London: Former champions Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battled into the Wimbledon third round, Thursday but third seed and 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic crashed out.
World No.1 Nadal defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and will next face Australian teenager Alex de Minaur who defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 6-7(8-10), 7-5, 6-3.
Djokovic, the three-time champion, needed treatment on his left thigh on Court Two but still had too many weapons for Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Cilic, meanwhile blew a two-set lead in his 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 loss to Argentina’s Guido Pella, ranked No.82. When rain forced the tie to be postponed, Wednesday, Cilic was leading by two sets against an opponent who had never won a match at Wimbledon before this year.
But the Croatian collapsed once the match resumed on Court One, Thursday and Pella took full advantage to set up a third round clash with Mackenzie McDonald. His defeat was definitely good news for defending champion Roger Federer, who was on course to face Cilic in the semifinals.
Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, was tested by World No.77 Kukushkin, a player who is coached by his wife. The Kazakhstani was made to pay for converting just two of 13 breakpoints in the match.
“It was very tough because he (Kukushkin) played very well,” said Nadal, who is chasing an 18th major. “On grass, the ball bounces really low so it was a good test.”
Three-time Major winner Stan Wawrinka was unable to follow up his first round defeat of sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov when he lost 6-7(7-9), 3-6, 6-7(6-8) to Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.
John Isner, the US ninth seed, saved two match points, fired 64 aces and 88 winners to defeat Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 while Nick Kyrgios, seeded 15th, unleashed 42 winners to see off Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
In the women’s segment top seed Romanian Simona Halep had no problems in disposing of Shui Zheng of China 7-5, 6-0 while former World No.1 Angelique Kerber sealed a third round spot with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Claire Liu of the US.
In another match Australian 17th seed Ashleigh Barty reached the third round for the first time with a 6-4, 7-5 win over former Wimbledon junior champion Eugenie Bouchard.
