London: Rafael Nadal sailed into the fourth round in the men’s singles event at Wimbeledon 2018 when he beat Australian Alex de Minaur a 6-1 6-2 6-4 in a well contested encounter.

The Alicante-based 19-year-old played his part in an entertaining duel as he chased after everything Nadal could throw at him — and in turn kept the Spaniard on Centre Court longer than he would have liked.

But the World No.1, chasing a third title at the All England Club, stuck to his own game plan to ensure he reached the second week of the grasscourt major without dropping a set.

Juan Martin del Potro made the last 16 for the first time in five years when the Argentine fifth seed defeated France’s Benoît Paire 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Halep stunned

World number one and French Open champion Simona Halep was knocked out of Wimbledon on Saturday, losing to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the third round as the All England Club seeds’ carnage claimed another victim. Defeat for Halep means that Karolina Pliskova, at number seven, is the only women’s top 10 seed to reach the fourth round.

Other early winners on Saturday included Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck who followed her upset of defending champion Garbine Muguruza by beating Anett Kontaveit, the 28th seeded Estonian, 6-2, 6-3.

Van Uytvanck will meet fellow last-16 debutant Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina, who defeated Ashleigh Barty of Australia 7-5, 6-3. N. Djokovic beat K. Edmund 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 while K. Nisikori beat N.Kyrgios 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round of the men’s singles.

In the women’s singles, A. Kerber beat N. Osuka 6-2, 6-4 to progress further.