Wimbledon Monday Recap: Andy Murray, Serena Williams Advance To Quarterfinals

The favorites for the 2016 Wimbledon title in both the men’s and women’s draw delivered on Monday’s fourth-round matchups, as Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber all cruised to the quarterfinals.

Wimbledon Monday Recap: Andy Murray, Serena Williams Advance To Quarterfinals

The biggest upset of the day came on the women’s side, where third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska fell 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 to 19th-seeded Dominika Cibulková of Slovakia in more than three hours. Cibulkova crashed to the lawn after the final point before sharing a long hug with Radwanska, while the fans in attendance gave the two a standing ovation for what was perhaps the best match of the day. Cibulkova will next play Russian Elena Vesnina on Tuesday.

First-seeded Williams overcame a shaky start and a rain delay to defeat her longtime rival, 13th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-0, dominating the latter part of the match with her serve and some excellent groundstrokes. Williams had previously defeated 22-year-old German Annika Beck in the third round on Sunday, and she will next face No. 21 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday.

Second-seeded Murray, 29, also played some fantastic tennis against fifteenth-seeded, 21-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, winning 7-5, 6-1, 6-4. Kyrgios was able to keep up with the former Scottish Wimbledon champion early when his serve was clicking, but faltered when Murray made some adjustments in the return game. Murray had previously defeated Australian John Millman 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday.

Third-seeded Federer, meanwhile, finished off American Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. The 34-year-old Swiss appeared to slow down somewhat in the third set, but his groundstrokes and slices were on point. He will next face ninth-seed Croatian Martin Cilic on Wednesday.

Cilic defeated fifth-ranked Kei Nishikori 6-1, 5-1, after the 26-year-old Japanese was forced to retire early due to a rib injury. According to Rekord‘s Jose Morgado, he later confirmed he has been carrying the injury for some time:

Seventh-seeded Richard Gasquet also retired early due to injury, losing to fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No. 12). Tsonga helped show that countryman stick together in a touching moment after the match by helping his opponent carry one of his bags off the court, according to Wimbledon’s official Twitter account:

Tsonga will next face Murray on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded German Kerber dropped just four games on route to an easy 6-3, 6-1 win over Japanese 25-year-old Misaki Doi. 

Here is how the women fared:

Article by Pablo Mena