Top seed Novak Djokovic dispatched the dangerous 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to move into the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The 2011 champion dominated the opening two sets before the Frenchman rallied to take the third to a tie-break, succumbing 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-5). Djokovic will next face Marin Cilic after the Croat beat Jeremy Chardy to make his first Wimbledon quarter-final. Grigor Dimitrov, the 11th seed, will meet Andy Murray in the last eight.

The Bulgarian held his nerve in a rain-interrupted match to see off Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 and book an attractive-looking quarter-final date with the defending champion. “We get along pretty good – my team and his team are on good terms. There’s always jokes between us,” he told BBC Sport. “Off the court is one thing; on it is another. That’s exciting and hopefully there will be no hard feelings after the match. “He’s feeling comfortable here, all the crowd is with him. That gives him an extra edge, but also adds a little bit of pressure.”

Djokovic, who could meet the winner in the semi-finals, was pleased to overcome Tsonga – who raised his game to force a tie-break in the third set – with relative comfort. “In the third set he started to serve very well, and it was hard to get the ball back into play,” said the Serb. “I saved a couple of break points, and at 6-5 I had an opportunity and I used it. It was a great match.

“I am feeling good. I had two days off and recovered a little bit. I had a couple of tough matches last week, so it was good to win this in straight sets against such a good player as Tsonga.” Djokovic has won all nine of his previous matches with Cilic, who beat Chardy 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 6-4, but is wary of underestimating an opponent who ousted sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the third round.

“It plays maybe a little bit in my mental favour, but he is now working with Goran Ivanisevic and he has improved a lot, especially his serve which is important on this surface. He knows how to win on grass so it will be a tough one.”
Stan Wawrinka, Feliciano Lopez and Kei Nishikori all made it into the last 16 in matches postponed from Saturday because of the weather.

Australian Open champion Wawrinka wasted little time wrapping up a 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory in 86 minutes.
But the Swiss fifth seed, who will next face 19th seed Feliciano Lopez, was unhappy with his match being called off on Saturday and the subsequent scheduling issues which will mean him playing on three consecutive days if he reaches the semi-finals.

“I know if I want to get through, it’s going to be a really tough week,” he said. “To play a five-set match it’s never easy but me or Lopez have to play three matches in three days. It’s terrible for the body. “I was expecting them to move matches, maybe juniors or doubles, to make my match or Isner-Lopez match first on when they start at 17:00 or 18:00 again when it stopped raining. “But they [the referee] just do what they think is good for them and that’s it. You have to accept. You cannot do anything.”

Spaniard Lopez beat big-serving ninth seed John Isner 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 despite the American hitting 52 aces. Lopez, a three-time quarter-finalist, earned the only service break of the match in the penultimate game with a winning crosscourt backhand pass that he celebrated by leaping and punching the air. It was the only time Isner was broken during his three matches this year at the All England Club and it means there are no Americans remaining in either the men’s or women’s singles.

Nishikori was level at 3-3 in the fifth set with Italian lucky loser Simone Bolelli when play was suspended on Saturday, and he went on to complete a 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over the world number 45. Nishikori, whose next opponent will be Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic, has praised former French Open champion Michael Chang for helping him face down his “fear” of the game’s ‘big four’.

The 24-year-old admits he used to fret about facing players like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – until linking up with the 42-year-old American late last year. “I love how he coaches me, my tennis is changing, and you see that with my ranking being much higher this year,” he said. “I think we’re seeing things change slightly as well, with the young guys like Raonic and Grigor Dimtrov beating top guys too, and Stan [Wawrinka] winning in Australia “Michael is teaching me how to be mentally strong, how to be tough like that. He’s always very positive. I love how he thinks. Sometimes it’s very different from me, but that really helps.”

Courtesy: BBC TENNIS