Milos Raonic advances to Wimbledon quarter-finals
Canadian defeats American Mackenzie McDonald in 4th round
Milos Raonic is accustomed to overpowering opponents with his booming serve, but he expects to get a taste of the punishment he's been dishing out in a Wimbledon quarter-final against American John Isner.
The 27-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., advanced to the final eight at the All England Club for a third consecutive year with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win over unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the fourth round on Monday.
Once again, Raonic was dominant with his serve. The No. 13 seed had 37 aces, and McDonald didn't have a single break-point opportunity.
But Raonic faces another fearsome server in No. 9 Isner, who fired 22 aces in a 6-4, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (4) win over No. 31 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on Monday.
"It's definitely not pleasant," Raonic said of facing a big-serving opponent. "It's not enjoyable. You can't get any rhythm, these kind of things.
"But I'm aware he feels the same way. So I think we're sort of both playing with the same type of fire. It's about who can sort of temper the other guy's (serve) better."
The quarter-final will be Raonic's first match against a seeded player at the tournament. Isner has won three of four career matches against Raonic, though the Canadian won the most recent meeting in 2016 in Cincinnati.
"I don't think we're going to have many consecutive opportunities on each other's serves," Raonic said. "It's going to be coming down to those moments about being sharp in the right moments, who is going to be able to step up, be the one that's able to dictate, putting more pressure on the other guy.
"I think it's going to be decided by small margins."
Raonic characterized Isner's serve as "incredible," but said he might be the mobile of the two if it came down to a rally.
"You know, I think I can move a little bit better than he can. He's got a bigger wingspan than I do. I think probably the thing is, neither of us behind our serves is hitting extremely difficult volleys. I think I feel more comfortable than he does up there."
On Monday, Raonic lost his first tie-break of the tournament in the third set. The best player in tie-breaks on the ATP Tour had won his previous four.
But he bounced back in the fourth set to beat the 103rd-ranked McDonald, and reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time. That's the most quarter-final appearances of a Canadian male singles player at Wimbledon.
"I missed a few opportunities in the third set. Then I just sort of let up a little bit, and he played well in that tiebreaker," Raonic said. "Other than that, it was a pretty clean match. I didn't face any break points, I don't believe. I did a lot of things well."
Raonic lost to Roger Federer in the quarter-finals last year. In 2016, he lost to Andy Murray in the final.
Nadal, Federer roll
Federer charged through in the men's draw, advancing to a record-extending 16th Wimbledon quarter-final with a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Adrian Mannarino of France.
The eight-time champion lost just five points in a 16-minute first set but faced break points for the first time in this year's tournament, saving all four.
Federer has now won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon to move within one straight-sets victory of breaking his previous longest streak at the All England Club, when he won 34 in a row between the third round in 2005 and the final in 2006.
The eight-time champion lost just five points in a 16-minute first set but faced break points for the first time in this year's tournament, saving all four.
Rafael Nadal reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time since 2011.
The top-ranked Spaniard beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court to return to the last eight for the first time since he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Nadal, a two-time champion at the All England Club, has yet to drop a set in this tournament. He was down a break in the third set but broke right back for 3-3 and then converted his third match point when Vesely missed a backhand.
Eighth-seeded Kevin Anderson and No. 24 Kei Nishikori of Japan also advanced.
Williams dominate Russian qualifier
Not one top-10 seed has made the women's quarter-finals at Wimbledon. Serena Williams will be there, though, after she moved a step closer to an eighth title.
Williams reached her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final by beating Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-4, 6-2 and never looked likely to join the parade of favourites who have been eliminated.
No. 7 Karolina Pliskova became the last of the top-10 seeds to be knocked out, losing to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.
Since seeds were introduced in the 1920s, it's the first time none of the top-10 have reached the women's quarter-finals at Wimbledon. It's also a first for any Grand Slam tournament in the 50-year professional era.
Williams is seeded 25th after returning from having a baby, but is looking like her usual dominant self on the grass courts. In a matchup of the only two mothers remaining in the draw, she jumped into a 3-0 lead in both sets and wrapped up the win in 62 minutes.
Rodina, who upset 10th-seeded Madison Keys in the previous round, broke back for 3-2 in the second set but was broken to love straight away.
Canadian Dabrowski in doubles quarter-finals
Meanwhile, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa is off to the women's doubles quarter-finals.
Dabrowski and partner Yifan Xu of China, the sixth seeds, downed No. 17 seeds Vania King of the U.S., and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 6-3 in a third-round match.
Dabrowski and Xu will face American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.