Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are in imperious form as The Championships head into the second week, with both posting convincing Centre Court victories on Saturday.
Three-time champion Djokovic was too strong for Juan Martin del Potro’s slayer, former world No.10 Ernests Gulbis. The Serb prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(2) to set a fourth-round meeting with unseeded Adrian Mannarino after the Frenchman earlier upset No.15 seed Gael Monfils 7-6(3), 4-6, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Seven-time champion Roger Federer later booked his last 16 berth with a 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 result against German No.27 seed Mischa Zverev. The Swiss finished with 58 winners and just seven unforced errors. He will take on former semi-finalist No.13 seed Grigor Dimitrov, the first winner of the day in the Gentlemen’s Singles draw, after the Bulgarian outclassed Dudi Sela before the Israeli retired hurt while trailing 6-1, 6-1.
No.8 seed Dominic Thiem progressed to the second week at Wimbledon for the first time moments after Federer’s victory with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 result over American Jared Donaldson. The Austrian next faces former finalist Tomas Berdych. The Czech No.11 seed easily accounted for David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Former finalists Garbiñe Muguruza and Angelique Kerber will face off for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday after contrasting but impressive third-round performances.
Muguruza, who faced Serena Williams in the 2015 final, was imperious once more against Sorana Cirstea, racing past the Romanian 6-2, 6-2.
But things were far less straight-forward for Kerber, whose world No.1 ranking was under threat when she trailed American Shelby Rogers by a set and a break. The German, who lost to Williams in last year’s final, produced her best tennis of the week to turn the match around for a 4-6, 7-6(2) 6-4 victory.
Danish No.5 seed Caroline Wozniacki survived an almighty scare to oust big-hitting Esonian Anett Kontaveit. Twice the Estonian served for a straight-sets upset before Wozniacki rallied to force the decider. She eventually ran away with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 victory. CoCo Vandeweghe boosted her grass court credentials as she booked showdown with Wozniacki via a 6-2, 6-4 win over US compatriot Alison Riske. Like Vandeweghe, Svetlana Kuznetsova is through to the fourth round without dropping a set – the Russian claimed her second bagel of the week in a 6-4, 6-0 win over Polona Hercog.
On Centre Court, Agnieszka Radwanska booked her place in the fourth round with an entertaining 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Timea Bacsinszky, while qualifier Petra Martic’s run continues after a 7-6(6), 6-1 win over Zarina Diyas.
The Croatian will next face Magdalena Rybarikova, who backed up her win over Karolina Pliskova in style against Lesia Tsurenko, beating the Ukrainian 6-2, 6-1.
No.10 seed Alexander Zverev fared better than his brother as he posted a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over surprise Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner, while last year’s finalist, Milos Raonic, eased past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-5.
Sam Querrey’s held-over showdown with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lasted just one game, the American breaking the French No.12 seed with the match on the line to complete a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5 win. Querrey will face South Africa’s Kevin Anderson on Monday.
In the doubles, top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers saw off Britons Scott Clayton and Jonny O’Mara 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, but three-time Wimbledon champions Bob and Mike Bryan are out after losing to Marcin Matkowski and Max Mirnyi 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. The biggest upset of the day belonged to wild card pairing of Jay Clarke and Marcus Willis. The British duo took down defending champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-3.
Kirsten Flipkens and Sania Mirza, the No.13 seeds, beat Brits Naomi Broady and Heather Watson 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on a good day for the top-ranked pairings – No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova, No.5 seeds Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova, and No.7 seeds Julia Goerges and Barbora Strycova all booked their place in the third round.
Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen's defence of their Mixed Doubles title stayed on track after they landed a 6-1, 6-3 win over Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Anna-Lena Groenefeld while No.1 seeds Martina Hingis and Jamie Murray eased past Neal Skupski and Anna Smith 6-3, 6-0.
Stat of the day:
4 minutes, 15 seconds – the time it took Sam Querrey to complete his five-set upset of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the resumption of play on Saturday.
Quote of the day:
"You are taking so much time" – Ernests Gulbis has a dig at Novak Djokovic as he waits for the Serb to walk off Centre Court. "Sorry man," Djokovic grinned.