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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Samuel Lovett

Wimbledon 2018 - as it happened: Rafael Nadal into semi-finals as Roger Federer is knocked out

Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal go head to head on Centre Court in what is today's standout quarter-final.

After beating Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5), Del Potro is making his first quarter-final appearance at SW19 since 2013.

Nadal, meanwhile, reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final since 2011 with a straight-set win over unseeded Czech Jiri Vesely.

Both men have struggled with injuries over the years but it is Nadal who heads into the clash as the favourite, having not yet dropped a set at the All England Club.

Follow all the live action below:


Live Updates

20:57
That's all from me, folks. Thanks for joining! I'll see you tomorrow for the women's semi-finals and what promises to be another day of thrilling tennis from SW19.
20:57
4h 48 mins. That, my friends, was a long match of tennis. Time, now, to enjoy the final agonising 30 minutes of the football if you can bear it.
20:51
Game. Set. Match!
Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 4-6 Nadal
 
He's through! After nearly five long hours of top-quality tennis, the world No 1 is into the last four of Wimbledon!
 
He snatched the match-winning point with a backhand volley that DelPo had no chance of reaching after slipping nearly the baseline. An unfortunate way to end this match, but Rafa won't care. That was as hard a quarter-final as they come. The Spaniard's Wimbledon campaign continues.
 
20:51
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 4-5 Nadal
 
Still, DelPo continues to pummel his opponent with those powerful defensive strokes. The Argentine eventually draws the error from the world No 1, who shanks his backhand wide, but the Spaniard goes on to deliver a forehand winner that lands sweetly in the corner.
20:45
Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 4-5 Nadal*
 
After that draining previous game, DelPo holds to love. Extraordinary.
20:44
Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-5 Nadal*
 
DelPo starts this game with a 107mph forehand winner. Wow. After nearly five hours of tennis, how are these two men still producing tennis of this calibre?
20:42
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-5 Nadal
 
Finally, at long last, Nadal has it! Reaching to his left for a sliced dropshot from DelPo, the Spaniard curls his forehand around and over the net to pick out the top left corner. Simply sublime.
20:41
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-4 Nadal
 
Advantage, Nadal. Deuce. Advantage, DelPo. Deuce. You know the story by now. Still this game remains unsettled.
20:38
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-4 Nadal
 
This is another game where both players are refusing to budge as we bounce back and forth between deuce and advantage. Who will break first?
20:35
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-4 Nadal
 
DelPo with the advantage after a fantastic pick-up that lands at the back end of the court after Nadal had rushed to the net. Rafa gets back to deuce, though, with a drop-shot that his opponent can only net.
20:34
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-4 Nadal
 
Nadal shines with a perfectly-weighted drop-shot but then completely switches off with a tame return into the net. Deuce. He quickly moves to advantage but DelPo delivers another one of those winning forehand shots down the line and we're back to where we started.
20:27
Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 3-4 Nadal*
 
DelPo rallies and sees out this game in style with a forehand winner down the line. He's not done yet.
20:25
Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 2-4 Nadal*
 
Nadal is straight out the blocks in this game. He's flying and quickly moves to 30-0 with two backhand winners. DelPo bites back and fires across a backhand slice that the Spaniard can only return as far as the net.
20:23
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 2-4 Nadal
 
It's Nadal's turn to move to advantage but at long last he holds as DelPo fires a return into the net.
20:21
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 2-3 Nadal
 
DelPo moves to advantage for a second break point but Nadal smashes clear a high bouncing ball to return the game to deuce. This is relentless. What a spectacle this has turned into.
20:19
*Del Potro 5-7 6-6 (9-7) 6-4 4-6 2-3 Nadal
 
Deary me. DelPo had the point on a plate for him after the ball bounced up perfectly to him in the centre of the court. But the Argentine couldn't execute the shot and instead blasted his return into the crowd behind. A huge missed opportunity. Deuce.

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Order of Play - Day 10

All times BST, seeds in brackets

Centre Court

13:00: (12) Novak Djokovic (Ser) v (24) Kei Nishikori (Jpn), (5) Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) v (2) Rafael Nadal (Spa)

Court 1

13:00: (1) Roger Federer (Swi) v (8) Kevin Anderson (Rsa), (13) Milos Raonic (Can) v (9) John Isner (USA)

Court 2

11:30: (1) Timea Babos (Hun) & Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) v Alicja Rosolska (Pol) & Abigail Spears (USA), (3) Barbora Krejcikova (Cze) & Katerina Siniakova (Cze) v Tatjana Maria (Ger) & Heather Watson (Gbr), (12) Matwe Middelkoop (Ned) & Johanna Larsson (Swe) v Jamie Murray (Gbr) & Victoria Azarenka (Blr), (10) Juan Sebastian Cabal (Col) & Abigail Spears (USA) v Robin Haase (Ned) & Kirsten Flipkens (Bel)

Court 3

11:30: (12) Nicole Melichar (USA) & Kveta Peschke (Cze) v (15) Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) & Mihaela Buzarnescu (Rom), (6) Gabriela Dabrowski (Can) & Yi Fan Xu (Chn) v Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Lucie Safarova (Cze), (5) Nikola Mektic (Cro) & Hao-Ching Chan (Tpe) v (9) Michael Venus (Nzl) & Katarina Srebotnik (Slo), Kim Clijsters (Bel) & Rennae Stubbs (Aus) v Na Li (Chn) & Ai Sugiyama (Jpn), Cara Black (Zim) & Martina Navratilova (USA) v Lindsay Davenport (USA) & Mary Joe Fernandez (USA)

Court 5

11:00: Nicolas Alvarez Varona (Spa) v Trey Hilderbrand (USA), (13) Catherine McNally (USA) v Qinwen Zheng (Chn), (15) Maria Lourdes Carle (Arg) v (3) Cori Gauff (USA), Clara Burel (Fra) & Diane Parry (Fra) v Marta Custic (Spa) & Qinwen Zheng (Chn)

Court 7

11:00: Arnaud Bovy (Bel) v Gilbert Soares Klier Junior (Bra), (1) Chun Hsin Tseng (Tpe) v Ondrej Styler (Cze), James Story (Gbr) & Harry Wendelken (Gbr) v Arnaud Bovy (Bel) & Arthur Cazaux (Fra), Mariam Dalakishvili (Geo) & Sada Nahimana (Bdi) v (5) Joanna Garland (Tpe) & En Shuo Liang (Tpe)

Court 8

11:00: Lea Ma (USA) v (10) Xiyu Wang (Chn), (4) Xin Yu Wang (Chn) v (14) Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Ita), Drew Baird (USA) & Keenan Mayo (USA) v Titouan Droguet (Fra) & Simon Ivanov (Bul), (1) Xin Yu Wang (Chn) & Xiyu Wang (Chn) v Natasha Subhash (USA) & Katie Volynets (USA)

Court 12

11:30: Colin Fleming (Gbr) & Xavier Malisse (Bel) v Greg Rusedski (Gbr) & Fabrice Santoro (Fra), Jack Draper (Gbr) v (11) Tristan Boyer (USA), Marion Bartoli (Fra) & Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) v Conchita Martinez (Spa) & Barbara Schett (Aut), Jack Draper (Gbr) & Emile Hudd (Gbr) v Savriyan Danilov (Rus) & Henry Von der Schulenburg (Swi), Justin Gimelstob (USA) & Ross Hutchins (Gbr) v Arnaud Clement (Fra) & Miles MacLagan (Gbr)

Court 14

11:00: Iga Swiatek (Pol) v (16) Clara Burel (Fra), Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) v (4) Hugo Gaston (Fra), Trey Hilderbrand (USA) & Govind Nanda (USA) v (2) Aidan McHugh (Gbr) & Timofey Skatov (Kaz), (7) Nicolas Alvarez Varona (Spa) & Facundo Diaz Acosta (Arg) v Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) & Deney Wassermann (Ned), Daria Frayman (Rus) & Federica Rossi (Ita) v Dalayna Hewitt (USA) & Peyton Stearns (USA)

Court 16

11:00: Tao Mu (Chn) v (6) Timofey Skatov (Kaz), (5) Nicolas Mejia (Col) v Cannon Kingsley (USA), Tao Mu (Chn) & Leopold Zima (Ger) v Jacob Fearnley (Gbr) & Connor Thomson (Gbr), Cannon Kingsley (USA) & Emilio Nava (USA) v (6) Nicolas Mejia (Col) & Ondrej Styler (Cze)

Court 17

11:00: Leonie Kung (Swi) v (9) Yuki Naito (Jpn), (12) Naho Sato (Jpn) v Viktoriia Dema (Ukr), Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) & Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) v (3) Eleonora Molinaro (Lux) & Clara Tauson (Den), Elina Avanesyan (Rus) & Caisja Hennemann (Swe) v (6) Yuki Naito (Jpn) & Naho Sato (Jpn)

Court 18

11:00: Emma Raducanu (Gbr) v Joanna Garland (Tpe), Otto Virtanen (Fin) v Anton Matusevich (Gbr), Victoria Allen (Gbr) & Destinee Martins (Gbr) v Violet Apisah (Png) & Lulu Sun (Nzl), (8) Sebastian Baez (Arg) & Gilbert Soares Klier Junior (Bra) v Yanki Erel (Tur) & Otto Virtanen (Fin

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