Wimbledon 2016: Men’s Quarter-Finals Set

Tenth seed Tomas Berdych set up a Wimbledon last-eight match against Lucas Pouille by beating fellow Czech Jiri Vesely in five sets.

Berdych, who reached the final in 2010, won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, (10-8), 6-7, (9-11), 6-3.

Vesely, the world number 64, saved five match points on Monday before fading light stopped play.

However, Berdych gained the upper hand with a second break in the seventh game of the final set on his way to reaching his fourth Wimbledon quarter-final.

In the other Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-finals ties, Sam Querrey of the United States seeded 28th, will play Canada’s sixth seed Milos Raonic on Wednesday.

Roger Federer of Switzerland who is the third seed, will face the Croat Marin Cilic who is seeded ninth.

France’ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 12th seed, will face Great Britain’s Andy Murray seeded second for a place in the last four.

Wimbledon 2016: Men’s Quarter-Finals Set

Wimbledon 2016: Venus & Serena Williams Through To Semi-Finals

Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with victory over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.

Eighth seed Williams – at 36 the oldest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 22 years – beat unseeded Shvedova 7-6, (7-5), 6-3.

An all-Williams final remains possible after top seed Serena beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4.

In Thursday’s semis, Serena will play Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Venus will take on Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

“We don’t really talk too much about it but we are playing doubles later, so we are just happy to be in the semi-finals,” Serena told BBC Sport.

Asked about a potential final meeting, she added: “It will be great. Venus is such a tough opponent I want her to win so bad – not in the final if I am there, but if I’m not, I do.”

Kerber, the fourth seed, beat Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep 7-5, 7-6, (7-2) in the opening match on Centre Court.

Unseeded Russian Vesnina thrashed Slovakian 19th seed Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 in the remaining quarter-final on court one.

Venus, the champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008 made it through to her first Grand Slam semi-final since the 2010 US Open.

At 36, she is the oldest major semi-finalist since Martina Navratilova finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 1994.

“I love playing the game,” said Williams, who slipped outside the world’s top 100 in 2011 after being diagnosed with the immune system disease Sjogren’s Disease. “When you’re winning matches it makes it that much sweeter.”

BBC

Wimbledon 2016: Venus & Serena Williams Through To Semi-Finals

Djokovic Makes Wining Start To Wimbledon Title Defence

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic beat Briton James Ward 6-0 7-6 6-4 in the first round of Wimbledon.

Djokovic, 29, searching for his fourth SW19 title, took the first nine games but Ward fought back in the second set.

“James was serving with a lot of precision and it was not easy to break his serve,” Djokovic told BBC Sport.

The Serb is seeking a calendar Grand Slam having already won the Australian and French Open titles in 2016.

The 28th seed Sam Querrey was involved in a three-hour-21-minute opening-round match against Czech Lukas Rosol, which the American eventually won 12-10 in the final set.

Querrey had lost the first two sets on tie-breaks but won the next two 6-4 6-2 to force the epic decider.

It was nowhere near the record set by John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in 2010, won 70-68 in the final set by Isner after 11 hours and five minutes of play over three days.

Kyle Edmund was the first Briton to be knocked out on day one of Wimbledon after a straight-sets defeat by France’s Adrian Mannarino.

The British number three, 21, lost 6-2 7-5 6-4 in two hours and two minutes to the world number 55.

BBC 

 

 

 

Djokovic Makes Wining Start To Wimbledon Title Defence

Wimbledon 2016: Venus Williams Equals Grand Slam Record

Venus Williams saved two set points in the opening set against Croatia’s Donna Vekic

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams equalled the record number of appearances at a Grand Slam as she survived an early scare.

The 36-year-old saved two set points when 6-5 down to Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the first set before taking a tie-break, going on to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

The world number eight now has 71 Grand Slam appearances, equalling American Amy Frazier’s record set in 2006.

She now faces world number 115 Maria Sakkari of Greece in round two.

Sakkari took one hour and 22 minutes to see off China’s SaiSai Zheng, almost half-an-hour less than Williams required to progress in one hour 51 minutes.

“The first set there were some hairy moments, down some set points, but I guess that’s where experience sets in,” said Williams, playing in her 19th Wimbledon.

Serena Williams gets her Wimbledon campaign under way on Tuesday

BBC

Wimbledon 2016: Venus Williams Equals Grand Slam Record 

Victoria Azarenka Pulls Out Of Wimbledon 2016 With Injury

Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka has been ruled out of Wimbledon with a knee injury, the tournament organisers have announced.

Azarenka, 26, was seeded sixth for the tournament which begins on Monday.

The two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist has not played since retiring from her first-round match against Italian Karin Knapp at last month’s French Open.

The Belarusian’s withdrawal means five-time champion Venus Williams will move up into the top eight seeds.

Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, has been plagued by foot injuries in recent years.

She won bronze in the women’s singles and gold in the mixed doubles at the London 2012 Olympics and her withdrawal comes just six weeks before the start of Rio 2016.

BBC

 

Victoria Azarenka Pulls Out Of Wimbledon 2016 With Injury