Stephanos Tsitsipas failed to progress any further in this year’s Wimbledon competition as he lost to John Isner in the last 16.
Tsitsipas’ youthful energy made for some great comebacks that had the crowd in an uproar.
The 19-year-old came in a little too softly in the first set, with Isner breaking his serve and winning by 6-4 in just 28 minutes. However, Tsitsipas seemed to recover during the start of the second, leading it to a tie-break, which also ended up in a victory for Isner, 7-6 after 46 minutes of play. The young Greek tried to turn the game around in the third and final set, however Isner’s experience and big serve came into play and after a second tie-break he managed to win that set, and game, by 7-6 after 52 minutes.
“I had goals at the beginning of the year to do fourth round of a Grand Slam. I actually believed it, but I never thought it was going to come that fast and that quick, and it just came with all the hard work I did this year. I now going to have a break then head for the Hamburg Open, then Im over to the USA for the American swing.
The win for Nadal over his fellow left-hander handed him a 35th career Grand Slam quarter-final berth against fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro or unseeded Gilles Simon.
Del Potro and Simon will have to return on Tuesday to complete their fourth round encounter after their match was suspended for bad light after the French player had won the third set to remain in contention.
“Of course, it is important for me to be in these quarter-finals. It is true it has been a while since I have been in that position,” Nadal said.
“But when I come here, I come here thinking that I can do a good result, no? If not, probably I would not be here.
“When I arrive here, my goal is to do the things the right way, to try to give me chances to compete well. Sometimes things work better, sometimes not so good.”
Wimbledon Men’s Singles – Quarter-finals
Nadal, who has made the transition from clay to grass look easy, moved immaculately across the court with Vesely unable to cope with his ball striking as he nailed 37 winners while making 12 unforced errors in a one-sided match.
The 32-year-old also successfully reached his fourth straight Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time since he made 11 consecutive major appearances between 2009 and 2012.
Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the quarter-finals at the All England Club since Shuzo Matsuoka. Kei Nishikori has now reached the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slams
The 24th seed lost the first set against Ernests Gulbis but won back-to-back tiebreaks before easing through the fourth set against the Latvian qualifier for a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (12-10) 6-1 win.
Nishikori will now face three-time champion Novak Djokovic, who recovered from being broken in the opening game of the match to ease past Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-2 6-2.
Fourth Round Results
Roger Federer (Swi) (1) bt Adrian Mannarino (Fra) (22) 6-0 7-5 6-4
Kevin Anderson (Rsa) (8) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 7-6 (7-4)
Milos Raonic (Can) (13) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2
John Isner (USA) (9) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) (31) 6-4 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-4)
Novak Djokovic (Ser) (12) bt Karen Khachanov (Rus) 6-4 6-2 6-2
Kei Nishikori (Jpn) (24) bt Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 4-6 (7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (12-10) 6-1
Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) (5) bt Gilles Simon (Fra) 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5)
Rafael Nadal (Spa) (2) bt Jiri Vesely (Cze) 6-3 6-3 6-4