Serena & Venus star as women take centre stage

Sisters Venus and Serena Williams have once again proven that age is no barrier as the pair remain the headline acts in the women’s game, especially at Wimbledon on women’s quarter-finals day.

At 36, Venus is the oldest quarter-finalist in the ladies’ singles at SW19 for 22 years, while Serena, 34, found her form on Monday to reach the last eight.

Here is what you should not miss on day eight at Wimbledon.

Heavy schedule for Serena

Her match against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will be defending champion Serena’s third in as many days.

There were straight-set wins on Sunday and Monday and the top seed – who hit 43 winners and made just 14 unforced errors in beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last 16 – will be confident of more of the same on Tuesday.

Six-time champion Williams has beaten Russia’s Pavlyuchenkova, the world number 23, in all five of their previous encounters and finished her match against two-time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova in style, winning nine games on the trot.

The world number one, in her 12th Wimbledon quarter-final, will take on Pavlyuchenkova on Centre Court at about 15:00 BST.

Venus rolling back the years

At 3-0 down in the first set against Carla Suarez Navarro, Venus looked in trouble but the five-time champion dug deep to win in straight sets, reaching the last eight for the first time since 2010.

In beating Spain’s Suarez Navarro Venus, at 36, also becomes the oldest quarter-finalist in the ladies’ singles at Wimbledon for 22 years.

Blocking the eighth seed’s path to the semi-finals is Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan – a player 88 places below her in the world rankings and one whom she has never played before.

When it was put to her that some people would not expect her to be at this stage at Wimbledon, Venus said: “I think the toughest critic is always yourself in any case. If anyone’s hard on me, I’m harder than anyone out there.

“But I don’t really care. How about that? I have a job to do on the court. There are very few people that can get out here and play at this level.”

Williams and Shvedova start the day on Court One at 13:00 BST.

Can Cibulkova thrill again?

Dominika Cibulkova thrilled court three on Monday as she beat 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 5-7 9-7 in a brilliant duel which lasted three hours.

Has the 19th seed enough left in the tank to overcome Russia’s Elena Vesnina?

Should the Slovakian win she will have to postpone her wedding, which is due to take place the day of the Wimbledon final.

“If I would win then we will change it,” said the 27-year-old, who is due to marry her fiance, Michal Navara, in Bratislava.

Cibulkova’s wedding guests will be watching closely when she takes on Vesnina on Court One at about 15:00 BST.

A battle of fourth versus fifth

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber should be fresh after needing just 64 minutes to see off Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-3 6-1 in the last 16.

Germany’s Kerber, the fourth seed, has already won a Grand Slam this year, but has only beaten her last-eight opponent Simona Halep once in four attempts. The pair kick off proceedings on Centre Court at 13:00 BST.

What the expert says…

Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 Wimbledon champion, believes Pavlyuchenkova will be up against it on Tuesday.

“If you had asked Serena before the tournament that to get to a Wimbledon final she’d have to beat Pavlyuchenkova, and then either Cibulkova or Vesnina, she would have said ‘sign me up’,” the American told BBC Sport.

“She knows she still has to play the matches but if you look at those players, and Serena’s game on grass, they don’t add up.

“Pavlyuchenkova doesn’t move well enough to be able to get any balls back. You have to play a nice mix of offence and defence against Serena and defence is Pavlyuchenkova’s biggest weakness.

“Simona Halep versus Angelique Kerber will be an amazing match. Neither one may be that comfortable on grass but they both play streetfighter tennis. Both get a lot of balls back into play and move well.

“Serve isn’t a weapon for either player so both will have to work hard. Halep had to work much harder on Monday in beating Madison Keys, while Kerber spent an hour in her match. We’ll see if that is a factor.”

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Wimbledon 2016: GB's Andy Murray breezes past disappointing Kyrgios

British number one Andy Murray beats Australian Nick Kyrgios in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, to progress to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, where France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga awaits.

WATCH MORE:How Tsonga beat Isner in epic battle

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Pouille Big Break On Grass Wimbledon 2016

Pouille Big Break On Grass Wimbledon 2016

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Wedding or Wimbledon? Cibulkova beats third seed Radwanska

Dominika Cibulkova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in a match lasting almost three hours to move closer to the Wimbledon final, which takes place the day she is due to get married.

The 19th seed, who won 6-3 5-7 9-7 to reach the last eight, is due to marry her fiance, Navara, in Bratislava.

“We chose this (date) because I never saw myself as such a great grass-court player,” the 27-year-old said.

“We can postpone it. I’m still here and I’m playing my match tomorrow.”

Cibulkova now plays Russia’s Elena Vesnina in the quarter-finals.

She added: “We are still going to keep this date. We will see what’s going to happen.

“If I would win tomorrow then we will change it. Then we will have to postpone it because it will be a lot of rush.”

Cibulkova’s win over 2012 finalist Radwanska, the third seed, on court three lasted two hours 59 minutes.

The Slovak served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and survived a match point in the 12th game of the third before successfully serving out on her third match point against the 27-year-old Pole.

Cibulkova is on a nine-match winning run after victory in the Aegon International last mont and beat 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard in round two at SW19.

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Wimbledon 2016: Kei Nishikori retires with injury against Marin Cilic

Fifth seed Kei Nishikori was forced to retire during his Wimbledon fourth-round match against Marin Cilic after struggling with an injury.

The Japanese player, 26, had problems with his serve and movement, and twice called for a doctor on court who gave him medication before the match was halted at 6-1 5-1 in Cilic’s favour.

Nishikori also withdrew from last year’s Wimbledon, with a calf problem.

Cilic will now play either third seed Roger Federer or Steve Johnson.

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Andy Murray vs Nick Kyrgios Wimbledon 2016 Preview

Going into the second Monday of Wimbledon, the home crowd will be getting very excited at the prospect of witnessing a second …

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Serena Williams vs Svetlana Kuznetsova Wimbledon 2016 Preview and Analysis

After needing Middle Sunday to get back on schedule with her tournament and her attempt at No. 22, Serena Williams is safely…

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Wimbledon 2016 Week 1 Review and Recap

The first week of Wimbledon 2016 is now in the books after a rare Sunday’s play. The tournament saw play on Middle Sunday…

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Wimbledon 2016: Radio 1Xtra's Nick Bright plays Wimbledon Bingo

BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Nick Bright pops along to SW19 and plays Wimbledon Bingo, where he is challenged to find someone to feed him a strawberry, photo-bomb a selfie, sign a giant tennis ball and commentate on a match.

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Wimbledon 2016: Andy Murray meets Nick Kyrgios in the last 16

Andy Murray faces his first serious test at Wimbledon 2016 when he meets unpredictable Australian Nick Kyrgios in the last 16 on Monday.

The pair will meet on Centre Court at around 16:30 BST, with the match shown live on BBC One.

Following Novak Djokovic’s shock exit, British number one Murray is the favourite to win his second SW19 title, while Kyrgios, 21, is looking to reach only his third Grand Slam quarter-final.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash and ex-British number one John Lloyd analyse where this mouth-watering tie will be won and lost.

• Murray column: Djokovic defeat guarantees nothing

Murray must deal with the Kyrgios serve

Kyrgios’ biggest weapon is no secret – it is his thumping serve.

The Australian has crashed down 79 aces so far in this year’s tournament, a tally only bettered by American John Isner.

His serve speeds have regularly clocked over 130mph, while his first-serve percentage of 72% is only topped by five other men.

But, against Murray, he is facing one of the best returners in the game.

“If Nick hits a lot of aces then there is very little you can do about it,” said BBC Radio 5 live analyst Cash.

“But he is also very big from the back of the court, his forehand is extremely strong and you need those sort of shots to get through Murray.

“He also has a great variety, that’s what is unsettling to a lot of players. If he can play consistently well and keep up his focus he gives any player a real threat.

“We know Kyrgios has plenty of power, but Murray’s defence is as good as anybody in the game.

“You do have to defend well against a guy like Kyrgios and Murray is moving really well. But he is also attacking, you can’t just be defending all the time.”

Kyrgios ‘blows hot and cold’

Kyrgios reckoned ahead of the tournament he was ready to “go deep” into the latter stages, reiterating after beating Feliciano Lopez – and following Novak Djokovic’s exit – his belief he could become the first Australian man to win a Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

However, he has shown the two wildly different sides to his game over the past week.

On the resumption of his match against Lopez on Sunday, Kyrgios produced what Lloyd said the 21-year-old’s camp would describe as “a 10 out of a 10 performance”.

“If he plays like that, with concentration and focus, then Andy Murray is in for a tough match,” added the 1977 Australian Open finalist.

“He showed controlled aggression, had excellent shot selection and played the percentages when he needed to.”

But he showed his petulant side against second-round opponent Dustin Brown, losing focus in the third set as he continually vented his frustrations at his box, the umpire and the crowd.

As Kyrgios lost focus in the third set, his serve took a beating by Brown. He won only 53% of first-serve points and 45% of second-serve points.

“Kyrgios’ big weakness is his mental capacity,” said Cash. “His focus can come and go, he can lose his temper. He blows hot and cold.

“Often he goes into a phase where he is upset and can start spraying balls. Murray will look to exploit that simply by playing well and putting him into awkward positions.”

Is Kyrgios’ best chance of beating Murray on grass?

Murray has won all four of their previous top-level meetings, including a straight-sets win at the 2015 Australian Open and four-set thriller at the US Open later that same year.

Kyrgios does have experience of beating Murray, though, albeit in a Hopman Cup competition not officially recognised as an ATP rankings event.

This will be their first meeting on grass, a surface on which Kyrgios himself believes gives him the best opportunity of beating the Scot.

“In theory it would seem that grass would be his best chance of beating Murray,” said Cash.

“With a serve like Nick’s it is harder to return on the grass and so he will get a few extra points with that serve. The slower the court the more rallies he has to hit.”

Survival of the fittest?

Murray has breezed through his opening three matches, spending little over five hours on court after seeing off Liam Broady, Yen-Hsun Lu and John Millman without dropping a set.

Kyrgios, however, has spent over two hours more on court than the Scot, having needed four sets to beat Radek Stepanek and Feliciano Lopez, as well as five sets to see off Dustin Brown.

“Murray will be trying to pin him to the baseline and wear him down over a few hours,” said Cash. “That’s what Andy does to players. He gets every ball back.

“Nick is still not as physically fit as Andy and he will suffer. That means he has to go for more shots. If they come off he can be unbeatable.

“If he has to work hard and struggle over five sets then he is likely to fade away against Andy. Andy is one of the fittest there is.”

Kyrgios thrives on the big stage

Kyrgios has only played on Centre Court once before, when he caused a massive upset by beating Rafael Nadal.

Kyrgios, then a 19-year-old wildcard ranked 144th, became the first man outside the top 100 to beat a world number one at a Grand Slam since 1992.

“He is a showman who loves playing in the type of atmosphere that there will be on Centre Court,” said Lloyd.

“He will embrace that he is playing the second best player in the world, on Centre Court and with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.”

Will Murray avoid an upset?

Murray is the overwhelming favourite to earn a fifth successive win against Kyrgios and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the ninth successive year.

And both Lloyd and Cash cannot see the Briton being at the receiving end of a shock.

“Andy will win,” said Lloyd. “He might drop a set, possibly two, but he will come through.”

Cash added: “I think Nick will definitely get a set, but it will be a Murray victory.”

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