It’s an abrupt end for Nadal
LONDON — Rafael Nadal was beaten in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday, losing to Gilles Muller, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13, in a match that lasted four hours and 48 minutes.
The two-time champion at the All England Club saved two match points in the 10th game of the fifth set, and two more in the 20th game.
Nadal dropped the opening set despite not making an unforced error.
Before Monday, the last set lost by Nadal at a major was the fifth in the Australian Open final in January against Roger Federer.
Federer and Andy Murray, much to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, also reached the quarter-finals.
Federer, a seven-time champion at the All England Club and one of the fan favourites, advanced to the quarters for the 15th time by beating Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Murray is also adored at the grass-court major. He is a twotime Wimbledon champion, but maybe more important, he is British and in 2013 became the first homegrown player to win the men’s title in 77 years.
On Monday, he beat Benoit Paire, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4.
“I’ve done a good job so far here,” said Murray, the defending champion. “Today was by far the best I hit the ball, the cleanest I hit the ball. I was happy about that.”
The first man to reach the quarter-finals was Marin Cilic. The seventh-seeded Croat beat Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Cilic, who won the U.S. Open in 2014, will be playing the quarter-finals at the All England Club for the fourth straight year.
Federer first reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2001 and then won the first of five straight titles in 2003. He will next face Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Murray will play Sam Querrey on Wednesday. The 24th-seeded American defeated Kevin Anderson, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3.
In the women’s draw, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams won, and top-ranked Angelique Kerber lost.
Williams, who last won the title at the All England Club in 2008, advanced to the quarterfinals by beating 19-year-old Ana Konjuh, 6-3, 6-2. She is playing at the grass-court major for the 20th time in her career. Her Wimbledon debut came a few months before Konjuh was born.
“Winning never gets old at any stage in your career, ever, ever,” Williams said.
Kerber, who reached the Wimbledon final last year but lost to Serena Williams, was beaten by Garbine Muguruza on No. 2 Court, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
With the loss by Kerber, either Simona Halep or Karolina Pliskova will take over as the topranked player after the tournament. Halep also advanced Monday, while Pliskova lost in the second round.
Williams will next face French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals. The 20-year-old Latvian, who won her first tour-level title at Roland Garros last month, beat fourthseeded Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 7-6 (6), on Court 12.
“I think I’ll see what happens when I get out there,” Williams said of Ostapenko. “I mean, I’m sure she hits well off all sides. I have to see what the nuances are once the game starts, because you can’t necessarily plan for those.”
Ostapenko led Svitolina 5-3 in the second set, but was broken and forced into a tiebreaker. She finally won by converting her eighth match point.
Ostapenko had never before been past the third round at a major tournament prior to this year’s French Open. She was the first woman to win her debut tour-level title at a Grand Slam tournament since 1979.
At Wimbledon, Ostapenko is into the quarter-finals for the first time. However, she won the girls’ title at the All England Club in 2014.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Coco Vandeweghe and Johanna Konta also advanced to the quarter-finals.
In the quarter-finals, Rybarikova will face Vandeweghe, while Halep will play Konta.