The No. 1 escape artists

London, July 7

Top seed and reigning champion Novak Djokovic pulled off a great escape at Wimbledon in beating South African Kevin Anderson on Tuesday after five tense sets to reach his 25th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Top seed Serena Williams overpowered Victoria Azarenka in an absorbing quarterfinal, recovering from a set down to win 3-6 6-2 6-3.

The American, who will face Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, is two wins away from holding all four Grand Slam titles concurrently — the so-called Serena Slam she also achieved in 2002-03. “It was fun out there and I saw Victoria smiling as well, we both really enjoyed it,” Williams, who has won 26 Grand Slam matches in a row, said. 

Earlier, in a match spanning two days, with the top seed fighting  back to two sets all in fading light on Monday before play was stopped and carried over, Djokovic walked away a mightily relieved man with a 6-7(6) 6-7(6) 6-1 6-4 7-5 win.

“I think he served exceptionally well. This was one of the most difficult matches I have played at Wimbledon and maybe in my career,” the world No. 1 said after a final set in which his frustration and pent-up emotion was audible. He now faces US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia in the last eight.

The players had walked out to cheers for the final set but the entry proved premature, with umbrellas going up and the rain covers hurriedly pulled across Court One as the pair returned to the locker room. When the match did re-start, 16 hours and 33 minutes after the previous point was played, Djokovic was immediately back in the line of fire. 

Anderson — who served 40 aces to his opponent’s 13 —blasted down two aces, followed by a backhand volley and another bullet that fizzed past Djokovic, to hold serve without giving the Serb any hope of replying. In the sixth game, after winning a key point, he let out a scream that left a ball girl shaken even if the ire was directed purely at himself. “It’s particularly frustrating when you’re playing somebody that serves this well and doesn’t give you any look at the break.” 

Anderson said: “I came a lot closer this time than I have in the past. But it just wasn’t close enough.” — Reuters

Paes, Hingis storm into quarters

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis breezed into the mixed doubles quarterfinals after drubbing Artem Sitak and Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets today. The seventh seeds needed only 48 minutes to win 6-2 6-2 in the third round. Paes and Hingis did not face a single break point and broke their rivals twice in each set. They won 56 points to 34 of Sitak and Rodionova. — PTI

Results

Women (Quarterfinals) 

1-Serena Williams (US) bt 23-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 3-6 6-2 6-3; 4-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Coco Vandeweghe (US) 6-3 6-7(3) 6-2; 20-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) bt 15-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 7-5 6-3; 13-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt 21-Madison Keys (US) 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3 

Men (Round 4)

1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt 14-Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-7(6) 6-7(6) 6-1 6-4 7-5 

Coco accuses Sharapova of unsporting behaviour

American Coco Vandeweghe accused Maria Sharapova of unsporting behaviour after going out to the Russian in the quarterfinals. The only unseeded player in the last eight, Vandeweghe complained to the chair umpire about Sharapova’s movements during the American’s second serve. “Her moving around in between my serving motion was not sportsmanlike, in my opinion,” she said. “I try to play as fair as I can. When I felt like it wasn’t being reciprocated, that’s when I spoke with the umpire for her to deal with,” she said, adding that the official had disagreed and taken no action. “Towards the latter end of the second set, I said if she has a problem speaking to Maria, if she’s too scared to do it, I had no problem speaking to her,” said Vandeweghe. Asked if she felt the umpire was “too scared” to talk to the fourth seed, she replied: “Well, I didn’t hear anything said.” Asked also whether she believed some umpires struggled to speak to the “big name players” like Sharapova, she said: “You’d have to ask them.”