SERENA ON COURSE FOR NUMBER 22
Federer equals all-time Grand Slam record
LONDON – Serena Williams powered into her 12th Wimbledon quarterfinal as the defending champion celebrated American Independence Day with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova yesterday.
World number one Williams hit 43 winners and served 14 aces as she won the last nine games on Centre Court to remain on course for a record-equalling 22nd major title and a seventh Wimbledon crown.
The 34-year-old will play Russian 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the semifinals.
Williams’ 301st Grand Slam match victory moved her within five of Open-era record holder Martina Navratilova.
“She [Pavlyuchenkova] has played really well against me in the past and she beat me earlier this year, so I know that I had to play really well to win this,” Williams said.
“It was really tricky out there because even though it wasn’t raining hard, it was dewy on the grass and you can fall really easy.”
Due to bad weather, Williams will have played three days in a row by the time she finishes today’s quarterfinal, but she is unconcerned about the demanding schedule.
“Usually in order to win a tournament, you have to play quarters, semis, final back-to-back. I thought, ‘Serena, you’ve done this many times’, so for me it’s an easy transition,” she said.
Meanwhile, Serena’s sister Venus strode to victory against a scampering Carla Suarez Navarro, beating the Spaniard 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.
Venus, the oldest woman in the draw at 36, looked out-of-of-sorts when she arrived on Court One yesterday and lost the first three games of the contest.
She pulled back to a tiebreak but had to run off court for half an hour because of a rain shower.
Roger Federer reached his 14th Wimbledon quarterfinal and tied Martina Navratilova’s all-time Grand Slam record of 306 match wins. The seven-time champion achieved his double landmark by seeing off Steve Johnson of the United States 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth round yesterday.
Federer next takes on Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Andy Murray brushed aside Australia’s Nick Kyrgios last night with a 7-5, 61, 6-4 win and will face JoWilfried Tsonga for a place in the semifinals. –