Australia’s last female hope at Wimbledon is gone as an ageless Novak Djokovic reached yet more milestones, while top seed Jannik Sinner showed he was slowly warming to the task of defending his title.
However, Daria Kasatkina was overpowered by Naomi Osaka 6-1 6-3 on No.1 Court in just 65 minutes, putting up little resistance to the Japan star’s power game, which yielded several winners.
The Russian-born Aussie revealed she’ll have the perfect way of getting a humbling Wimbledon exit out of her system – when she gets married to her long-time girlfriend in Greece after the Championships.
Kasatkina is marrying her partner of four years, professional figure skater Natalia Zabiiako.
“I’ve got my wedding, our wedding. I’m really looking forward to it,” she said.
“That’s great, though, isn’t it? You know, a break from tennis. Honestly, like, really looking forward to it, like something really, really different.
“We’re gonna have about 40 people at the wedding in Athens, we’ve been working on this for like a year. I hope guests are gonna like it; a few of them who are playing here will be coming along afterwards.”
The wedding will take place in the Greek capital while a WTA event is being staged there the week after Wimbledon finishes. With Kasatkina out, Alex de Minaur is the only Australian left in the singles draw.
As for 39-year-old Djokovic, aiming for a men’s record-equalling eighth Wimbledon crown and outright record 25th Grand Slam title, he beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) with another vintage centre court display.
Italian world number one Sinner, whom Djokovic could meet in the semi-finals, has taken a while to stamp his authority on his return to the grass but stepped up a level as he outclassed American Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
While Djokovic and Sinner dominated the spotlight, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime continued to fly under the radar as he moved past American Michael Zheng 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-1 for a meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka also moved ominously into the last 16 as she comfortably dispatched Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-4 in a high-octane centre court duel.
Sabalenka’s bid for a first Wimbledon title faces a big test next when she faces Osaka.
Coco Gauff, another grand slam champion for whom Wimbledon has proved a tricky puzzle to solve, scrambled into the fourth round past fellow American Claire Liu, winning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 after squandering match points in the second set.
Iva Jovic, one of 15 Americans to advance to the third round of the singles draws, continued to impress as the 18-year-old beat experienced Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
But it was the end of the road for two 19-year-old dark horses in the men’s draw as Brazil’s Joao Fonseca and Spain’s Rafael Jodar got reality checks with defeats to qualifiers.
Fonseca, the 24th seed, was outplayed by Russian Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 while Jodar crumbled to Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki, going down 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic will face Safiullin next when he could take sole ownership of second place on the all-time list of most Wimbledon match-wins ahead of Roger Federer with whom he drew level on Friday while also equalling the Swiss maestro’s record of 18 fourth-round appearances.
“I propose a match-up between me and Roger for 106,” seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic joked in his on-court interview after celebrating the win with some “dad dancing” for his laughing daughter Tara.
“Let’s just stop it here and call Roger to come.”