London: Serena Williams powered into her 12th Wimbledon quarterfinal as the defending champion celebrated American Independence Day with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Monday. World number one Serena hit 43 winners and served 14 aces as she won the last nine games on Centre Court to remain on course for a record-equalling 22nd major title and a seventh Wimbledon crown.
Meanwhile, cruising into the quarterfinals without the loss of a set, Roger Federer is making it look easy as he chases a record eighth Wimbledon title. Federer swept to a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 win over 29th-ranked American Steve Johnson on Centre Court, equaling Jimmy Connors’ Open-era record by reaching his 14th quarterfinal at the All England Club. Advancing to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time was Sam Querrey, the man who stopped No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round on Saturday. The 28th-seeded American served 23 aces and beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Querrey is the first American man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Mary Fish in 2011 - and the first to make it that far at any Grand Slam since John Isner and Andy Roddick at the 2011 U.S. Open. In women’s play, No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was eliminated by No.18 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in a back-and-forth baseline battle that lasted three hours.
