Juan Martín del Potro ranked ninth in the world said goodbye top The Championships after being defeated by Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3 6-2 6-3 during the round of 16 at the All-England club after their match had to be suspended yesterday due to rain delays.
The Argentine «Tower» and 2009 US Open champion was the only member of the eight-man group with a Grand Slam title on his resume.
Likewise, with grizzly grey skies encircling the All England Club, Serbian Novak Djokovic brushed aside compatriot Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-1 6-3 in his third consecutive match under the cover of the Centre Court roof.
Since its introduction in 2009, the structure has been used sparingly until this year when it has been hauled across come rain or shine both to block out the weather and ensure timely finishes for late-evening matches.
Djokovic has played all but his opening match with the giant mechanical lid in place and is now starting to get into the swing of things under cover.
«I have kind of got used to it,» he told reporters.
«I find it a bit easier to return the serve. Obviously when you’re playing on grass against a big server like Viktor, under these conditions you can neutralise the serve and get more into the rallies, so that was good for me…
«For somebody that plays all tournament outdoors and comes to the Centre Court for the first time and plays indoor in totally different conditions, it’s quite a change. So you need time to adjust.»
Singles order of play for the main show courts at Wimbledon (prefix numbers denote seeding):
Centre Court (1100 GMT) 7-David Ferrer (Spain) v 9-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 6-Serena Williams (US) v 4-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 15-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) v 8-Angelique Kerber (Germany).
To finish 16-Marin Cilic (Croatia) v 4-Andy Murray (Britain) 5-7 1-3 3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) v 17-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) Tamira Paszek (Austria) v 2-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
Court Two (1030 GMT) 5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) v 10-Mardy Fish (US)
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