With gray skies looming over the All England Tennis Club on the second Monday of the tournament yesterday, a heavy downpour brought a halt to proceedings in southwest London.
On Centre Court, the fourth-round match between France’s Alize Cornet and Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard had to be suspended while the retractable roof was closed, but had restarted and was ongoing as of press time.
Before the inclement weather halted proceedings, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova claimed another famous scalp at Wimbledon as the unseeded Czech moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Photo: AFP
World No. 43 Zahlavova Strycova had enjoyed the best win of her career in the previous round when she defeated Chinese second seed Li Na and now added Danish 16th seed Wozniacki to her list of upsets, converting a sixth match point to move into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time in 32 attempts.
The 28-year-old, who served a six-month ban for doping last year, is to play 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or China’s Peng Shuai for a place in the semi-finals.
Zahlavova Strycova, 28, broke in the second game of the fourth-round tie and took the first set in emphatic fashion.
Photo: AFP
Wozniacki was on the back foot again in the second set and, although she managed to save five match points, Zahlavova Strycova finally closed out another memorable triumph at the sixth attempt.
The Dane’s defeat leaves her still waiting for a first Grand Slam quarters appearance since the 2012 Australian Open and continues her disappointing run of form after golfer Rory McIlroy broke off their engagement prior to her first-round loss at the French Open.
Zahlavova Strycova was joined in the last eight by compatriot Lucie Safarova as the 23rd seed ended the fairy-tale run of teenager Tereza Smitkova — the lowest-ranked woman left in the tournament and also hailing from the Czech Republic — with a ruthless 6-0, 6-2 victory.
Photo: AFP
World No. 175 Smitkova had enjoyed an impressive first-ever Grand Slam appearance, knocking out three higher ranked opponents, but the 19-year-old’s attempt to become only the seventh qualifier to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals was shattered as Safarova raced through in just 47 minutes.
Safarova can look forward to her first Wimbledon quarter-final appearance, which will also be the 27-year-old’s first last-eight clash at a Grand Slam since 2007.
Her opponent will be either Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was beaten by Serena Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final, or Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Makarova.
Sabine Lisicki’s already delayed third-round clash against former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was also halted by the rain with the German 19th seed, beaten by Marion Bartoli in last year’s final, leading.
The winner of that match will face a fourth-round tie against Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, the world No. 65 who was the beneficiary of US teenager Madison Keys’ decision to pull out of her delayed third-round tie due to a left-thigh injury.
Keys trailed 6-7 (7/9), 6-6 before play was curtailed due to bad light late on Saturday.
In the men’s side, Japanese 10th seed Kei Nishikori made it through to the last 16 for the first time yesterday after taking four games to finish off Italian lucky loser Simon Bolelli.
Their third-round contest was suspended at 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 3-3 in fading light on Saturday and Nishikori returned two days later to win the deciding set 6-4.
Nishikori faces Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic for a place in the quarter-finals.
In other men’s action ,fifth seed Stanislas Wawrinka needed only 87 minutes to breeze through his delayed third-round match against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, but faces a punishing upcoming schedule.
The Swiss fifth seed won 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, conserving energy for a possible three matches in three days or five in seven should he reach his first Wimbledon final.
The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, but sustained rain meant organizers canceled it.
Wawrinka dominated the rallies with his superior ground-strokes, particularly his elegant one-handed backhand.
The Australian Open Champion blazed away with 33 winners and converted four of the five break points as he reached the fourth round for the first time since 2009.
He will play either the US’ John Isner or Feliciano Lopez of Spain for a place in the quarter-finals, after the latter two’s match was also delayed yesterday.
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