Wimbledon 2018: Serena, Federer, Nadal enter quarters; Sharan makes India proud

Federer needed just 16 minutes to win the opening set in his 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 win

serena-williams-wimbledon-2018-afp Serena Williams celebrates after beating Russia's Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-2 in their women's singles fourth round match at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships | AFP

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 quarterfinal 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. Federer boasts a 4-0 career record against 2017 US Open runner-up Anderson and 9-4 over Monfils.

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.

Monfils and Anderson have yet to get to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, although the French shotmaker may just be the slight favourite as he has a 5-0 winning record over the big South African.

Rafael Nadal beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to enter the quarterfinal for the first time since 2011. He will play the winner of the match between Juan Martin del Potro and Gilles Simon on Wednesday.

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic, seeded a lowly 12 this year, can make his 10th Wimbledon quarterfinal if he defeats unseeded Karen Khachanov, the world number 40 from Russia. The winner will take on Kei Nishikori, who overcame elbow trouble in the opening set to win a marathon match 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(10) 6-1 against a limping Ernests Gulbis and reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal at the tenth attempt.

Latvian qualifier Gulbis, a former world number 10 also looking for his first quarterfinal at Wimbledon, gave as good as he got in a ding-dong battle over three sets before hurting his knee in the third-set tiebreak. Japanese former world number four Nishikori, seeded 24th, was troubled by his right elbow during the first set which he lost after being broken in the fifth game.

World number 130 Gulbis came through qualifying and shocked fourth seeded German Alexander Zverev in the third round. Gulbis had played three successive five-set matches to get this far.

Should number 103 Mackenzie McDonald defeat former runner-up Milos Raonic later on Monday, it will be the first time since 2000 that two men outside the top 100 have made the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Stefanos Tsitsipas can make history by becoming the first Greek player—man or woman—to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal if he beats US ninth seed John Isner.

The 19-year-old 31st seed has already put in his best performance at a Slam and is bidding to prevent Isner, 14 year his senior, making the quarterfinals for the first time.

Meanwhile, in women's singles, seven-time champion Serena Williams prevailed in a Centre Court mothers' meeting on Monday, roaring past Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina into the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The 36-year-old American was untroubled in a 6-2 6-2 victory—her 90th singles match win at the All England Club—over Rodina, who like Williams, combines a tennis career with motherhood.

World no. 20 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands also battled to a straight-set upset win over world no. 8 Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), reaching the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon for first time in her career.

The 26-year-old needed one hour and 39 minutes to beat Pliskova, a former world no. 1 who was the last top 10 player left in this year's edition of the tournament, reported Efe.

Bertens is set to take on world no. 13 Julia Goerges of Germany, who beat world no. 55 Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-3, 6-2.

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko also advanced to the last eight stage after she defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.

Ostapenko took one hour and 18 minutes to move a step closer to winning her second Grand Slam title, having won the 2017 French Open.

The 21-year-old struck two aces and 28 winners compared to her rival's four and 14, respectively, and has yet to lose a set at Wimbledon this year.

In the upcoming round, Ostapenko will play Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, world no. 33, who eliminated Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei 6-4, 6-1.

Italy's Camila Giorgi, world no. 52, staged her own upset over world no. 35 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 30 minutes.

Up next, Giorgi is to square off against either 25th-seed Serena Williams of the US, or world no. 120 Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.

Divij Sharan reached the Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time in his career as he combined with Artem Sitak to stage yet another dramatic comeback after being by down by two sets to defeat Jonathan Erlich and Marcin Matkowski at the Wimbledon Championships.

Sharan and New Zealand's Sitak prevailed 1-6 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4 6-4 over the Isralei-Polish combination after a gruelling men's doubles third round which lasted three hours and fifty minutes.

Reaching the third rounds at Australian Open this year and at French Open (2017) and US Open (2013) was the best performance for the left-hander till today's win.

It is second consecutive win where Sharan and Sitak erased a two-set deficit to eke out a five-set thrilling win.