FEDERER, WILLIAMS CRUISE TO 4TH ROUND
LONDON— Roger Federer and Serena Williams will be expected to maintain their flawless progress at Wimbledon as the title favorites head into the fourth round looking to survive the tournament’s giant-killing carnage on Monday.
Federer has been in imperious mood in pursuit of his ninth Wimbledon crown, while Williams is rounding into form just as the seven-time champion’s rivals have collapsed all around her.
The status quo has been challenged like never before in the women’s singles, with nine of the top 10 seeds crashing out before the Wimbledon last 16 for the first time in the Open era.
In the men’s draw, third seed Marin Cilic, fourth seed Alexander Zverev and sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov have all fallen.
But it’s business as usual for Federer as the defending champion took his consecutive sets won at Wimbledon to 29 in a third-round dismissal of Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2, on Friday .
Federer’s 175th win from 200 career grass-court matches saw him overtake Jimmy Connors as the most successful male player on the surface.
The Swiss star faces French 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino for a place in the quarterfinals.
French Open champion and world No. 1 Simona Halep lost to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, leaving just Williams among the top 10 seeds.
Meanwhile, two-time champion Rafael Nadal made the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Alex De Minaur of Australia which ensured he would retain the world No. 1 spot at the end of the tournament.