Nadal ousted by Muller in 4th-round classic

LONDON (Reuters) – French Open champion Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon run was ended by Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller as the Spaniard succumbed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 in a heart-pounding fourth-round classic on Monday.

The 31-year-old Nadal fought back from two sets down and saved four match points in the fifth set in which he successfully served to stay alive nine times.

At the 10th time of asking, however, and with thousands of transfixed fans watching the drama unfold on the screen on the hill and on the edge of their seats on Court One, Nadal buckled under the relentless pressure exerted by an inspired Muller.

A miss-hit forehand gave Muller two more match points and this time he finished the job as a weary Nadal went long.

Sixteenth seed Muller, who served 30 aces and hit 95 winners, will play Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals.

In other action on a busy day, evergreen Roger Federer kept his quest for a record eighth Wimbledon crown on track on Monday, dispatching Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in a match-up of classic styles that had the purists purring.

The Bulgarian 13th seed, nicknamed “Baby Fed” when he was a junior on the basis of a single-handed backhand as silkily smooth as the Swiss master’s, looked sharp in the early exchanges.

But the difference between the greatest ever player on grass and the man who has struggled for years to emerge from his shadow told on the big points.

Third seed Federer, who missed the clay-court season to better prepare for his favorite tournament, will face Milos Raonic in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

“Winning Wimbledon is going to be a tough one regardless if I played the French Open or not. The good thing is I am not trying to heal something like last year’s injured knee,” Federer said.

Raonic survived a marathon fourthround workout against rising German star Alexander Zverev, knocking out some pundits’ outside bet for this year’s title 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Seeded sixth and runner-up last year to Andy Murray, Raonic kept his cool on the crunch points, taking five of eight opportunities to break while the 20-year-old 10th seed converted just three of 18.

The big-serving Canadian sealed the match with his 23rd ace after close to three-and-a-half hours of play.

Defending champion Murray eased into quarters for the 10th successive year with a 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Benoit Paire.

Murray was not at his best against Paire and his faltering serve was frequently RAFAEL NADAL’S quest for a third Wimbledon title was squashed yesterday with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 defeat to Gilles Muller (inset). Meanwhile, Venus Williams (below) became the oldest player since then 37-year-old Martina Navratilova in 1994 to reach the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ana Konjuh. exploited by the 46th-ranked Frenchman, who caused the Briton trouble without being able to inflict any lasting damage.

He broke Murray twice in a row in the first set, which ended up going to a tiebreak that the top seed won comfortably.

Murray, who came into the championships with a niggling hip injury, still seems occasionally uncomfortable and lacking his usual zip around court.

He had too much guile for Paire, however, and wrapped up his 26th successive win against French opposition in two hours and 21 minutes.

Novak Djokovic’s match against Adrian Mannarino was postponed until Tuesday.

On the women’s side, top seed Angelique Kerber was knocked out of the last-16 by Garbine Muguruza on Monday, ensuring she will lose her world No. 1 ranking.

Muguruza’s 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory marked the ninth consecutive time Kerber has failed to beat a top-20 opponent. She last achieved that feat in 2016 and she has now been beaten by Muguruza in five straight matches.

Romanian Simona Halep could now take the world No. 1 crown if she reaches the semifinals at Wimbledon. Halep beat Victoria Azarenka on Monday to move into the quarters, where she will face Johanna Konta.

Konta, who, beat France’s Caroline 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4, is the first British woman to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984.

Should Halep fail to advance to the semis, then Czech Karolina Pliskova will take over at No. 1 when next week’s rankings are announced.

Meanwhile, not even missing a succession of match points stopped Jelena Ostapenko swinging her racket with brutal intent.

The French Open champion, who has shaken up women’s tennis with her highrisk game, passed up seven chances to finish off Wimbledon opponent Elina Svitolina, but rather than go into her shell she merely took her aggressive game up a notch.

She eventually blasted her way into the quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory on Monday in which she struck a remarkable 42 winners and made 39 unforced errors.

To put those stats into perspective, her opponent, the Ukrainian fourth seed, hit 14 of each.

“I really needed to stay very aggressive to win the point,” the Latvian told reporters. “Even the match points, the rallies were really long. I really had to go for it to win the match.”

The tactic seems to be working out well on Wimbledon’s fast lawns. The 13th seed, who faces Venus Williams in the next round, is now just three matches away from completing what would be astonishing Grand Slam double.

That would put her in elite company as only Serena Williams has won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Steffi Graf achieved the feat in 1996.

This was only her second win against a top five-player, following her success against Simona Halep in the final at Roland Garros, and despite a brief wobble in the second set it never looked in doubt.

Venus, 37, downed Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-2 in a fourth-round battle of the baseliners.

Facing each other across the net for the first time, the oldest and youngest players left in the singles draw slugged it out in a quick-fire contest that was littered with as many unforced errors as clean winners.

Williams, seeded 10, made her debut in the grass-court Grand Slam back in 1997. That was several months before the birth of her 27th-seeded opponent, who was appearing in the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time.

Williams becomes the oldest player since then 37-year-old Martina Navratilova in 1994 to reach the quarterfinals.

Svetlana Kuznetsova also prevailed in one of the most established “fixtures” in women’s tennis as she beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarters for the first time in 10 years.

Kuznetsova, 32, is in the quarterfinals for the fourth time and is yet to drop a set so far in this year’s championships, spending less than five hours on court so far.

Also, American Coco Vandeweghe, seeded 24th, beat fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the quarters. Vandeweghe will face Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova next.