Canada’s Milos Raonic is through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals after posting a 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
Raonic, seeded sixth at the All England Club, struggled against the 10th seeded German early on and looked to be in trouble after falling behind two sets to one.
But a break to win the fourth set seemed to invigorate the Canadian, who steamrolled to victory with a dominant fifth set.
He served to love in the deciding game, converting his first match point with his 23rd ace.
Raonic, a finalist last year at Wimbledon, will face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
Federer, the third-ranked Swiss star, is looking to win a championship at Wimbledon for a record eighth time.
Nadal upset after epic 15-13 5th set
Rafael Nadal was beaten in the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13.
The two-time champion at the All England Club saved two match points in the 10th game of the fifth set, and two more in the 20th game.
“When you are in the fifth, against a player like him, (the outcome) just depends on a few balls,” Nadal said, shaking his head. “Actually, he was a little better than me on a few balls.”
Nadal dropped the opening set despite not making an unforced error, ending his Grand Slam set winning streak.
Nadal had won 28 consecutive completed sets at major tournaments, equaling his personal best. Only two men have had longer such runs: Roger Federer won 36 Grand Slam sets in a row in 2006-07, and John McEnroe had a 35-set run in 1984.
This is without doubt the best point of the tournament! Nadal and Muller take a bow đź‘Ź #Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/6a2DHb539t
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@eaglemoustache
The last set lost by Nadal at a major was the fifth in the Australian Open final in January against Federer. After that, Nadal won his 10th French Open title without conceding a set, then won his first three matches at Wimbledon in straight sets.
“It’s tough to say what, exactly, made the difference at the end,” Muller said. “To be honest, I haven’t really realized what just happened.”
No issues for Murray
Andy Murray is in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the 10th straight year.
The defending champion beat Benoit Paire 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 on centre court.
Murray has won two titles at the All England Club. In his previous nine quarter-final matches, Murray is 7-2.
“I’ve done a good job so far here,” said Murray. “Today was by far the best I hit the ball, the cleanest I hit the ball. I was happy about that.”
The top-ranked Murray will next face Sam Querrey.
Kerber falls
Garbine Muguruza eliminated Angelique Kerber from the Wimbledon tournament Monday, a result that means the German will lose her No. 1 ranking.
Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion, beat Kerber 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round on No. 2 Court.
With the loss to Kerber, either Simona Halep or Karolina Pliskova will take over as the top-ranked player after the tournament.
Muguruza, a Wimbledon finalist in 2015, will next face two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals.
Federer makes history
Playing on centre court again, Roger Federer won.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion advanced to the quarter-finals for the 15th time by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
More history for 🇨đź‡Federer … Roger into his 15th #Wimbledon quarterfinal which breaks tie with @JimmyConnors for most in Open era
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@markhmasters
“I didn’t expect it go to that easy,” said Federer, the Australian Open champion. “It wasn’t as easy maybe as it looks like.”
Federer has won 18 Grand Slam titles. One more at Wimbledon will give him a record eighth championship at the All England Club, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras.
Venus through to quarters
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams returned to the quarter-finals at the All England Club with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 19-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia.
The 37-year-old Williams made her Grand Slam debut at the 1997 French Open, seven months before Konjuh was born.
“Winning never gets old at any stage in your career, ever, ever,” Williams said.
Williams served pretty much impeccably, hitting seven aces and winning 31 of 36 first-serve points.
This was Williams’ first match since police in Florida rescinded their original conclusion that she was at fault in a two-car crash last month. A passenger in the other vehicle died about two weeks later. Police said Friday that video showed Williams legally entered the intersection and now no blame has been determined in the accident.
Nestor moves on in mixed doubles
In mixed doubles second-round action, Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Slovenian partner Andreja Klepac defeated India’s Purav Raja and Japan’s Eri Hozumi 6-2, 7-5. The 11th-seeded Nestor and Klepac next meet American Nicole Melichar and Germany’s Andre Begemann.