Wimbledon: Serena Extends Winning Streak, Makes Q/finals

Seven times winner, Serena Williams raced into her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final with a straight set thrashing of Russian qualifier and fellow mum, Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-2 in under 62 minutes.

Delivering another sterling performance on Monday, Serena, who won the Wimbledon title on her last two visits in 2015 and 2016, is now on an 18-match winning streak at the All England Club.

Having missed Wimbledon in 2017 as she prepared to have her first child in September, Serena is in pole position to win her first Grand Slam crown since becoming a mother.

On Tuesday, the 36-year-old American faces Italian world number 52, Camila Giorgi for a semi-finals’ slot at the foremost world’s tennis tournament.

Asked if it was a flawless display, Serena admitted she is never satisfied. “I’m a perfectionist. I always find something wrong,” she said.

“It was an interesting match. She was hitting the ball well. That’s why she got this far. It was a good win but it was tougher than the scoreline to be honest.”

Picking up the 90th Wimbledon win of her illustrious career, the most among active female players in the circuit, means Serena, who is currently on 181 position in the WTA rankings, will return to the top 100 next week.

Williams had made a tentative return to action following complications during daughter Olympia’s birth, struggling in her few appearances before pulling out midway through the recent French Open with a pectoral injury.

So far, her blistering form and a series of shock results are combining to pave the way for another Williams’s coronation at Wimbledon. Interestingly, with none of the top 10 women’s seeds left in the draw, Serena is becoming an ever stronger favourite to win a 24th Grand Slam title and her first since giving birth last September.

Some may argue she has yet to face a stiff test here – she has beaten players ranked 105th, 135th, 62nd and now 120th in the world – but they cannot argue with the fact she only returned to competitive singles tennis in March and has now reached another Grand Slam quarter-final.

Nine-time Wimbledon champion and BBC pundit Martina Navratilova said: “She’s been healthy here, hitting the ball hard and the seas have parted for her.”

Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens have all been eliminated already. It is the first time in Wimbledon history not one of the top 10 women’s seeds have reached the quarter-finals.

Serena, seeded 25th, was facing a fellow mother in Rodina, the world number 120 who calls the American her “idol”.  And it was child’s play on Centre Court for Williams, who hit 30 winners and served 10 aces.

Twenty years after making her Wimbledon debut, Williams looks as good as ever and she moves into the quarter-finals without dropping a set in her first four matches.

Serena needs to win three more matches to earn the 24th Grand Slam singles title of her career, a mark which would tie current record holder Margaret Court.

Other qualifiers for the quarter finals, apart from Serena and Giorgi are Daria Kasatkina, who will play Angelique Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova who will battle Jelena Ostapenko and Kiki Bertens who will face Julia Goerges.

In the men’s group, Roger Federer, Milos Raonic, John Isner and Japanese Kei Nishikori are also into the quarter-finals.

Nishikori made his first quarter-final at Wimbledon defeating Ernests Gulbis, while Federer defeated Adrian Mannarino. – With agency report