Wimbledon Day 7 highlights: Federer and Nadal on course for dream final, Serena’s path is clear

Defending champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal closed in on a dream Wimbledon final as the sport’s two greatest players swept into the last-eight on Monday.

In the women’s singles, Serena Williams underlined her status as the title favourite with a 62-minute demolition of Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, while Karolina Pliskova became the last top 10 seed to crash out.

The big stories

Sweet 16 for Federer

Roger Federer needed just 16 minutes to win the opening set in a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 defeat of France’s Adrian Mannarino to reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday.

Eight-time champion Federer will be playing in his 53rd Grand Slam last-eight when he tackles either Gael Monfils of France or Kevin Anderson, the eighth-seeded South African.

Top seed Federer, 36, has now won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon, just two behind his record set from the third round in 2005 to his title triumph in 2006.

Nadal in first Wimbledon QF since 2011

World No 1 Rafael Nadal reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final since 2011 with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic on Monday.

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, will face either Juan Martin del Potro, the fifth seed from Argentina, or unseeded Gilles Simon of France for a place in the semi-finals.

It will be 32-year-old Nadal’s 35th appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final as he continues his bid to win an 18th major title.

Djokovic in 10th quarter-final

Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the 10th time on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Three-time champion Djokovic, seeded 12, will face Japan’s 24th seed Kei Nishikori for a place in the semi-finals.

It will be Djokovic’s 41st appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final and he will start favourite against Nishikori who will be in his first last-eight at the All England Club.

Former world No 1 Djokovic has a 13-2 winning record against the Japanese player.

Path clear for Serena

Serena Williams has warned her Wimbledon rivals she is nowhere near her best despite powering into the quarter-finals without dropping a set.

Williams is chasing an eighth Wimbledon crown and the American star showed why she is the title favourite with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Evgeniya Rodina in the fourth round on Monday.

In her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final, Serena faces Italian world number 52 Camila Giorgi on Tuesday. The path to the title appears wide open for the 36-year-old after every female top seed crashed out before the last eight for the first time in Wimbledon history.

Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens have all been eliminated.

The carnage at the top leaves 11th seed Angelique Kerber – beaten by Serena in the 2016 Wimbledon final – as the highest ranked player left.

Isner into quarters for first time

American ninth seed John Isner reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final at the 10th attempt on Monday with a 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/4) win over Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Isner, 33, will be playing in his first quarter-final at the majors since the 2011 US Open when he faces former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic for a semi-final spot on Wednesday.

Tsitsipas was bidding to become the first ever Greek player – man or woman – to reach the last-eight at a Grand Slam.

Nishikori ends Japan’s 23-year wait for Wimbledon quarter-finalist

Kei Nishikori overcame an arm injury to reach his first Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday with a gritty 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10), 6-1 win over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.

The 28-year-old is the first Japanese man to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995.

His reward is a last-eight match-up against either three-time champion Novak Djokovic or unseeded Karen Khachanov of Russia.

Nishikori needed lengthy treatment and a medical timeout on a right arm injury in the first set and had to save set points in the third.

Shots of the day

Quotable quotes

“I’m 25% Scottish, 25 English, and half Chinese. Yeah, I definitely got some Mackenzie-McDonald-Scottish-English blood in me.”

– US player Mackenzie McDonald who was made a surprise last-16 run.

“I don’t want to talk about this any more. I answered this question, like, 10 times. I don’t know why all the seeds are gone.”

– Defeated seventh seed Karolina Pliskova weary of discussing why the big names have flopped at Wimbledon.

“I’m not going to comment this any more. This question I’ve been asked so many times this week, last week. I just don’t want to talk about it any more, about the seeding thing. It’s over. It was over one week ago for me, so I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

– Dominika Cibulkova is another player not keen to talk – this time about being bumped out of the seedings to accommodate Serena Williams.

“Good vibes. Good vibes.”

– Croatia’s Donna Vekic on her message of support for the Croatian football team who face England in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

“Actually, I didn’t even understand for what it was given because I didn’t really hear anybody saying anything. Probably somebody from the crowd said something. But I didn’t hear anyone from my team saying anything. That’s why I spoke to the chair umpire. That code violation made me even more motivated and angry, so I just started to play better.”

– Jelena Ostapenko on the controversy over a warning for coaching she received against Aliaksandra Sasnovich which came when she was 2-5 down in the first set. The Latvian went on to claim a 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 win.

“Maybe you should ask the questions over in Russia, how they’re going to feel about Wimbledon being played at the same time.”

– Roger Federer on the clash on Sunday between the World Cup final and the Wimbledon men’s singles final.

“This is tough because I cannot see myself from the side. I’m just like an artist and I’m playing with the heart.”

– Daria Kasatkina on being asked to describe herself.

With inputs from AFP