Nadal chases No. 1 spot
Rafael Nadal is on his way to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and he’s three matches away from taking over as the No. 1 player in the world.
Nadal beat Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3) yesterday on Centre Court. If he reaches the final at London’s All England Club, the two-time Wimbledon champion will take over from Brit Andy Murray as the top-ranked player in the world.
Defending champion Murray came through a difficult fourth set to beat Fabio Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Nadal reached the Australian Open final this year, losing to Roger Federer, and then won the French Open. The title at Roland Garros was his 10th at the clay court major.
Earlier, Victoria Azarenka extended her Grand Slam comeback into the second week. The former No. 1 from Belarus, who gave birth to her first child in December, advanced to the fourth round by beating Heather Watson 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Centre Court. The twotime Grand Slam champion will next face second-seeded Simona Halep, who beat Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina, sixth-seeded Johanna Konta, 21st-seeded Caroline Garcia and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also reached the fourth round.
Venus Williams, a fivetime Wimbledon champion, beat Naomi Osaka 7-6 (3), 6-4 to advance. Off the court, police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Williams legally entered an intersection but was cut off by another car, setting off a chain of events that resulted in a fatal crash with a third car. That caused investigators to rescind their original conclusion that Williams was at fault.
On the men’s side, ninthseeded Kei Nishikori was eliminated by Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3. Marin Cilic, the man who beat Nishikori in the 2014 U.S. Open final, advanced by beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Kevin Anderson won and will next face either Sam Querrey or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Their match was suspended because of darkness with Querrey leading 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-5.
Soccer: MLS stars
NYCFC’s David Villa, Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Chicago’s Bastian Schweinsteiger are among the fan selections as starters for next month’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
They are joined by Chicago Fire forward Nemanja Nikolic, Atlanta United defender Greg Garza and midfielder Miguel Almiron, goalkeeper Tim Howard of the Chicago Rapids, defenders DaMarcus Beasley of the Houston Dynamo and Graham Zusi of Sporting Kansas City, and Orlando midfielder Kaka. The 11th starter will be Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco, who was picked in a vote tied to EA Sports’ FIFA 17 video game.
The MLS all-stars face Real Madrid on Aug. 2 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. . . .
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been banned from the Gold Cup by FIFA for insulting match officials during the Confederations Cup third-place game last Sunday, which Mexico lost to Portugal 2-1.
NASCAR: Busch poles
Kyle Busch set a track record to earn his first Kentucky Speedway pole before thunderstorms shortened NASCAR Cup Series qualifying yesterday in Sparta, Ky.
Busch, a two-time winner of tonight’s 400-mile race, clocked 190.282 mph in the No. 18 Toyota for his third pole this season and 22nd of his career. Martin Truex Jr. will start second with Busch’s JGR teammate Matt Kenseth third as Toyotas claimed four of the top five spots in the field.
Names: Leaving NHL
Colorado Avalanche center Mikhail Grigorenko returned to Russia, signing a three-year contract to play in Moscow. Also, defenseman Nikita Nesterov, who played for Tampa Bay and Montreal last year, agreed to a three-year contract in Russia. . . .
New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein, 32, retired after playing parts of 12 seasons in the NHL. . . .
Germany’s Marcel Kittel edged Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway in a photo finish to win his third stage, and second in two days, at the Tour de France. Three-time champion Chris Froome still wears the yellow jersey into the mountains this weekend.