Wimbledon 2016: Kei Nishikori faces Marin Cilic test in fourth round

Fifth seed Kei Nishikori will play ninth seed Marin Cilic in the Wimbledon fourth round after a dominant display against Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov.

The Japanese player, 26, secured a 7-5 6-3 7-5 victory over the 2009 boys’ singles champion.

Cilic, 27, also won in three sets, overcoming Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 50 minutes.

Canada’s sixth seed Milos Raonic is into the last 16 with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 7-6 (7-1) win over the USA’s Jack Sock.

The 25-year-old, who reached the last four in 2014, will play Belgium’s 11th seed David Goffin, who defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4 6-3 2-6 6-1.

Nick Kyrgios and Feliciano Lopez were tied 6-3 6-7 (2-7) when play was suspended for bad light. The winner faces Andy Murray in round four.

Organisers confirm play on middle Sunday

Nishikori strolls into fourth round

Cilic might need to be at his best if he is to repeat his 2014 US Open final victory over Nishikori, after the Japanese player took a fraction less than two hours to overcome his Russian opponent on court three.

Nishikori was on top from the off and took a two-set lead before a lengthy rain interruption.

Kuznetsov improved after the restart and broke Nishikori’s service to go 3-0 up but lost his own after a second shorter rain break. The Russian was broken again in the 11th game before his Florida-based opponent held serve for victory.

“At certain moments, I was playing aggressively,” said Nishikori. “He can be a really tough player, especially here.

“It was a tough third set. But I tried to be a little bit more aggressive, took a little bit of time with changing with the slice. The serve, too, I changed a little bit. It started working better.”

Elsewhere, Australia’s Bernard Tomic, seeded 19th, beat 14th seed Roberto Bautista of Spain 6-2 6-4 6-4, and United States player Steve Johnson knocked out Bulgaria’s 2014 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-2.

Over on court eight, German Alexander Zverev, the 24th seed, reached the third round with a 6-4 3-6 6-0 4-6 6-2 win over Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.

Frenchman Nicolas Mahut beat compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 3-6 6-3 to reach round four.

In matches to be completed on Sunday, USA’s John Isner leads France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-7 (5-9), while another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, is two sets to one up on Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, who knocked out Stan Wawrinka in round two, trails France’s Lucas Pouille 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5.

Marathon match for the returning Hewitt

Lleyton Hewitt, 35, the 2002 men’s champion, played a 157-minute final set with his double partner Jordan Thompson before overcoming Spanish duo Nicolas Almagro and David Marrero in their first round match in just under four hours. The Australians battled to a 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 19-17 win.

Hewitt made a U-turn in March on his decision to retire from tennis after January’s Australian Open.

British doubles joy

Briton Jonny Marray and partner Adil Shamasdin of Canada reached the third round of the men’s doubles with a 6-3 6-4 victory over German pair Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Another Briton, Dominic Inglot, is into the second round of the competition after he and his partner Daniel Nestor of Canada defeated Italians Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

The Skupski brothers, Ken and Neal, caused a surprise with a 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 11-9 victory over seventh seeds Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.

However, fellow Britons Lloyd Glasspool and Dan Evans were beaten 6-4 6-2 in their first-round match by Malek Jaziri and Lukas Rosol.

There was also disappointment for compatriots Brydan Klein and Alexander Ward, who lost 6-4 7-5 to 15th seeds Martin Cuevas and Marcel Granollers.

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