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Novak Djokovic took what was shaping up as an entertaining, well-played matchup in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and quickly turned it into a lopsided romp with a 10-game run.

"Obviously things could have gone a different way," Djokovic said. "Who knows what the match would look like if I lost the first set?"

The No. 1-seeded Djokovic will face No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain or No. 26 Guido Pella of Argentina on Friday.

Djokovic is seeking his fifth Wimbledon championship and 17th Grand Slam trophy overall.

The quarter-finals on the other side of the draw were scheduled for later Wednesday: No. 2 seed Roger Federer vs. No. 8 Kei Nishikori, and No. 3 Rafael Nadal vs. unseeded Sam Querrey.

The 21st-seeded Goffin started well enough against Djokovic at Centre Court on an afternoon that was humid and sunny but not too hot, with the temperature around 25C.

Hoping to reach his first major semifinal, Goffin claimed three of the first four points that lasted at least 10 strokes. He won the pair's most recent encounter, on clay in 2017, and this looked a bit like it was being contested on that slower surface, too.

Until then, Goffin was playing crisply and cleanly. He hadn't faced so much as one break point against Djokovic, generally considered the top returner in the game.

"He was dictating the play from the baseline," Djokovic said afterward. "Most of the rallies went his way."

But that's when everything changed.

Serving at 30-love in the very next game, Goffin double-faulted. Then he flubbed a forehand. After limiting himself to three unforced errors through the match's initial 49 points, the Belgian made two in a row. The next point was an odd one involving a late line call and a challenge by Goffin, who lost it and faced his first break point.

Djokovic couldn't convert that one, but moments later, Goffin sent a forehand wide to set up a second. This time, Djokovic ended a 20-stroke exchange with a drop volley winner. And soon enough, he was on his way, sliding or doing the splits along the baseline to get to balls few others would, bending his body this way and that to repeatedly force Goffin to hit an extra shot.

It's a dispiriting brand of tennis, and it was too much for Goffin. He would wind up going about 50 minutes until he managed to win another game.

Serena Williams and Andy Murray are out of the Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament.

The high-profile duo lost to top-seeded Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the third round, ending Murray's return to the All England Club after missing last year with a hip injury.

The pair was broken twice to fall behind 4-0 in the third set on No. 2 Court and lost when Murray netted a forehand return on match point.

Williams still has a chance to win her eighth Wimbledon singles trophy, though, as she takes on Barbora Strycova in the semifinals on Thursday. Murray, a two-time men's champion who hasn't played singles since having hip surgery in January, lost in the second round of the men's doubles tournament.

Source: CBC News

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