Serena rolls, as top seeds fold
No top-10 seeds in the women’s quarterfinals for first time in open era
LONDON— Not one top-10 seed has made the women’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Serena Williams will be there, though, after she moved a step closer to an eighth title at the All England Club.
Williams reached her 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-4, 6-2 on Monday and never looked likely to join the parade of favourites who have been eliminated.
No. 7 Karolina Pliskova became the last of the top-10 seeds to be knocked out, losing to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. Bertens saved eight of the 10 break points she faced to win 6-3, 7-6 (2) against Pliskova and complete the upset.
Since seeds were introduced in the 1920s, it’s the first time none of the top 10 women have reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. It’s also a first for any Grand Slam tournament in the 50-year professional era.
Williams is seeded 25th after returning from having a baby, but is looking like her usual dominant self on the grass courts. In a matchup of the only two mothers remaining in the draw, she jumped into a 3-0 lead in both sets and wrapped up the win in 62 minutes.
Rodina, who upset 10th-seeded Madison Keys in the previous round, broke back for 3-2 in the second set but was broken to love straight away.
“It was tougher than the scoreline,” Williams said. “I knew we were both moms, and I’m not sure how often that’s happened, if ever. So it’s really cool. You can be a mom, you can still play tennis and you can still be great.”
In the men’s tournament, Roger Federer advanced to a record-extending-16th Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 victory against Adrian Mannarino of France.
The eight-time champion has won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon to move within one straight-sets victory of breaking his previous longest streak at the All England Club, 34 in a row from the third round in 2005 to the final in 2006.
Federer next faces eighthseeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal after edging Gael Monfils 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-6 (4).
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal is also back in the quarters for the first time since 2011. The Spaniard beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to return to the last eight for the first time since 2011. Nadal has yet to drop a set in this tournament.
Nadal and Djokovic are on course for a semifinal meeting after the Serb beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 on No. 1 Court. Juan Martin del Potro’s fourth-round match against Gilles Simon was halted with del Potro leading 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5), 5-7.
Jelena Ostapenko and Dominika Cibulkova will also meet in Tuesday’s quarterfinals after wins on Monday.
Williams faces Camila Giorgi of Italy next, while 11th-seeded Angelique Kerber plays Daria Kasatkina of Russia.