LONDON, July 6, 2019

Players from the bottom half of the men’s draw were in third-round action on Saturday at The Championships at Wimbledon led by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Nadal could have been forgiven for feeling hard done by his draw but the third seed has reached the second week for just the loss of one set. The two-time champion defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Nadal completed victory over the Frenchman with an ace after one hour and 48 minutes and looks to be putting together a strong case for ending the fortnight as the champion.

Rafa rolls on…

Equalling Bjorn Borg’s record of 51 #Wimbledon men’s singles victories, @RafaelNadal defeats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to progress to the fourth round for the ninth time pic.twitter.com/wL2yx1sH1u

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 6. Juli 2019

“I played a solid match. I played a good quality of tennis. Honestly, I felt very comfortable this afternoon out there,” said Nadal, who has now reached the fourth round at SW 19 for the ninth time of his career. “I think [in the] second round I played little bit better than the first round. Today I played better than in the second round.”

Nadal will next take on Joao Sousa of Portugal, who outlasted British No 3 Dan Evans 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 after almost four hours of play.

Federer through

Roger Federer defeated Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(4) to record his 350th match win at Grand Slams to become the first player in history to reach the milestone.

It’s hard to stop @rogerfederer in this kind of form…

The Swiss defeats Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(4) to notch his 350th match win at Grand Slams – the first player in history to reach the milestone#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/A1sBL0HS5L

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 6. Juli 2019

“I’m very happy how it’s going so far. I thought it was a good match with Lucas today,” Federer said. “Of course, I hope it’s going to take a special performance from somebody to stop me.”

Up next for the Swiss eight-time champion is Matteo Berrettini. The in-form Italian continued his great run on grass battling past No. 24 seeded Argentine Diego Schwarztman 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in four hours and 19 minutes.

“I don’t know him very well on top of it. So that makes it a bit more tricky, as well. I saw him play a little bit in Halle. Saw his run, of course, in Stuttgart. Now he’s backing it up here again. That’s not easy to do, especially when you’re sort of newer on the Tour,” Federer said of his upcoming opponent. “I’m expecting a tough one. I hope he has no energy left after today. I’m sure he’ll recover. He’s young. I’m sure we’ll see a tough match on Monday.”

Around the courts

Kei Nishikori of Japan maintained his perfect record against Steve Johnson, winning his fifth encounter against the US-American in as many meetings between the two. The 29-year-old recorded his 400th tour-level match win by the score of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 50 minutes. Nishikori will next play Mikhael Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, who knocked out Jan-Lennard Struff, the last German player in the draw. Kukushkin won 6-3, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 in three hours and 18 minutes.

Sam Querrey from the United States edged past Australia’s John Millman 7-6(7), 7-6(8), 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes to meet compatriot Tennys Sandrgren next, who committed just 18 unforced errors in a 6-3, 7-6(12), 6-3 win over Fabio Fognini. The No. 12 seed from Italy, who won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April, didn’t seem to be happy to play his third-round match on Court 14.

Fabio Fognini, down two sets to Sandgren, is NOT happy that #Wimbledon put him on Court 14.

“A bomb should explode here.” pic.twitter.com/EBnLwGHOPP

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) 6. Juli 2019