Three-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon fourth round for the 10th time on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) win over Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
Second seed Djokovic will play France’s Adrian Mannarino for a place in the quarterfinals
“I’m delighted with the performance today. I thought I raised the level of tennis,” said Djokovic after making the second week without dropping a set.
“Comparing to the first couple of matches and the last couple of weeks I think this was the most focused I was on the court.”
Gulbis, now ranked at a lowly 589 after once reaching 10 in the world in 2014 when he defeated Roger Federer on his way to the French Open semifinals, fired 37 unforced errors to Djokovic’s meager 12.
“It’s not easy obviously playing on grass against a big server like that,” said Djokovic of his childhood friend Gulbis. “I’m very pleased with the way I’ve felt, the way I’ve played.”
Earlier, top seed Angelique Kerber scraped into the women’s singles last 16 after a tense 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over US world No. 70 Shelby Rogers.
The German star was a break down in the second set but did just enough to claw her way into Monday’s fourth round where she will face Garbine Muguruza.
Agnieszka Radwanska, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Coco Vandeweghe, Magdalena Rybarikova and qualifier Petra Martic also won their third round ties.
Sam Querrey took one game to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a match suspended Friday due to bad light, while Grigor Dimitrov made it through after opponent Dudi Sela pulled out — the 11th retirement at the championships.
Querrey and Tsonga’s match was called off at 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-5, with the French 12th seed not wanting to serve as the light faded, though Querrey was happy to receive.
They returned to finish the contest on Saturday but it was all over in a matter of minutes as the US 24th seed broke serve.
“My opponent was good today. He did three, four good shots, and yeah, that’s it,” said Tsonga.
Querrey said: “It’s really the most anti-climactic way to finish a match.”
Bulgarian 13th seed Dimitrov had an easy ride into the last 16 when Israeli Sela was forced to pull out at 6-1, 6-1 down after struggling with a right thigh injury that required treatment during the match.
The 2008 Wimbledon junior champion will next face either Federer or Mischa Zverev.
Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, last year’s beaten finalist, downed Spain’s 25th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-5 to book a fouth round spot against either Alexander Zverev or qualifier Sebastian Ofner.
Muguruza stepped up her bid to return to the Wimbledon final with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
The world No, 15 became the first Spanish woman to reach the All England Club title match in 19 years when she was beaten by Serena Williams in the 2015 final.
“Every time I start the grass season, I’m like, ‘How the hell did I reach that final?’,” the 2016 French Open winner said.
An off-sorts Cirstea had witnessed the horrific knee injury suffered by her opponent Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the previous round on Thursday.
Mattek-Sands broke down in tears as she relived the sickening injury which has left her facing surgery to repair a dislocated kneecap.
“I remember I heard a pop in my leg and everything went slow after that,” the American said Saturday from her hospital room in Wimbledon.
“I have had lots of injuries in my career but this is definitely the worst.
“I will be out for a while but I will get through this.”
The deft Radwanska, who lost the 2012 final to Serena Williams, came back from a set down to beat Swiss 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Center Court.

Source: Arab News