LONDON - As the sun set on the opening week of Wimbledon, about the only seeding that truly signified something was No. 1.
That’s the number beside the names of Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, who turned in nearly perfect performances back-to-back Saturday on Centre Court to cap nearly perfect runs to the fourth round at the All England Club while chaos reigned all around them.
In the final match of the fortnight’s first half, played with the roof closed and lights glowing to make sure it would get done as darkness approached, defending champion Williams used eight aces and 11 return winners to power past Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-2, 6-0 in 61 minutes.
“She didn’t lose energy, and her game, I think, is getting better day after day. Not better in general, but adapting to the surface. Everything is getting better,” said Patrick Mouratoglou, the French coach who has been working with Williams over the past year, when she is 77-3. “So now let’s enter into the most important part of the tournament. … Now the matches are going to get tougher and tougher.”
It might not necessarily have been a fair fight, considering that Date-Krumm, 42, is ranked 84th and was the oldest woman to reach the third round at Wimbledon in the 45-year Open era. Never better than a semifinalist at a Grand Slam tournament, she played Williams evenly for about three games before the 16-time major champion took over.
“She has so much power, speed,” Date-Krumm said. “She has everything.”
Williams’ easy victory followed Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 28th-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France. Djokovic, the 2011 champion Djokovic, compiled a remarkable ratio of 38 winners to three unforced errors. The Serb’s initial miscue of his own doing did not come until the third set’s sixth game, when he double-faulted while ahead 4-1, 40-love.
“Everything went my way,” Djokovic said. “I did everything I wanted to do.”
Both he and Williams could say that about the way they handled matters throughout Week 1. Williams has won all six sets she’s played, allowing her opponents a total of 11 games. Djokovic has won all of his nine sets, dropping 29 games.
“You don’t want to play your best tennis in the first round and continue to go down. I feel like I try to play better as each match goes on,” said Williams, whose 34-match winning streak is the longest for a woman since older sister Venus had a run of 35 in 2000. “I try to find out something I can improve on from each match so I can do it better in the next round.”
That could be bad news for Germany’s Sabine Lisicki,the 23rd seed, who will meet Williams on Monday for a quarterfinal berth.
Up next for Djokovic after the middle today’s traditional day of rest is another German, 13th-seeded Tommy Haas, 35, who is enjoying a career renaissance and eliminated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
A high seeding has mattered little, with the notable exception of No. 2 Andy Murray, Djokovic’s potential opponent in the final. In many cases, any seeding at all has guaranteed nothing whatsoever. Nos. 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 are all gone on the men’s side, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with their 29 combined Grand Slam titles. Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 are out on the women’s side, too, including four time major champion Maria Sharapova and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka.
Even in victory, both No. 4-seeded players, David Ferrer and Agnieszka Rawdwanska, looked shaky Saturday. Ferrer, the French Open runner-up, was treated for blisters on his right foot while coming back to beat No. 26 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Radwanska, who lost to Williams in last year’s Wimbledon final, was pushed to three sets by 18-year-old American Madison Keys before winning 7-5,4-6, 6-3.
The highest-seeded man other than Murray on his half of the field is No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny, who will play the 2012 U.S. Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up after defeating Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
Things have generally been less hectic on Djokovic’s portion of the tournament, but No. 9 Richard Gasquet lost 7-6 (7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) to 20-year-old Bernard Tomic, whose father has been barred from tournaments after being accused of assaulting Tomic’s hitting partner last month. No. 23 Andreas Seppi of Italy won his seventh consecutive five-setter, edging No. 12 Kei Nishikori 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4, and 49th-ranked Ivan Dodig of Croatia moved on when Igor Sijsling retired while trailing 6-0, 6-1, 1-0, the 13th player to stop mid-match or withdraw before one, equaling a tournament high.
It looked as if there might be a 14th when No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro hyper extended his left knee as he chased a ball late in his 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-0 defeat of Grega Zemlja. The 2009 U.S. Open went champion sprawling face-forward into the players’ chairs and racket bags on the sideline.
“It was really painful,” del Potro said. “I was a little scared.”
Del Potro and Murray each own one Grand Slam title, the only two of the past 33 not claimed by Federer, Nadal or Djokovic.
At a glance
LONDON - A look at Wimbledon on Saturday:
WEATHER Mostly sunny. High of 72 degrees.
MEN’S SEEDED WINNERS No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 4 David Ferrer, No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 13 Tommy Haas, No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 23 Andreas Seppi.
MEN’S SEEDED LOSERS No. 9 Richard Gasquet, No. 12 Kei Nishikori, No. 22 Juan Monaco, No. 25 Benoit Paire, No. 26 Alexandr Dolgopolov, No. 27 Kevin Anderson, No. 28 Jeremy Chardy.
WOMEN’S SEEDED WINNERS No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 6 Li Na, No. 8 Petra Kvitova, No. 11 Roberta Vinci, No. 17 Sloane Stephens, No. 23 Sabine Lisicki.
WOMEN’S SEEDED LOSERS No. 14 Sam Stosur, No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova, No. 25 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 32 Klara Zakopalova.
STAT OF THE DAY 3. Unforced errors by Djokovic in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Chardy. Djokovic hit 38 winners.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I honestly never thought I would play until my 30s, to be honest.” - Williams, at 31 the oldest No. 1 in WTA rankings history, after playing 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.
SCHEDULE Wimbledon traditionally takes the tournament’s middle Sunday off. Action will resume Monday with all 16 men’s and women’s fourth-round matches.
ON COURT MONDAY No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 13 Tommy Haas, No. 2 Andy Murray vs. No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 4 David Ferrer vs. Ivan Dodig, No. 7 Tomas Berdych vs. Bernard Tomic, No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro vs. No. 23 Andreas Seppi; No. 1 Serena Williams vs. No. 23 Sabine Lisicki, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Tsvetana Pironkova, No. 6 Li Na vs. No. 11 Roberta Vinci, No. 8 Petra Kvitova vs. No. 19 Carla Suarez Navarro, Laura Robson vs. Kaia Kanepi.
MONDAY’S FORECAST Partly cloudy.
High of 68.
Sports, Pages 28 on 06/30/2013