 and will play another Russian, unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in the last eight.
“She (Kuznetsova) has played really well against me in the past and she beat me earlier this year,” Williams said. “I knew that I had to play really well to win this.”
Tougher day
Williams’ sister Venus had a tougher day at the office but also went through thanks to a 7-6 6-4 success against Spaniard Carla Suarez.
German fourth seed Angelique Kerber beat Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-3 6-1 to set up a last-eight meeting with fifth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep.
Kerber, the Australian Open champion, was dumped out in the opening round at last month’s French Open but looks to be back in the groove on the grass in south London.
The only real upset of the day was caused by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, who knocked out third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, winning the final set 9-7.