The first handful of pieces in the Wimbledon fourth-round puzzle have been placed. Defending champion Andy Murray blew past an over-matched Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets to continue a run toward chalk in the Gentlemen’s bracket. The same result had a wildly different effect on the landscape on the Ladies’ side, as No. 2 Li Na lost to unseeded Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova on two straight tiebreaks.
Wimbledon 2014: Time, TV schedule, live streaming for Saturday’s matches
Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will be starring in Saturday’s parade of champions on the Centre and No.1 Courts.
Jan Kruger
Although three top-four seeds -- Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep -- remain, the path has been made easier for several players in Li’s neck of the woods. Strong contenders such as former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Peng Shuai and Petra Kvitova now all have one less top-ranked player to deal with as they try to make it to the second weekend.
Major Upset
As for the gentlemen, the Big Four -- Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Murray and Roger Federer -- seem destined for another collision course, with Djokovic joining Murray in the fourth round after his own straight set victory against Gilles Simon. Nadal and Federer look to get past Mikhail Kukushkin and Santiago Giraldo, respectively, on Saturday. They will both be playing their matches at Centre Court, with Rafa challenging Kukushkin in the first match of the day there and Roger closing out the day on center stage against Giraldo, with Maria Sharapova’s match sandwiched in between.
The Americans will also be represented on Saturday, with John Isner trying to advance against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Serena, Madison Keys and Alison Riske looking to punch their tickets to the fourth round. Serena will be starting the day at No. 1 Court, against Alize Cornet.
TV schedule: Breakfast at Wimbledon, 7-8 a.m ET (ESPN); Wimbledon 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Live streaming: Watch Wimbledon at ESPN3.com. More live coverage can be found at Wimbledon.com.
Order of play: Visit Wimbledon’s website for match time updates.
And here are some notable matches from both brackets:
Gentlemen’s Singles
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) v Rafael Nadal (ESP) (2)
Santiago Giraldo (COL) v Roger Federer (SUI) (4)
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) (5) v Denis Istomin (UZB)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) (19) v John Isner (USA) (9)
Ladies’ Singles
Alison Riske (USA) v Maria Sharapova (RUS) (5)
Serena Williams (USA) (1) v Alize Cornet (FRA) (25)
Simona Halep (ROU) (3) v Belinda Bencic (SUI)
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