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Djokovic, Serena target Wimbledon last-16

Top Seeds And Title Favourites Novak Djokovic And Serena Williams, Having Comfortably Survived The Cull Of Wimbledon Stars In The First Week, Aim To Move Into The Fourth Round On Saturday.

AFP | Updated on: 29 Jun 2013, 02:33:40 PM

London:

Top seeds and title favourites Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, having comfortably survived the cull of Wimbledon stars in the first week, aim to move into the fourth round on Saturday.

World number one Djokovic takes on French 28th seed Jeremy Chardy who he has defeated six times in six meetings without dropping a set.

The pair`s last meeting was in the first round at Wimbledon in 2011 when Djokovic cruised through for the loss of just six games on his way to his first and only title at the tournament.

The Serb has yet to drop his serve at Wimbledon this year, but having seen Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both knocked out in the first three days, he is taking nothing for granted.

"I don`t think about the final because it`s still a very long way. I think the fact that the top players lost in the last few days gives enough reason for all of us to not underestimate any opponent and not look that far," he said.

"It`s sport. This is what happens. Everybody, especially lower ranked players in the opening rounds, have nothing to lose really when they go on the centre stage and they come up with their best game."

Defending women`s champion Williams and Japan`s Kimiko Date-Krumm, two players with a combined age of 73, will clash in a battle of Wimbledon senior citizens.

Top seed Williams is on a winning streak of 33 matches and is widely expected to clinch a sixth Wimbledon title next weekend now that major rivals Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka are out.

Victory on Saturday will also give the American her 600th tour victory.

Date-Krumm, 42, has reached the Wimbledon third round 17 years after she last did so to become oldest woman to achieve the feat.

Despite their many years on tour, Williams and Date-Krumm, who made the semi-finals in 1996, have never played each other.

"Kimiko is so incredibly fit and inspiring. I have never played her but I watched her when I was super-young," said Williams.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Australia`s Bernard Tomic takes on French ninth seed Richard Gasquet on Centre Court at the same time that his younger sister, Sara, begins her campaign in the junior tournament on nearby Court 15.

Sabine Lisicki, a semi-finalist in 2011, faces Australia`s former US Open winner Samantha Stosur in a battle of the big servers.

Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, trails Russian 25th seed Ekaterina Makarova, 3-6, 6-2, 2-1, in one of seven matches not completed on Friday.

Fourth seed and 2012 runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska meets highly-rated American, Madison Keys, while China`s sixth seed Li Na takes on Czech 32nd seed, Klara Zakopalova.

Also looking for fourth-round spots in the men`s singles are fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer who plays Ukraine`s Alexandr Dolgopolov while 2011 runner-up Tomas Berdych, the seventh-seeded Czech, faces South Africa`s Kevin Anderson.

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First Published : 29 Jun 2013, 02:32:00 PM

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