Wimbledon: Milos Raonic on to next round, Eugenie Bouchard exits
Defending champion Djokovic loses in major upset
Canada's Milos Raonic defeated American Jack Sock 7-6, 6-4, 7-6 on Saturday in the third round of Wimbledon.
Raonic's victory came just minutes after fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard was bounced from the tournament by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3, in the third round of the women's singles tournament.
The sixth-seeded Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., will play David Goffin in the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament.
Raonic relied heavily on his big serve, getting 27 aces to Sock's nine. He has beaten the 27th seeded Sock eight straight times.
Raonic improves to 22-5 in tiebreaks this year. He won two tiebreaks in his 3rd round match against Sock.
Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was dismissed quickly by Cibulkova in one hour 26 minutes.
"I definitely feel like I wasn't on top of my game today and she definitely was," said Bouchard, who smashed her racket in frustration at one point in the match. "I have to give credit to my opponent. She's playing at a high level in general right now and she was really going for it and really taking it to me.
"At some points I felt like I didn't have an answer."
Defending champ Djokovic ousted
Novak Djokovic's 30-match Grand Slam winning streak ended stunningly Saturday with a 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) loss to Sam Querrey in Wimbledon's third round.
Djokovic had won the past four major titles in a row — and was halfway to the first calendar-year Grand Slam for a man since Rod Laver in 1969.
"I believe in positive things in life, and I managed to win four Grand Slams in a row — two different seasons, though. I want to try to focus on that," the No. 1-seeded Djokovic said, "rather than failure."
Djokovic last exited as early as the third round at any major tournament all the way back in 2009, when he departed the French Open at that stage. He made at least the semifinals at Wimbledon every year since 2010.
Yet things began looking bleak for Djokovic when the match began Friday and he dropped the first two sets against Querrey, an American ranked 41st. Djokovic, normally so consistent, so efficient, never quite seemed to be himself, and after the match, asked whether he was 100 per cent healthy, the 29-year-old Serb replied: "Not really, but it's not the place and time to talk about it."
Still, after play was halted Friday evening by rain — a recurring theme in this contest and the tournament as a whole — Djokovic came back out Saturday and played much better at the outset.
"He's on his way to possibly being the best ever," Querrey said, "and so you know he's mentally tough and he was going to come back."
Djokovic took the third set, then went up a break in the fourth at 5-4 by pounding a forehand winner that brought coach Boris Becker to his feet. But serving to even the match at two sets apiece, Djokovic faltered.
That game included two calls against Djokovic which, according to the BBC broadcast, were incorrect — but he was out of challenges and so couldn't ask for a review. Querrey, 0 for 6 on break points in the set until then, converted No. 7 when Djokovic's poor forehand volley found the net for 5-all.
After Querrey held for 6-5, Saturday's third rain delay arrived. When they resumed, Djokovic got to a tiebreaker, which he led 3-1. But Querrey hung in there, and a stray forehand by the big favourite sailed wide to end it.
"He overpowered me," Djokovic said.
Andy Murray advances
Andy Murray made his way into the fourth round at Wimbledon by beating John Millman of Australia 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
Murray, the 2013 champion at the All England Club, played his match on Centre Court, starting with the roof open but finishing with it closed after a rain delay.
Murray has lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals of both the Australian Open and French Open this year. With Djokovic losing Saturday, the second-seeded Murray could face seven-time champion Roger Federer in the final.
Kvitova loses in second round
Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost Saturday at the All England Club.
The 10th-seeded Czech player lost to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the final second-round match of the tournament.
Kvitova and Makarova started the match on Friday, but rain suspended play. After several delays on Saturday, Makarova was finally able to close out the match and the second round.
Kvitova won the Wimbledon title in 2011 and `14. Makarova's best showing at Wimbledon was a quarterfinal appearance in 2014.
With files from the Associated Press