Wimbledon will showcase all the big four of the men’s game in the second week, for the first time in three years after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray reached the last 16.
It was in 2011 that the undisputed superpowers last made it to the business end of the tournament and the chances are that they will extend their domination of the season’s third Grand Slam event.
On Monday, they are in fourth round action with top seed Djokovic, the 2011 champion and runner-up to Murray 12 months ago, taking on flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a semifinalist in 2011 and 2012.
Djokovic has a 12-5 winning record over Tsonga, including the 2011 last-four at Wimbledon as well as the quarterfinals of the 2012 Olympics which were also played at the All England Club.
Tsonga’s last win over the Serb was four years ago in Australia.
Nadal, the world No. 1 and champion in 2008 and 2010, has already overcome a psychological barrier by making the second week for the first time since 2011.
He has dropped the first set in all three rounds so far and tackles 19-year-old Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios, the world No. 144, for a place in the quarterfinals.
Federer, who won the last of his seven Wimbledon titles in 2012, tackles Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo who has made the fourth round for the first time at the 13th attempt.
Federer has won 10 of his 11 meetings against his fellow 32-year-old.
Murray has reached the last 16 for the seventh year in succession and has dropped just 19 games in three rounds, comfortably a personal best in his tournament history. The third-seeded Murray plays Kevin Anderson, the first South African to make the fourth round for 14 years.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek survived a first round scare but Sania Mirza and Cara Black were dumped from the women’s doubles.
The fifth-seeded Indo-Czeck pair of Paes and Stepanek had to battle for three hours to douse the challenge of Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 in the rain-hit marathon opening round.
Paes, who missed the French Open due to turbulence in personal life, and Stepanek could convert only four of the 17 break chances in the contest even as they dropped serve twice.
Meanwhile, fourth seeds Sania and her Zimbabwean partner Cara suffered a shock 6-2, 6-7(7), 4-6 defeat at the hands of unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova.
