Serena, Federer moving on; Venus, Keys eliminated
LONDON (TNS) – Serena Williams is back to the Round of 16 for her second consecutive Grand Slam.
Before her fourth round match at the French Open, she withdrew, but she continued her winning ways at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 7-6 win over Kristina Mladenovic on Friday.
Williams is 6-0 in sets so far this open, although three of those sets have gone to extra games. It hasn’t come easy, but she looks like she’s returning to form.
The other United States’ women weren’t as lucky.
Two more members of the women’s top 10 have fallen, with Madison Keys – seeded 10th – being upset by Evgeniya Rodina, and No. 9-seeded Venus Williams falling to No. 20 Kiki Bertens.
Keys and Williams now join Caroline Wozniacki, Garbine Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova as top 10 players eliminated before quarterfinals. Simona Halep (No. 1) and Karolina Pliskova (No. 7) are still alive, however.
Eight of the top 10 seeded women are gone before the fourth round at the All England Club – a first in the Open Era.
“A lot of the top players are losing, but they’re losing to girls that are playing outstanding,” Serena Williams said. “I think, if anything, it shows me every moment that I can’t underestimate any of these ladies. They are just going out there swinging and playing for broke.”
Keys lost in three sets behind a faltering serve, and gave up seven break points in a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 loss to Rodina. It’s the first time in 2018 that she hasn’t made it to at least the quarterfinal stage.
Venus Williams was defeated by Bertens’ outstanding forehand in a 7-5, 7-6 (2) loss, but her third-round appearance is her best of 2018.
“Just ran out of time in the end,” Williams said. “She played really well. You have to win the last point, and I didn’t succeed in Roger Federer gives a thumbs up after winning his third-round Wimbledon match against Jan-lennard Struff on Friday in London. Federer won 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the Round of 16. Tribune News Service
that today.”
Pliskova survived a scare with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 win over Mihaela Buzarnescu, who looked like she had the match well in-hand until midway through the second set. Pliskova came back with a dominant third set to move on.
Ekaterina Makarova came out on top of Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; while Camila Girogi survived Katerina Siniakova to advance to the Round of 16.
On the men’s side, Roger Federer moved on with yet another sweep, this time a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over Jan-lennard Struff. The win puts Federer one step closer to his second straight Wimbledon win, as he continues to seek his second Grand Slam win this year.
Kevin Anderson defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in a tough three sets 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. The 32-yearold has made it to quarterfinals just twice in his career, including an appearance in last year’s U.S. Open final, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
The United States’ Sam Querrey was also eliminated by Frenchman Gael Monfils. After taking the first set 7-5, he went on to lose the last three.
Querrey’s career-best finish came at Wimbledon 2017 -- where he was a semifinalist – but he won’t improve upon that this year.