Murray demolishes Gasquet in straight sets to reach quarters

Wednesday, 29 June 2011 14:32

Written by Editor

Frenchman Richard Gasquet was given a right royal thrashing on Monday as Andy Murray, watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, eased through to the  quarter finals for the fourth time, 7-6(7-3) 6-3 6-2. Murray produced another sumptuous performance to prove there is no reason why he cannot lift the Wimbledon trophy in 2011. First onto the  Centre Court on Monday,  Murray beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets to the satisfaction of the mainly home crowd.

If he continues this form, there isn’t a player out there who won’t be very apprehensive in playing Murray. Whether Nadal, Federer or Djokovic, Murray will be looking forward to pitting his exceptional grass form against any of them.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal battled through a foot injury to beat Juan Martin del Potro and reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The Spaniard looked in real trouble when the doctor was called on, but dug deep was called on but dug deep to win 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.

"At the end of the first set I thought I had to retire," top seed Nadal told BBC Sport afterwards. Nadal will now play American Mardy Fish in the last eight on Wednesday. Del Potro might be ranked 21st in the world but the 2009 US Open champion is rising fast after missing most of 2010 through injury, and is considered by many to be among the best five players in the world.

All the main men remain, and in the bottom half of the draw, Federer, a six-time Wimbledon champion who beat Mikhail Youzhny in four sets on Monday, will face the No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France for the first time on grass. Djokovic will face the biggest surprise of the men’s tournament, the 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic. Tomic’s latest victim was Xavier Malisse, an unseeded 30-year-old Belgian who reached the semi-finals here in 2002.

It was a wild Monday for the women at Wimbledon, with the Williams sisters and No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki losing in the fourth round.
In the top half of the draw, Maria Sharapova, the only former Wimbledon champion still in contention, will face Cibulkova, a big-swinging Slovak seeded 24th, who is nicknamed the Pocket Rocket for the baseline power she generates despite her diminutive size (5 feet 3 inches).

Also in the top half, the ninth-seeded Bartoli will face Sabine Lisicki, a huge-serving, unseeded German who required a wild card to play.