The Chan sisters on Monday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at Wimbledon, while 15-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal crashed out in the round-of-16 of the men’s singles.
In a battle of the 2015 Wimbledon women’s doubles champions, Martina Hingis got the better of former partner Sania Mirza in the third round on Court 17 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, as the Swiss and Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan defeated the Indian and Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-2, 6-4 in 71 minutes.
The third seeds saved one of the two break points they faced and converted four of eight, winning 68 of the 115 points contested.
Photo: Reuters
Chan Yung-jan and Hingis adopted a clever strategy by hitting their shots at an angle that forced one of Mirza or Flipkens to a corner, opening up the rest of the court, as the Taiwanese-Swiss duo, who have claimed the titles at Indian Wells, Rome, Madrid and Eastbourne this season, advanced to the quarter-finals without having dropped a set.
They next face 12th seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, who outlasted seventh seeds Julia Goerges of Germany and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 in 1 hour, 57 minutes on Court 14.
On Court 16, ninth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Monica Niculescu had to rally from a set down to defeat Beatriz Haddad Maia and Ana Konjuh of Croatia 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 58 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Romanian duo saved five of nine break points and converted six of 13, taking advantage of their opponents’ eight double faults to advance to a quarter-final against Catherine Bellis of the US and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who ousted Ukrainian duo Lyudmyla Kichenok and Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-2 in 71 minutes.
Chan Hao-ching and Niculescu are the only seeds remaining in the top half of the draw, while Chan Yung-jan and Hingis face a potential semi-final against either Russian second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina or Australian eighth seeds Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, who they defeated in the final in Eastbourne earlier this month.
In men’s singles, Nadal’s bittersweet relationship with Wimbledon endured another twist on Monday when he was knocked out in a five-set, fourth-round epic by Luxembourg journeyman Gilles Muller.
Nadal’s stunning 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 defeat came after defending champion Andy Murray and seven-time winner Roger Federer had cruised into the last eight in straight sets.
The 4 hour, 48 minute stunner on Court One had the knock-on effect of pushing Novak Djokovic’s last-16 clash against France’s Adrian Mannarino back to yesterday.
Djokovic had been the last match scheduled on the court, but officials chose to postpone the tie instead of shifting it to Centre Court where it could, if necessary, have been completed under lights.
Just weeks after winning his 10th French Open title, Nadal was condemned to his fifth exit before the quarter-finals in his past five visits to Wimbledon.
Muller, seeded 16th, is to make his first Wimbledon quarter-final appearance against former US Open champion Marin Cilic today.
Defending champion Murray reached a 10th successive Wimbledon quarter-final with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4 win over France’s Benoit Paire.
World No. 1 Murray is to face Sam Querrey for a place in the semi-finals.
Only Federer and Jimmy Connors (11 each) have reached more consecutive Wimbledon quarter-finals than Murray.
Murray’s victory meant that, with Johanna Konta also making the last eight in the women’s tournament, it is the first time since 1973 that Britain has two players in the quarter-finals.
Federer reached his 50th Grand Slam quarter-final and 15th at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Grigor Dimitrov.
The Swiss star is next to face Milos Raonic, last year’s runner-up, after the sixth-seeded Canadian clinched a 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Alexander Zverev of Germany, the 10th seed.
Raonic defeated Federer in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year.
Federer, 35, is the second-oldest man to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon behind Ken Rosewall. who was 39 when he reached the last eight in 1971.
Querrey, the US 24th seed who last year knocked out Djokovic, made the quarter-finals for a second successive year with a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-7 (13/11), 6-3 win over unseeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa.
Seventh-seeded Cilic downed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Cilic will look to reach his first semi-final at Wimbledon when he faces Muller.
Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych downed eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Berdych, the 2010 runner-up, is to face either three-time champion Djokovic or Mannarino for a place in the semi-finals.
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