Wawrinka and Nishikori Reach Final 16 After Resuming Rain-Suspended Matches

The headliner was the weather at Wimbledon as rain fell from the English skies, postponing a number of matches on Saturday. Two of those matches resumed on Monday as Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka both closed out their third-round matches to earn a spot in the final 16.

Japan’s Nishikori reaches the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in his career, but had to battle through a tough five-set bout with Italy’s Simone Bolelli to advance. The 24-year old came back from down a set to defeat Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.

The rain postponed the match at what couldn’t be a more crucial time with the match all even at 3-3 in the fifth and deciding set. Nishikori was actually down 15/40 when play picked up Monday, but battled back to break Bolelli’s serve and eventually serve out the remainder of the match to escape the Italian’s upset bid.

Nishikori now moves into the fourth-round and a matchup with Canadian Milos Ranoic, another young star. Raonic beat Lukasz Kubot in straight sets in his third-round contest.

Switzerland’s Wawrinka had a little easier time with his opponent, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, as he cruised to the 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout on Monday. The Australian Open champion smashed 12 aces and won 83 percent of his first serve points to pace the match, and has dropped only one set in his first four matches at Wimbledon.

He now faces a very tough task though, as he can potentially play three matches in three days due to the weather postponements over the weekend. His fourth-round matchup will be on Tuesday against either John Isner or Feliciano Lopez, who play their third-round match Monday as well.

As some third-round matches are finishing up early Monday, a few big names on the men’s side will play their fourth-round matches later Monday. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will look to reach the quarterfinals when he takes on 14th seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Centre Court, while defending champion and third-seeded Andy Murray takes on 20th seeded South African Kevin Anderson.