Fabio Fognini tries to challenge a call on set point, despite having no challenges left, and denies himself the chance to take his match with Andy Murray into a fifth set.
| Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC |
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| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July Starts: 11:30 BST |
| Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for full times. |
Two-time champion Rafael Nadal is through to the last 16 of Wimbledon with a straight-set win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Spanish fourth seed Nadal took the first set in just 21 minutes and eventually won 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-3) on Centre Court.
Ninth seed Kei Nishikori is out after the Japanese lost in four sets to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
Marin Cilic is also through after comfortably beating Steve Johnson.
Nadal broke the 21-year-old Khachanov’s serve three times in the first set as he completely dominated his opponent.
The second set was a tighter affair, with Khachanov finally holding his serve but still being broken in the third game.
Nadal had to save a set point in the third to force a tie-break, but the French Open champion triumphed in two hours and 14 minutes.
Victory means Nadal has not dropped a set in his past 10 Grand Slam matches, winning 28 completed sets in a row.
If he reaches the final then he will return to the top of the world rankings for the first time since June 2014.
“For a while I played fantastically,” Nadal told the BBC. “The first set and a half was a great, great level – then it was a little bit tougher.
“I’m happy about almost everything.”
The 31-year-old will play Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller in the fourth round, who earlier beat Britain’s Aljaz Bedene.
Nishikori lost 4-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 3-6 to 18th seed Bautista Agut in three hours and 21 minutes on court three.
Bautista Agut has never gone beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam, while Nishikori is yet to go beyond the last 16 at Wimbledon.
Croatia’s seventh seed Cilic, who beat American Johnson 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, will face Bautista Agut in round four.
Play was suspended for bad light on court two with American Sam Querrey leading 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-5 on serve in the fifth set.
| Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC |
|---|
| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July Starts: 11:30 BST |
| Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for full times. |
Britain’s Wimbledon singles hopes were reduced to two players after Heather Watson and Aljaz Bedene both lost in the third round.
Watson, 25, went down 3-6 6-1 6-4 on Centre Court to Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian making her Grand Slam return after giving birth in December.
Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, the 16th seed, beat Bedene 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-4 on court two to reach the fourth round.
Andy Murray and Johanna Konta are also in action on Friday.
Four British players reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time since 1997.
Bedene had high hopes of reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, but Muller’s grass-court pedigree proved too much for the British number four.
Muller is enjoying the best season of his career at 34 years old and went into the match with a 10-1 record on grass, including a win over Bedene last month.
The pair shared breaks of serve before Muller edged the tie-break, and he recovered from 2-0 down to take the second after breaking with a forehand winner.
Muller grabbed the decisive break at 3-2 in the third and ended the match with 19 aces and 21 winners at the net.
He will face two-time champion Rafael Nadal or Karen Khachanov in the last 16 on Monday.
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Rafael Nadal can move one step closer to his third Wimbledon title on Friday afternoon but must first defeat big hitting…
| Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC |
|---|
| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July Starts: 11:30 BST |
| Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app.Click for full times. |
Bethanie Mattek-Sands is having more scans on a serious knee injury she picked up during her second-round Wimbledon singles match on Thursday.
The American screamed in agony after slipping during the third set against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on court 17.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said more will be known following Friday’s tests.
“Bethanie of course thanks everyone for their kind wishes and messages of support,” the WTA statement added.
Mattek-Sands was treated by paramedics on the court before being carried off on a stretcher and taken straight to hospital.
More to follow.
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Austrian qualifier ousts Sock on Thursday
Sebastian Ofner was just happy to be making his Grand Slam qualifying debut last week at Wimbledon, but the #NextGenATP Austrian’s maiden pro tournament on the grass has turned into a breakthrough run.
Ofner survived a pair of marathon matches just to make it into the main draw, prevailing 10-8 in the third set against Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium in the first round, and rallying from two sets down to defeat #NextGenATP Brit Jay Clarke in the final round of qualifying. Buoyed at competing on the lawns of Wimbledon, Ofner dropped a mere seven games in his first-round main draw win on Tuesday over Thomaz Bellucci.
But it was his performance on Thursday against 17th seed Jack Sock that truly stood out. Hitting 15 aces and winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points, Ofner survived a mid-match surge from the American to prevail 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2 in two hours and 44 minutes.
Currently coached by Wolfgang Thiem, the father of Dominic Thiem, the Austrian has done things his way when it comes to tennis. He eschewed life at an academy to complete his studies at a local private school called Liese Prokop. Ofner began his pro career in earnest two years ago, winning four Futures titles and finishing runner-up at four other Futures events in 2016. He progressed to the ATP Challenger Tour this season and reached his first Challenger final this May in Mestre, Italy.
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Currently No. 217 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Ofner is projected to move just outside the Top 150 after Wimbledon. His bank account will increase significantly as well. Ofner has amassed just over $46,000 in his career, but is guaranteed to take home more than $116,000 for reaching the third round at Wimbledon. He will also make a major jump in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, which determines seven of the eight players who will qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 7-11 Nov. in Milan.The eighth player will be determined by wild card.
Ofner will look to continue his dream run on Saturday when he plays another #NextGenATP player in 10th seed Alexander Zverev.
Roger Federer kept his quest for a record eighth Wimbledon title on track on Thursday, and he did so in dazzling fashion in front of packed Centre Court crowd at The Championships.
The seven-time titlist overcame a slow start to produce his best level yet on the Wimbledon lawns, advancing to the third round 7-6(0), 6-3, 6-2 against Dusan Lajovic, who was looking to reach the third round at the All England Club for the first time.
Federer, meanwhile, will make his 15th trip to the Wimbledon third round, and he’ll face a familiar foe as he attempts to make the second week of the grass-court Grand Slam. Federer will play 27th seed Mischa Zverev of Germany, who beat Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 6-4 in three hours and five minutes.
Federer leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-0, including two wins earlier this season. Last month, Federer beat Zverev on the grass at the Gerry Weber Open 7-6(4), 6-4 en route to his eighth Halle title.
The 35-year-old Swiss was broken only once against Lajovic, during his first service game. From there, the Swiss star was in control, winning 11 of the 12 final points in the first set to take the opener. He’d break Lajovic four times in the match and finish with 31 winners to only 15 unforced errors.
All facets of Federer’s game were on point. He kept Lajovic uncomfortable with deep, flat groundstrokes and attacked the net just as well, winning 23 of his 31 net trips (74 per cent).