LONDON, July 9: Rafael Nadal reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the seventh time on Monday as the evergreen 30-somethings of men�s tennis threatened to take a stranglehold at the All England Club.
Third seed Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, swept to an easy 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over outclassed Joao Sousa of Portugal.
He will next play Sam Querrey who defeated Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) in what will be his 39th appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The 33-year-old Spaniard is chasing his 19th title at the majors, which would put him just one behind the all-time record of 20 held by Roger Federer � his potential opponent in the semifinals.
Also joining Nadal in the last-eight was his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut who reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal and second at the majors this year when he defeated France�s Benoit Paire 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
The 31-year-old World No. 22 will face either 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic of Canada or Argentina�s Guido Pella for a place in the semifinals.
Bautista Agut, who has now defeated Paire seven times in seven meetings, also made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January.
With Nadal and Bautista Agut safely through, the Wimbledon quarterfinals were turning into an old boys� club.
On the other hand, defending champion and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic reached his 11th Wimbledon quarterfinal and 45th at the majors with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over France�s Ugo Humbert.
Four-time champion and top seed Djokovic will face Belgium�s David Goffin for a place in the semifinals.
Djokovic, 32, has a 5-1 career record over 21st seed Goffin who will be playing in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal. Humbert, the World No. 66, had never played a match on grass before this season and was defeated in just one hour and 42 minutes.
Federer became the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 28 years when he booked his place in the last-eight for the 17th time.
The eight-time champion breezed past Italy�s Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in just 74 minutes to make sure of a spot in his 55th quarterfinal at the Slams. � AFP
