Reuters
London, July 3: World No.1 Serena Williams kept her Wimbledon title defence on track here Sunday, downing Germany’s Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a crushing display of power and booming serves.
Williams looked in no mood to follow men’s top seed Novak Djokovic out of tournament after his shock defeat Saturday and treated the middle Sunday party crowd to an imperious 51-minute performance.
She thundered down the biggest women’s serve of the grasscourt major so far at 123 mph (198 kph), followed by an ace, to seal the first set against the unseeded 22-year-old. Williams, who suffered a scare in round two against fellow American Christina McHale, romped through the second set in 20 minutes as Beck’s resistance crumbled.
The 34-year-old will play Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last 16 Monday as she continues her quest to equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 major titles.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time since 2008 despite becoming involved in a row with the umpire over coaching.
The 31-year-old 13th seed battled back from 2-5 down in the final set to defeat US 18th seed Sloane Stephens 6-7 (1/7), 6-2, 8-6. But the Russian was hit with a code violation for coaching early in the final set which prompted a bitter exchange with umpire Marijana Veljovic.
SanTina advances
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis breezed into the women’s doubles third round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over the Japanese pairing of Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato. The Indo-Swiss were clinical in their approach and wrapped up the second round clash in 52 minutes. The fancied duo served well besides converting five of the eight break points they earned in the match. Sania and Martina’s third round opponents will be Christina McHale and Jelena Ostapenko.
Del Potro bows out to Pouille power
Juan Martin del Potro’s first Wimbledon campaign for three years ended in disappointing fashion as the Argentine crumbled to a 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-1 defeat by Frenchman Lucas Pouille here Sunday. Trailing by two sets to one when bad light stopped the third-round tussle Saturday, Del Potro looked jaded as the fourth set sped away from him. Pouille, seeded 32nd, will face Australian Bernard Tomic in round four. Del Potro, who has had three operations on his left wrist since his last appearance at Wimbledon in 2013 when he reached the semifinal, said the physical toll of his stunning win over fourth seed Stan Wawrinka had taken its toll. “As you can see I’m exhausted,” the 2009 US Open champion who has been robbed of large chunks of his career by injury, told reporters.
Paes-Matkowski loses
There will not be Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes face off in the men’s doubles event of the Wimbledon championships as Paes and Marcin Matkowski suffered a meek second round defeat at the hands of John Peers and Henri Kontinen, here Sunday. The 10th seeded Finnish-Australian pair needed only 62 minutes to dispatch the Indo-Polish combine 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. Paes and Matkowski had three break chances in the opening set but converted none. They lost their serve thrice in the match.
