LONDON, July 17: After Roger Federer closed out a Wimbledon final that was more of a coronation than a contest with an ace, he sat in his changeover chair and wiped away tears.

That is when it hit him: His wait for record-breaking No. 8 was over. Until then, Federer wasn’t focused on the notion of winning the grass-court tournament more often than any other man in the history of an event first held in 1877. All he’d been concerned with, consumed with, was being healthy enough to compete at a high level and, he hoped, to win a title, regardless of what the total count would be.

Capping a marvelous fortnight in which he never dropped a set, Federer won his eighth Wimbledon trophy and 19th Grand Slam championship overall by overwhelming Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in merely 1 hour, 41 minutes Sunday.

“Wimbledon was always my favorite tournament. Will always be my favorite tournament. My heroes walked the grounds here and walked the courts here. Because of them, I think I became a better player, too,” said Federer, who will turn 36 next month and is the oldest male champion at the All England Club in the Open era, which began in 1968.

“To mark history here at Wimbledon really means a lot to me just because of all of that, really,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

His first major title came at Wimbledon in 2003, and was followed by others in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He won again in 2009 and 2012. But then he lost finals in 2014 and 2015 to Novak Djokovic.

He couldn’t be sure another final, let alone title, was possible a year ago, when he lost in the semifinals, then took the rest of 2016 off to let his surgically repaired left knee heal.

“It’s been a long road,” he said.

Sunday’s outcome was only in doubt for about 20 minutes, the amount of time it took Federer to grab his first lead.

Cilic said afterward he developed a painful blister on his left foot during his semifinal Friday, and that affected his ability to move properly or summon the intimidating serves that carried him to his lone Grand Slam title at the 2014 U.S. Open, where he surprisingly beat Federer in the semifinals.

This one was all Federer, who had been tied at seven championships with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw in what’s still officially called Gentlemen’s Singles. Sampras won all but one of his in the 1990s; Renshaw won each of his in the 1880s, when the previous year’s winner advanced automatically to the final.

With clouds overhead and a bit of chill in the air Sunday, Federer’s early play was symptomatic of jitters. For everything he’s accomplished, for all of the bright lights and big settings to which he’s become accustomed, the guy many have labeled the “GOAT” — Greatest of All Time — admits to feeling heavy legs and jumbled thoughts to this day.

It was Federer, not Cilic, who double-faulted in his first two service games. And it was Federer, not Cilic, who faced the initial break point, in the fourth game. But Cilic netted a return, beginning a run of 17 points in a row won by Federer on his serve. He would never be confronted with another break point.

“I gave it my best,” Cilic said. “That’s all I could do.”

In the next game, Federer broke to lead 3-2. He broke again to take that set when Cilic double-faulted, walked to the changeover and slammed his racket. Cilic sat and covered his head with a white towel.

With Federer up 3-0 in the second set, Cilic cried while he was visited by a doctor and trainer. He said that was not so much a result of his foot’s pain as the idea that he could not play well enough to present a challenge.

“Very tough emotionally,” said Cilic, whose foot was re-taped by a trainer after the second set. “I knew that I cannot give my best on the court.”

It might not have mattered. Federer was, as he’d been all tournament, flawless, the first man in 41 years to win Wimbledon without ceding a set. Against Cilic, he had 23 winners, only eight unforced errors.

This caps a remarkable reboot for Federer, who departed Wimbledon a year ago with a lot of doubts: His body was letting him down for the first time in his career. He skipped the Rio Olympics, the U.S. Open and everything else in an attempt to try to get healthy.

It worked. And how.

Feeling refreshed and fully fit, Federer returned to the tour in January and was suddenly playing like the guy of old, rather than like an old guy.

In a turn-back-the-clock moment, he faced rival Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final and, with a fifth-set comeback, won. It was Federer’s 18th Grand Slam title, adding to his own record, and first in 4½ years. Those who had written Federer off needed to grab their erasers.

The formula made sense, clearly, so why not try it again? Federer skipped this year’s clay-court circuit to be in top shape for the grass courts he loves so dearly. Sunday’s victory made Federer 31-2 in 2017, with a tour-leading five titles.

“On one side, yes, it surprises me. On the other side, I know he’s able to do so many things. So it’s not surprising,” coach Severin Luthi said. “But when it happens, it’s amazing.”

Yes, Federer is back to being supreme in tennis, lording over the sport the way no man has.

He’s not, of course, the same 21-year-old kid who had a ponytail and scruff when he beat Mark Philippoussis in the 2003 Wimbledon final. Or the teen who, two years earlier, beat Sampras himself at Centre Court in the fourth round, their only tour-level meeting.

Federer’s hair is cropped, his face clean shaven. He’s a father of four, and both sets of twins — boys, 3, in their light blue blazers; girls, 7, in their dresses — were in the guest box for Sunday’s trophy ceremony.

One son stuck a couple of fingers in his mouth until a sister grabbed his hand.

“They have no clue what’s going on. They think it’s probably a nice view and a nice playground. But it’s not quite like that here, so one day, hopefully, they’ll understand,” Federer said about his boys.

As for the girls, he said: “They enjoy to watch a little bit. They come for the finals, I guess.”

When Dad is Roger Federer, you can wait until the last Sunday to show up.

And you just might get to see him cradle that gold trophy.

LONDON, July 16: As a kid, Garbine Muguruza sat in awe in front of the TV as the Williams sisters accumulated Grand Slam titles. They were her role models.

Now Muguruza is all grown up, an emerging tennis star in her own right — and, as of Saturday, the only woman who can boast of beating each Williams in a major final.

Muguruza powered her way to her first Wimbledon championship by playing fearlessly and dominating down the stretch, putting together a 7-5, 6-0 victory over a fading Venus Williams by claiming the final’s last nine games.

“It’s great to go out there and play somebody that you admire,” Muguruza said. “I knew she was going to make me suffer and fight for it.”

This was Williams’ 16th Grand Slam final and ninth at the All England Club. At 37, she was bidding for her sixth title at the grass-court major, 17 years after her first. And she was so close to gaining the upper hand against Muguruza, holding two set points at 5-4 in the opener. But Muguruza fought those off and never looked back.

“She competed really well. So credit to her,” Williams said. “She just dug in there.”

For Muguruza, this final was her third at a major.

In her first, at Wimbledon in 2015, she lost to Williams’ younger sister, Serena. But in her second, at the French Open last year, Muguruza again faced Serena — and won. That was the most recent final Muguruza had played in at any tournament until Saturday, an indication of the sort of up-and-down 12 months she’s had.

But with stand-in coach Conchita Martinez pushing her to play each point on its own merits — don’t look back, don’t think ahead — Muguruza was able to regain her best form these two weeks. Taking the ball early, being aggressive from the start of each point and not relenting, Muguruza did to Williams what the American and her sibling often do to their opponents.

Here was how Muguruza’s on-court approach was described by Spanish Fed Cup and Davis Cup captain Martinez, whose 1994 Wimbledon title was the country’s most recent for a woman until Saturday: “She’s very brave.”

Especially against Williams.

Especially in crunch time.

“I was just very composed,” the 23-year-old Muguruza said. “Once I go to the big court, I feel good. I feel like that’s where I want to be, that’s what I practice for. That’s where I play good. … I’m happy to go to the Centre Court and to play the best player. That’s what motivates me.”

With the roof shut because of rain earlier in the day, each thwack of racket strings against ball by the two big hitters created echoes around the old arena.

Williams began the proceedings with an ace. But Muguruza showed she would not be overwhelmed, returning a serve at 113 mph (182 kph) on the match’s second point, and another at 114 mph (184 kph) in the third game — then winning both ensuing exchanges.

Still, Williams was so close to taking the first set, ahead 5-4 while Muguruza served at 15-40. On the first chance, a 20-stroke point ended when Williams blinked first, putting a forehand into the net. On the second set point, Williams sent a return long.

It was as if getting out of that jam freed up Muguruza — and failing to capitalize deflated Williams, who didn’t win a game the rest of the way.

“She was getting every one of Venus’s shots back. Not only getting it back, but it was deep in the court,” said David Witt, Williams’ coach, who thought nerves affected his player. “Venus kept having to play that one extra ball.”

Williams began spraying shots to unintended spots, while Muguruza stayed steady. Williams finished with 25 unforced errors, 14 more than the champion.

It ended when Williams hit a shot that landed long, but was ruled in. Muguruza challenged the call, and after a bit of a delay, the review showed the ball was, indeed, out. Made to wait to celebrate, Muguruza eventually dropped her knees and covered her crying eyes.

Soon enough, Muguruza was shown her name on the list of winners in the stadium’s lobby — “Finally!” she said — and being greeted by former King Juan Carlos of Spain.

It was an anticlimactic conclusion to the fortnight for Williams, Wimbledon’s oldest female finalist since Martina Navratilova, 37, was the runner-up to Martinez in 1994. Williams hadn’t made it this far at the All England Club since 2009, hadn’t won the title since 2008.

“A lot of beautiful moments in the last couple of weeks,” the American said.

Muguruza can say the same, of course, and she was particularly thrilled at the thought of the player she beat to earn the trophy.

“When I knew I was playing Venus in the final, I was actually looking forward (to) it,” Muguruza said. “Something incredible.”-AP

LONDON, July 15: They love their history around these parts and they love Roger Federer and, above all, they love watching him make history.

Now he stands one victory from an unprecedented eighth Wimbledon men’s singles championship after qualifying for his 11th appearance in the final, breaking a record he already held.

Just weeks from turning 36, and a father of four, Federer continued his resurgent season and unchallenged run through this fortnight at the All England Club by conjuring up just enough brilliance to beat 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the semifinals Friday.

“It’s great, but it doesn’t give me the title quite yet. That’s why I came here this year,” Federer said. “I’m so close now, so I just got to stay focused.”

He has won every set he’s played in six matches, and while he did not exactly dominate against the 11th-seeded Berdych, Federer was never in much trouble. On Sunday, Federer will face 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who reached his first Wimbledon final by eliminating 24th-seeded Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 with the help of 25 aces and some terrific returning.

“This is his home court,” Cilic said about Federer, “(the) place where he feels the best and knows that he can play the best game.”

Since equaling Pete Sampras and William Renshaw (who played in the 1880s) with a seventh trophy at Wimbledon in 2012, Federer has come this close before to No. 8. But he lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2014 and 2015 finals.

Here comes another chance.

Federer would be the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the Open era, which dates to 1968; as it is, he’s the oldest finalist since Ken Rosewall was 39 in 1974.

“I mean, I don’t see anything that would indicate really Roger is getting older or anything like that,” said Berdych, who wore sneakers with a silhouette of Djokovic’s face on the tongue because his own usual shoes were uncomfortable. “He’s just proving his greatness in our sport.”

Also noteworthy: This is Federer’s second major final of 2017. After losing in the Wimbledon semifinals last year, he took the rest of 2016 off to let his surgically repaired left knee heal. He came back fit and refreshed and won the Australian Open in January for his record-extending 18th Grand Slam title and first anywhere in 4½ years.

“Giving your body rest from time to time is a good thing, as we see now,” Federer said. “And I’m happy it’s paying off because for a second, of course, there is doubts there that maybe one day you’ll never be able to come back and play a match on Centre Court at Wimbledon. But it happened, and it’s happened many, many times this week.”

And most of the 15,000 or so people in attendance were pulling for him. That was evident throughout Friday, from the cries of “Go, Roger!” to the roars of approval and thunderous applause that greeted some of his best efforts on a day when he was not necessarily at his vintage, wondrous best.

The down-the-line forehand passing winner that landed right on the opposite baseline in the second set, leaving Berdych slumping his shoulders. Or the no-look, flicked backhand winner several games later that not many players would even try, let alone manage to do.

Or the way he extricated himself from a sticky situation down 3-2 in the third, facing break points at 15-40: 107 mph (173 kph) ace, 116 mph (187 kph) ace, 120 mph (194 kph) service winner, 119 mph (192 kph) ace. In the very next game, he surged to a 4-3 lead by breaking Berdych. That was pretty much that.

“I was able to come up with the goods when it mattered,” Federer said.

The No. 7-seeded Cilic was not able to do that in the opening tiebreaker against Querrey, the first man from the U.S. in any major semifinals since 2009.

At 6-all, Cilic seemed distracted by a delay of a couple of minutes when a spectator who appeared to feel ill was helped from her seat and out of the stands. When action resumed, Cilic flubbed two backhands to cede the set.

But from there, he steadied, handling Querrey’s big serves rather well. A trio of superb returns earned a key break in the fourth set, the last a massive forehand off a 79 mph (127 kph) second serve that drew a shanked backhand and a yell of “No!” from Querrey.

The next test for Cilic is the toughest of all: beating Federer at Centre Court. They met in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, when Cilic took the opening two sets and even held a match point before Federer came all the way back to win, improving to 6-1 head-to-head.

That lone win for Cilic was by straight sets in the semifinals in New York three years ago, on the way to his one major title.

“I still know that it’s a big mountain to climb,” Cilic said. “Roger is playing maybe (some) of his best tennis of his career at the moment.”-AP

LONDON, July 14: All these years later, Wimbledon still brings out the best in Venus Williams.

With her latest display of gutsy serving and big hitting, Williams beat Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday to reach her ninth title match at the All England Club and first since 2009.

At 37, Williams is the oldest Wimbledon finalist since Martina Navratilova was the 1994 runner-up at that age.

Williams also stopped Konta’s bid to become the first woman from Britain in 40 years to win the country’s Grand Slam tournament.

“I couldn’t have asked for more, but I’ll ask for a little more. One more win would be amazing,” Williams said. “It won’t be a given, but I’m going to give it my all.”

She will be seeking her sixth Wimbledon championship and eighth Grand Slam singles trophy overall. Her most recent came in 2008, when she defeated her younger sister, Serena, for the title at the All England Club. A year later, she lost the final to Serena.

Her resurgence began in earnest at Wimbledon a year ago, when she made it to the semifinals. Then, at the Australian Open in January, Williams reached the final, where she lost to — yes, you guessed it — her sister. Serena is off the tour for the rest of this year because she is pregnant.

“I missed her so much before this match. And I was like, ‘I just wish she was here.’ And I was like, ‘I wish she could do this for me,’” Williams said with a laugh. “And I was like, ‘No, this time you have to do it for yourself.’ So here we are.”

On Saturday, the 10th-seeded American will participate in her second Grand Slam final of the season, and 16th of her career, this time against 14th-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain.

“She knows how to play, especially Wimbledon finals,” Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up and 2016 French Open champion, said about Williams. “It’s going to be, like, a historic final again.”

Muguruza overwhelmed 87th-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 in the earlier semifinal.

Williams arrived in England a few weeks after being involved in a two-car accident in Florida; not long afterward, a passenger in the other vehicle died. At her initial news conference at Wimbledon, a tearful Williams briefly left the room to compose herself after being asked about the crash.

She has tried, coach David Witt said, to “just focus on the tennis.”

In the semifinals, it was Konta who had the first chance to nose ahead, a point from serving from the opening set when it was 4-all and Williams was serving down 15-40.

Williams erased the first break point with a backhand winner down the line, and the second with a 106 mph (171 kph) second serve that went right at Konta’s body. It was a risky strategy, going for so much pace on a second serve, but it worked. That opened a run in which Williams won 12 of 13 points.

“She looks to dictate from the very first ball,” Konta said. “When she puts herself in a position to do that, she plays with a lot of depth, a lot of speed, and you don’t get much of a chance to get your, I guess, grip into the points.”

Williams wouldn’t face another break point and, later, produced another impressive second serve — in the second set, at 103 mph (166 kph), it went right at Konta, who jumped out of the way.

Konta played quite well, especially early, and finished with more winners, 20 to 19, each greeted by roars from the Centre Court spectators.

“They could have really been even more boisterous. I thought the crowd was so fair. And I know that they love Jo, and she gave it her all today,” Williams said. “It’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of pressure. I thought she handled it well. I think my experience just helped a lot.”

This was her 10th semifinal in 20 Wimbledon appearances; Konta had never been past the second round at the grass-court tournament before this year.

In the other semifinal, Muguruza won 15 of the first 20 points en route to a 5-0 lead. Even though Rybarikova entered having won 18 of her past 19 grass-court matches, mostly at lower-level tournaments, she suddenly looked a lot more like someone whose career record at Wimbledon before last week was 2-9.

“Not my best day,” Rybarikova said. “But she didn’t give me much chance to do something.”

Muguruza won the point on 19 of 25 trips to the net and had a 22-8 edge in winners.

That earned the 23-year-old Muguruza a berth in her third career Grand Slam final, second at the All England Club. She lost to Serena Williams with the title on the line at Wimbledon in 2015, then beat her at Roland Garros last year.

“I’ll have to ask Serena for some pointers,” Venus Williams said. “Serena’s always in my corner. And usually it’s her in these finals, so I’m trying my best to represent ‘Williams’ as best as I can.”-AP

LONDON, July 13: Chants of “Roger! Roger! Roger!” filled the early evening air at the All England Club, so after his post-match stretch, Roger Federer paused on a bridge connected to Centre Court and waved to his adoring public.

“When you see that they’re there for you, it’s a bit of an unusual feeling. I’m very touched, actually, to have so much support,” Federer said. “I never would have imagined when I was younger that I would have experienced this.”

Less than a month from his 36th birthday, Federer is still giving ’em what they want. When Wimbledon began, Federer and the rest of the Big 4 — Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal — had accounted for each of the past 14 men’s singles championships. Now, as the tournament heads to the semifinals on Friday, only Federer remains.

Call him the Big 1.

“It’s nice to see different guys, maybe, but I’m happy that my dream run continues,” Federer said, “and we’ll now see what happens next.”

Federer’s path through the draw has been impressive, to say the least.

He has won every set he’s played this fortnight, the only semifinalist who can make that claim.

He has won 63 of 66 service games. He has faced only 14 break points. He has made only 49 unforced errors, fewer than 10 per match.

So the first question put to 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic after his 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) loss to the seven-time Wimbledon champion in the quarterfinals Wednesday was: What does a guy have to do to beat Federer?

“You know, you have to do a lot. It’s a stiff task,” said Raonic, who defeated Federer in the semifinals last year before losing to Murray in the final. “I guess you can know what you have to do. It’s a lot harder to do it than just to know it.”

He’s hardly the first to realize that, of course.

After being eliminated by Raonic a year ago, Federer took the rest of the season off to allow his surgically repaired left knee to heal properly. He already had missed last year’s French Open in May, ending a record streak of 65 consecutive appearances at Grand Slam tournaments, and then skipped the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and U.S. Open, too.

When Federer returned in January, he was fit and full of energy, and won his 18th major championship at the Australian Open.

That was part of a 19-1, three-title start to 2017, before he took another break, sitting out the clay-court circuit and the French Open again.

“I could never really play quite so freely last year just because (now) I’m more focused on how the knee’s behaving, rather than how I need to hit my forehand or backhand or what’s not going to be good for my opponent,” Federer said. “This year, I’m just a normal tennis player again, where I can focus on tactics. I think that’s the difference. I’m playing very well. I’m rested. I’m fresh. I’m confident, too. Then great things do happen.”

Such as becoming the oldest Wimbledon semifinalist since 1974.

Perhaps his rivals at the top of the game should take note.

Djokovic, a three-time champion at the All England Club, did say he would think about taking time away from the tour because of an injured right elbow that became so painful Wednesday he stopped in the second set of his quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych.

Murray, who won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, will consider an extended absence, too, after his sore left hip clearly hampered him while being beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals by Sam Querrey.

“We both had a very long, very tough year, a lot of matches, a lot of emotions, a lot of things in play,” Djokovic said. “Our bodies have taken a lot physically.”

While No. 3-seeded Federer will face No. 11 Berdych next, and No. 24 Querrey — the first US man in a Grand Slam semifinal since 2009 — meets No. 7 Marin Cilic, No. 1 Murray and No. 2 Djokovic are done at Wimbledon this year.

So is No. 4 Nadal, a two-time champion who lost in the fourth round.

“Of course I’m surprised,” Federer said, “to see them going out.”

No one should be surprised that he is sticking around.-AP

LONDON, July 12: Venus Williams’ mother could not stop smiling and laughing. She had just watched her 37-year-old daughter reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the 10th time and, well, the whole thing was just a bit hard to believe.

“She says, ‘I love my job!’ and she means it. I guess she’s kind of like a boxer: People think it’s time for her to quit because she’s too old,” Oracene Price said after leaving Centre Court, where the roof was shut because of rain Tuesday. “But she keeps getting back in the ring — and she seems to be doing pretty well. This is really amazing.”

Enjoying a career renaissance deep into her 30s, despite dealing with an energy-sapping disease, Williams rode a strong serve that produced eight aces, imposing returns and her court coverage of old to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, edging closer to a sixth singles title at the All England Club.

“The competition keeps you growing,” Williams said. “You have to get better if you want to stay relevant.”

Somehow, at age 37, she’s done that. This was her 100th Wimbledon match, coming in her 20th appearance. The first of her trophies at the grass-court tournament came in 2000. And now, for the third match in a row, Williams beat a player who was born in 1997 — after she made her Grand Slam debut that year.

“The first one was 20 years ago? Lord,” Price said, her eyes wide, her chuckle loud. “Well, you know, that’s a long time.”

This is not exactly new, though. Williams is the only woman to have made the fourth round at each of the past six majors, and now she’s into her third semifinal in that span. She made it that far at Wimbledon last year, too, before losing, and got to the final at the Australian Open in January, when she was beaten by her younger sister, Serena.

“Who knows if she’s lost a step?” said Williams’ coach, David Witt. “She looks pretty good to me.”

Williams revealed in 2011 that she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which can sap energy and cause joint pain. As time went on, there were questions about whether she might retire, especially after a half-dozen first-round losses at majors. But she kept going, and with her recent successes, a championship this week would return the American to the top five in the rankings for the first time in six years.

“I just always felt like I have to keep trying,” said Williams, who repeatedly took advantage of Ostapenko’s second serves at around 70 mph (110 kph). “That’s all I felt like.”

To get to what would be her ninth final at the All England Club, the 10th-seeded Williams will need to win Thursday against No. 6 Johanna Konta, the first British woman in the Wimbledon semifinals since Virginia Wade was the runner-up in 1978.

“I definitely feel that age is not a factor with her,” Konta said about Williams. “She’s just a tremendous champion, and I feel very, very humbled, and I’m very excited to share the court with her again.”

With Wade, the 1977 champion, sitting in the Royal Box, Konta prevented Halep from rising to No. 1 by beating her 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4. The result means that Karolina Pliskova, who lost in the second round, will replace Angelique Kerber, who departed in the fourth, atop the rankings next week.

The other semifinal will be Garbine Muguruza of Spain against 87th-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia. Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up and 2016 French Open champion, defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4. Rybarikova, the lowest-ranked Wimbledon semifinalist since 2008, got past 24th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S. 6-3, 6-3 in a match suspended at 2-all in the second set because of showers and moved from Court No. 1 to Centre Court so it could be finished indoors.

Rybarikova had never been past the third round in her 35 previous career majors, including seven opening-round exits in a row at Wimbledon from 2008-14. She missed the second half of last season after wrist and knee operations, and her ranking fell out of the top 400.

“I had a really tough time,” Rybarikova said, “and right now, I’m here, and everything paid off.”

In the last men’s fourth-round match, Novak Djokovic took a medical timeout to have his right shoulder massaged, and he declared himself disappointed with the condition of the turf in the main stadium. Otherwise, Djokovic had little trouble eliminating 51st-ranked Adrian Mannarino of France 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a match postponed Monday night because of darkness.

“It’s been something that I’ve been dragging back and forth for a while now,” Djokovic said about his shoulder. “But I’m still managing to play, which is the most important thing.”

The men’s quarterfinals Wednesday: Djokovic against Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer against Milos Raonic, defending champion Andy Murray against Sam Querrey, and Marin Cilic against Gilles Muller, who stunned Rafael Nadal in a marathon that ended 15-13 in the fifth set Monday.

LONDON, July 8: There may be doubts over Andy Murray’s fitness and questions about his form but the top seed showed in his Wimbledon tussle with Italian Fabio Fognini that his status as one of tennis’s most determined and dogged scrappers is indisputable.

The world number one and defending champion was far from his best against the 29th-ranked Fognini, but still booked a fourth- round spot with a rip-roaring 6-2 4-6 6-1 7-5 win on Friday.

Murray saved five break points in the fourth set, before winning five successive games to prevent himself being dragged into an energy-sapping decider that would have put further strain on the niggling hip injury he has been nursing.

“I didn’t feel like I played my best tennis,” Murray told reporters. “But I won and I got through it. You know, that’s a really positive thing.”

It is the 10th successive year Murray has reached the last 16 at Wimbledon and he had never lost at this stage to somebody ranked as low as Fognini.

Yet, with the Italian showman having beaten Murray in three of their six previous outings, this was never going to be easy for the Briton and so it proved in an encounter where the momentum swung dramatically from one player to the other.

Naomi Osaka wasn’t even born when Venus Williams made her debut at the All England Club, but it was the 37-year-old who triumphed on Friday to book her place in the last 16 at Wimbledon.

It was by no means easy though for five-times Wimbledon winner Williams to turn that 20 years of experience on the grass at SW19 into a win against the 59th ranked 19-year-old.

The 7-6(3) 6-4 result does not truly reflect the powerful attacking and spectacular winners from Osaka, who did enough in this encounter to suggest that longer runs at Wimbledon could be in her future.

Indeed, despite her tender age, Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father Haitian, has reached the third round in each of the Grand Slams.

After fighting back from 4-1 down in the opening set, Osaka could easily have won it – she was 3-0 up in the tie-break before Venus, showing her characteristic grit and calm, took the next seven points.

It was tight in the second until Venus took advantage of some wayward shots from Osaka to grab a break in the seventh and she held firm to secure a place against Croatian Ana Konjuh in the fourth round.-AGENCIES

LONDON, July 7: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had to play all three sets at Wimbledon this time.

The former champions both advanced to the third round yesterday, two days after their opening matches ended early when their opponents retired with an injury.

Federer was broken early in his match, but the seven-time champion recovered quickly and beat Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic, a three-time champion, defeated Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

Djokovic won the Wimbledon title in 2011, ‘14 and ‘15, but has not won a major title since completing a career Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open. In his opening two matches at the All England Club, Djokovic has only lost eight games.

“It’s perfect. Exactly what I want,” Djokovic said. “I don’t want to have any five-set matches in there.”

Djokovic will next face Ernests Gulbis. The unseeded Latvian defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Federer has lost 14 games so far and will next face 27th-seeded Mischa Zverev.

Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and David Ferrer also reached the third round. Ferrer advanced when opponent Steve Darcis retired with an injury while trailing 3-0. Darcis is the eighth man to retire during a match this week. The Belgian took a medical timeout after 18 minutes of play and was unable to continue.

One of the favorites in the women’s tournament, third-seeded Karolina Pliskova, lost on Centre Court. Magdalena Rybarikova beat Pliskova 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round for the second time in 10 appearances.

Pliskova entered the tournament with a chance to take over the world No. 1 ranking.

“My expectations were a little bit different than to make one round here,” Pliskova said. “That’s tennis, you know. Still, you still can play well and you don’t have to win. That’s my case today.”

Top-seeded Angelique Kerber also advanced to the third round, along with seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 14th-seeded Garbine Muguruza and 24th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe.

Also, American wild-card entry Bethanie Mattek-Sands injured her right knee during a point and retired from her second-round match.

Moving up toward the net in the opening game of the third set against Sorana Cirstea of Romania, Mattek-Sands slipped and fell. She immediately clutched her knee and, down on the turf, wailed loudly, imploring for someone to “Help me! Help me!”

Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American, came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title.

The extent of Mattek-Sands’ injury, which came in the third set’s opening game, was not immediately known. But word quickly spread, generating concern among players. She’s popular on tour, known for her gregarious personality, loud laugh and original fashion choices, including the stars-and-stripes knee-high socks she wore while teaming with Jack Sock to win a mixed-doubles gold medal for the U.S. at last year’s Rio Olympics.

She’s also quite a doubles player, ranked No. 1 right now after teaming with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to win the past three major championships and a total of five.-AP