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Reuters
Reuters
Sport
Pravin Char

Fans await Djokovic treat before women's quarter-final feast

Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 8, 2017 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his third round match against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

(Reuters) - The women's quarter-finals are the main course at Wimbledon on Tuesday, but former men's champion Novak Djokovic is serving up a juicy appetiser on Centre Court, where fans were short-changed by player withdrawals a week ago.

Second seed Djokovic's fourth-round match against France's Adrian Mannarino was pushed back from Monday due to the epic five-setter that saw Gilles Muller defeat Rafa Nadal, in one of the biggest shocks of the championships.

Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 10, 2017 Venus Williams of the U.S. during her fourth round match against Croatia’s Ana Konjuh REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

The Serb will be first up on Centre Court, at midday (1100 GMT), in a bonus event before the women's quarters. It comes exactly a week after ticketholders saw two successive matches on the same court finish in the second set as players retired hurt.

After the Djokovic battle, it will be all about the women's last eight on a day that is forecast to be cloudy with some showers, with the temperature hovering round 17 Celsius.

In a clash of tennis generations, five-times Wimbledon winner Venus Williams - at 37, the oldest player in more than two decades to reach the last eight - will go toe-to-toe with 20-year-old French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 10, 2017 Romania’s Simona Halep in action during her fourth round match against Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

Next up on Centre Court is second seed Simona Halep, who will become the first Romanian woman to reach world number one if she beats sixth seed Johanna Konta, the first British woman in the quarter-finals for 33 years.

On Court One, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova goes up against Spain's Garbine Muguruza, who turfed out world number one Angelique Kerber on Monday. Wrapping up the women's quarter-finals, big-hitting American Coco Vandeweghe faces Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.

Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 10, 2017 Spain’s Garbine Muguruza celebrates during her fourth round match against Germany’s Angelique Kerber REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

(Reporting by Pravin Char; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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