The world No 4 has won her home tournament twice, in 2013 and 2017, but was forced to skip this edition due to a back injury she has been struggling with for two weeks.

“She has been advised by a doctor to take a break,” said her coach Patapol Ngernsrisuk, adding that the injury wasn’t serious but required rest.

Former world No 1 Ratchanok showed signs of injury in her Indonesia Open quarter-final against Sung Ji Hyun on Friday, losing 21-12 21-12.

“It’s difficult for her to play the forehand. If she entered the competition this week, she would risk tearing muscles,” Patapol added.

Ratchanok’s focus now will be on the World Championships in Nanjing and the Asian Games in Indonesia, both in August.

Without Ratchanok, Thai hopes in Bangkok will be shouldered by world No 11 Nitchaon Jindapol, No 19 Pornpawee Chochuwong and |No 30 Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Today’s first round sees sixth seed Nitchaon play Soniia Cheah of Malaysia, while Pornpawee will take on Beatriz Corrales of Spain. Busanan has an easier opener after  fifth seed and 2012 winner Saina Nehwal of India withdrew. She will face Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland instead.The top two women’s seeds are world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and No 3 Pusarla V Sindhu.

Kantaphon Wangcharoen 

With world No 4 Shi Yuqi of China, No 5 Kidambri Srikanth of India and world No 7 and reigning Olympic champion Chen Long withdrawing, Prannoy H.S. of India, No 14 in the world, is the highest ranked player in the men’s singles.

In-form Kantaphon Wangcharoen, who should become Thailand’s new No 1 later this week after reaching the Super 1000 quarter-finals in Jakarta on Friday, is the country’s main hope in the men’s singles. He will open his campaign against a qualifier.

The Kingdom’s top mixed doubles pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai are the other big home hopes this week. Seeded seventh, they play Taiwan’s Lee Yang and Hsu Ya Ching in the first round.

Kim, 24-under to start the day, fired a final-round seven-under par 65 on the par-72 Thornberry course in Oneida, Wisconsin.

Her 31-under total of 257 broke the LPGA’s 72-hole scoring record in relation to par of 27-under, first set by Swedish great Annika Sorenstam in 2001 and matched by Kim herself at the 2016 Founders Cup in Phoenix.

She also broke the record for fewest strokes over 72 holes of 258, achieved by Karen Stupples in 2004 and matched by Angela Stanford and Park Hee-Young in 2013.

“I really feel, like, unreal,” Kim said. “I never thought about shooting, like, 31-under. I really feel incredible.”

But the 25-year-old knew setting out on Sunday that she was within striking distance of the record, giving herself a goal of playing the final round without a bogey.

“I was feeling a little bit of different than the third round because a little bit of pressure,” Kim admitted. “I thought about how do you handle nerves today. Then I set my goals, just kept relaxed — except the last three holes I couldn’t control the nerves because it was almost done, but I finished really good.”

Kim’s only blemish all week was a double bogey at the par-three 17th on Friday.

– ‘It’s crazy’ –

Her 32 holes of birdie or better were yet another record — improving on the 30 sub-par holes in a tournament achieved previously by three players.

“It’s crazy,” Kim said.

Kim notched her seventh LPGA victory and her first since the Lorena Ochoa Match Play in Mexico last year. That victory had propelled her to eighth in the world, although she had slipped to 26th coming into this week.

Kim said she’d never dreamed of such a record-setting week when she was young.

But ever since she’d matched her childhood idol Sorenstam’s 27-under mark two years ago she had “really wanted” the four-day scoring record to herself.

“I’m really happy with a dream come true,” she said.

Leading by eight to eight to start the day, Kim signalled her intentions with a birdie at the first.

She picked up another stroke at the fifth and her 12-footer for birdie at the sixth moved her to 27-under.

Her approach at the ninth left her a five-foot eagle attempt, and while she settled for a birdie that was more than enough.

She cruised home with three more birdies to finish nine strokes in front of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda — whose eight-under 64 put her at 266.

Ciganda, 10-under through 17 holes, closed with a disappointing double bogey at 18, where her second shot disappeared in dense undergrowth near the green.

Even without that mishap she would have barely made a dent in Kim’s margin of victory.

“It’s unbelievable the way she played,” said Ciganda, who finished two strokes in front of Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (67), South Korean Amy Yang (68) and American Emma Talley (67).

Clean-cut, waistcoated manager Southgate was not even supposed to be in Russia. Now he’s about to lead England against Croatia with a place in Sunday’s final beckoning.

When the 47-year-old was appointed in November 2016 after Sam Allardyce left his post following a newspaper sting after just 67 days in charge, there was little fanfare.

That’s all changed now. “Southgreat” trumpeted the Sun on Sunday. “Cry God for Harry, England and St George!” said the Sunday Telegraph.

England, basking in a long summer heatwave, is starting to believe the team can reach their first final since 1966 after the young side saw off Sweden 2-0 in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Almost 20 million people in Britain tuned in, not accounting for the many more who watched in pubs and public viewing areas.

Streets were deserted as people crammed into sweaty pubs, gathered around big screens or stayed home to watch the national side reach the last four of a World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

Marks and Spencer, official tailors to the England team, declared Saturday #NationalWaistcoatDay in honour of Southgate and the team.

The manager has even been promised a lifetime supply of waistcoats from a firm in London.

“I’m so impressed with Southgate’s performance, and with his choice of attire,” the founder Sir Plus, Henry Hales, told the London Evening Standard.

Exeter Cathedral, in southwest England, tweeted a video of an organist playing the unofficial team anthem “Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)” in an tweet entitled “To Russia With Love”.

The song itself, released by the Lightning Seeds and comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel for Euro ’96, hosted in England, is storming up the charts again.

Fans have also adapted another song, “Whole Again” by Atomic Kitten.

“Looking back on when we first met, I cannot escape it, I cannot forget,” the fans chant.

“Southgate you’re the one. You still turn me on and football’s coming home again.”

– Social media star –

Southgate was an accomplished defender for England and a clutch of Premier League clubs, but his managerial experience is limited to a spell at Middlesbrough and with the England Under-21s

He famously appeared in a pizza advertisement that played on his penalty miss in the Euro 96 semi-final shootout against eventual champions Germany.

But he has gone from fall guy to hero, taking social media by storm, with the hashtag #GarethSouthgateWould used thousands of times by people imagining how he would help them out.

“#GarethSouthgateWould siphon the petrol out of his own car and put it into yours, if he saw you parked up on the hard shoulder on a motorway out of fuel. He’d wave you off, then he’d wait for the AA (Automobile Association) to come get him, because that was his last few drops,” tweeted @DrawtyDevil.

AmnestyUK tweeted: “#GarethSouthgateWould ensure we retain all our hard-won #humanrights after #Brexit.”

Former British Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson tweeted: “#GarethSouthgateWould come all the way to London to make sure there was a ramp to get me off the train when he was only popping to Boro to get some milk.”

Twitter user Claire Eubank tweeted a radically altered version of The Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Gareth, who art in Samara, Hallowed be thy waistcoat…. For Thine is the semis, The Final and the Glory, For ever and ever. #It’s Coming Home.”

Southgate’s rising profile has been a bonanza for lookalike airline pilot Neil Rowe, who even managed to temporarily fool BBC TV presenter and former England international Gary Lineker when he spied him in the crowd during the match against Sweden.

“I signed kids’ napkins in McDonald’s in 96 after he missed the penalty, have been shouted at by Colombian fans and got free beers in the Irish bar,” Rowe told the BBC.

Perhaps, though, the Daily Mirror summed it up best as to why Southgate has wowed the English public.

“He is a gentleman.”

The 34-year-old, who emigrated to the United States from Seoul with his family at age eight, finished 72 holes at the mountain resort course in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, on 19-under 261.

“Big confidence boost,” Na said. “It’s nice to get that second trophy. It’s a beautiful trophy. I thought about how good it would look at home.”

Na, who choked up when thanking fans in Korean on television after his triumph, had made 158 starts since his only prior PGA victory at the 2011 Shriners Hospitals Open.

“It feels amazing,” Na said. “I see the records on TV, most starts since winning. I’m always up there. I failed so many times.

“It took me eight years to win my first title. I told friends it’s not going to take eight years to win the second one. It has taken seven.”

Kelly Kraft was second on 266 with Jason Kokrak and Brandt Snedeker sharing third on 267 and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, the only non-US player in the top 10, in a fifth-place pack on 268 with Austin Cook, Sam Saunders, Joel Dahmen and Harold Varner.

Na broke open a shootout with 12 players within four strokes of the lead by making birdies on six of seven holes starting at the fourth, making two runs of three in a row to seize command.

He sank a five-foot birdie putt at the fourth and one twice as long at the fifth before dropping a 32-footer at the sixth.

Na found a fairway bunker at seven and settled for par but resumed his birdie binge with a 43-foot putt at the par-3 eighth, a tap-in birdie after putting his approach at nine inches from the cup and sinking a 23-foot birdie putt to start the back nine.

“Today I kept within myself,” Na said. “I never got ahead of myself. “I kept it right in front of me.”

Na’s lone bogey came at 11, where he missed a 10-foot par putt, but he pulled back a stroke at 16 with a nine-foot birdie putt, then sank a 16-foot par putt at the par-5 17th and parred 18 to close out the victory.

Saunders, grandson of golf legend Arnold Palmer, used an old putter that belonged to his grandfather, who died in 2016 at age 87.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, seeking his fourth title of the year, fired a 72 to share 13th on 271.

Born to two footballing parents in the Belgian municipality of Braine-le-Comte, Hazard’s reputation spread across the border and saw him snapped up by Lille at the age of just 14.

Two years later Hazard made his professional debut in Ligue 1 and went on to become French football’s brightest talent, twice winning the league’s player of the year prize and leading Lille to a Ligue 1 and Cup double in 2010-11.

When a big-money move inevitably came, it was Chelsea who won the race in 2012 with a £32 million ($43 million) capture that now seems like a bargain.

In six seasons in England, Hazard has won two more league titles and won plenty of admirers. But some doubt whether he has the desire to back up his immense talent and challenge Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world’s best player.

So far in Russia, Hazard looks like a man on a mission to ensure Belgium’s so-called golden generation live up to their billing by bringing home the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history.

Handed the armband by Roberto Martinez despite Vincent Kompany’s return from injury, the Spaniard has drawn out Hazard’s leadership qualities.

“I think Eden is in a great moment of his career,” Martinez said before the tournament. “Look at his age, he is the captain, in terms of leadership — he never finds it difficult to show for the ball.”

– Leading by example –

Hazard’s willingness and ability to carry the ball under pressure, jinking past helpless defenders, was in evidence as Belgium claimed their greatest-ever World Cup scalp by beating Brazil in the quarter-finals.

With his side clinging onto a 2-1 lead, Hazard repeatedly carried the ball forward in the dying minutes, drawing fouls to offer the Belgian backline some respite.

His leadership was also in evidence with a man-of-the-match performance, including a wonderful assist for Marouane Fellaini’s equaliser, as the Red Devils came from 2-0 down to beat Japan 3-2 in the last 16.

In outshining Brazil’s Neymar in the last eight, Hazard may have put himself in the shop window.

At 27, he has not hidden his ambition to finally make an impact on the Champions League, which Chelsea missed out on after a disappointing fifth-placed finish in the Premier League last season.

Long linked with a transfer to Real Madrid, a move to Spain looks more realistic this summer than at any time of his Chelsea career, with Madrid president Florentino Perez often influenced by outstanding World Cup performances and Ronaldo looking set to exit the Santiago Bernabeu.

Even if a move to Madrid does materialise, Hazard will be denied a self-confessed dream of working under another French influence on his formation as a player, Zinedine Zidane.

As a child, Hazard used to study videos of the man who led France to the World Cup in 1998 — and stepped down as Real boss in May, to hone and copy his skills.

Twenty years on, he’s just two games away from matching Zidane’s feat.

To do so, though, he must prevent France’s own talented crop of Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann from following in Zidane’s footsteps in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

Sterling was a key part of the Manchester City side that won the Premier League last season but he has been less effective in England’s charge to the last four for the first time since 1990.

Despite some disappointing early performances, England coach Gareth Southgate has kept faith with the 23-year-old and his speed was a constant threat to Sweden’s defence in England’s 2-0 quarter-final win on Saturday.

“I think Raheem Sterling is an important player because he is fast and dangerous alongside Harry Kane,” Dalic said in a press conference Sunday.

“I wouldn’t say there are any glaring weaknesses (in England’s team) since they are in the semi-finals, that says it all.

“They play very direct football, dangerous, fast, and they are really good at setpieces, and dangerous at corner kicks.”

England survived a penalty shootout against Colombia in the last 16 whereas Croatia emerged through extra-time and spot-kicks against Denmark before going through the same ordeal again against Russia in Saturday’s quarter-final.

After such tight matches, it is easy to forget that Croatia produced a feast of attacking play to destroy Lionel Messi’s Argentina 3-0 in the group phase.

Dalic blamed Croatia’s opponents for smothering the creative talents of Luka Modric and said he expected a more open match in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

“Our last three games were different because we played teams with a defensive approach,” he said.

“But we are looking forward to a different style of game against England because they like to play attacking football.”

The semi-final also represents a financial mismatch between the riches of England’s Premier League and Croatian football.

“If we had England’s money, who knows where we’d be in our country?” Dalic said.

The pair were tied on 14 under after 72 holes at Ballyliffin Golf Club in County Donegal.

Knox holed from 40 feet for a birdie on the final green in regulation to sign for a 66 and set the clubhouse target.

New Zealander Fox put his approach into the 18th to ten feet but he missed his putt for the title, leaving the pair walking back to play the 18th again.

Knox put his second shot in a position almost identical to the one he found on the 72nd hole and rolled it home again, with Fox missing his own birdie attempt from 12 feet.

Knox said at the presentation ceremony: “It’s why I play golf, all the practice, all the misses, all the bad moments are taken care of with putts like that.

“Making two of them from an almost identical position is obviously a bit of a bonus. I’m so happy. I said (on the play-off hole) we’ve already made this putt, it can’t be too difficult. I feel bad for Ryan but I guess it was my time.”

Knox, winning his second European Tour title, arrived in Ireland in good shape after finishing second at last week’s French Open.

He was going one better after taking second to Irish Open host Rory McIlroy in this event in 2016.

Spaniard Jorge Campillo finished one shot out of the play-off after a closing 65, one shot clear of countryman and defending champion Jon Rahm and overnight leader Erik van Rooyen.

While he may have missed out on the title Fox gained a significant consolation prize with his strong showing earning him a place at the British Open.

The other two places for Carnoustie on offer to top 10 finishers not already qualified went to Andy Sullivan of England and South African Zander Lombard.

South African Van Rooyen entered the day with a four-shot lead and while he birdied the fourth, bogeys at sixth, seventh and ninth meant he had been caught by Campillo at the turn.

Gareth Southgate’s young team swept Sweden aside 2-0 on Saturday, sparking mass celebrations in England, where at least 20 million people watched the match on TV.

They will face Croatia, who had to endure a strength-sapping penalty shootout for the second consecutive match, in front of 80,000 people in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday.

But first Roberto Martinez’s exciting Belgian side will attempt to reach their first ever World Cup final when they play favourites France in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

England is basking in the team’s run to the last four of the World Cup as fans start to believe that they can lift the trophy for the first time since 1966.

“Southgreat” trumpeted the Sun on Sunday. “Cry God for Harry, England and St George!” said the Sunday Telegraph.

Goals from Leicester defender Harry Maguire and Tottenham’s Dele Alli sealed victory against Sweden in Samara while man-of-the-match Jordan Pickford made three outstanding saves.

“England’s players have guaranteed they will return from the World Cup as heroes. Now they can dream of a grander ambition. Can they come home as legends?” asked former England defender Jamie Carragher in a column for the Sunday Telegraph.

– No FIFA ban for Vida –

Croatia defender Domagoj Vida escaped a FIFA ban on Sunday after posting a clip dedicating his country’s victory over Russia in the quarter-finals to Ukraine.

The former Dynamo Kiev player scored an extra-time goal and one of Croatia’s penalties in a 4-3 shootout win over the World Cup hosts in Sochi on Saturday.

The ponytailed 29-year-old shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” in a video posted by former Croatia international Ognjen Vukojevic shortly after the match.

FIFA said it had studied the video and decided to issue a warning to Vida but would take no further measures.

Vida told Russian media after the clip was made public that he had meant no offence. “I love Russian people,” Vida was quoted as saying. “It was just a joke.”

“Glory to Ukraine!” was a slogan of the former Soviet republic’s pro-EU revolution that toppled a Russian-backed president in 2014.

The revolt was condemned as illegal by Moscow and sparked a crisis in relations between the two neighbouring states.

Looking forward to the match against England, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic told a press conference on Sunday that the game would be more open.

“Our last three games were different because we played teams with a defensive approach,” he said.

“But we are looking forward to a different style of game against England because they like to play attacking football.”

– Russian fans pay tribute –

Russian fans paid tribute to their team, who exited the tournament after their defeat on penalties following 120 gruelling minutes of football.

The Russians were the lowest-ranked of the 32 teams at the World Cup but, just as in the previous round against Spain, they refused to die despite enjoying just 36 percent of possession against a superior Croatian team.

Coach Stanislav Cherchesov led his players onto a stage to a heroes’ welcome in a Moscow fan zone.

“You were not the 12th player — you were the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th players,” Cherchesov told the crowd.

“We felt your support from the first second.”

Midfielder Denis Cheryshev dedicated his four goals — tied for second-most in the tournament behind England forward Harry Kane’s six — to “the whole country”.

President Vladimir Putin has invited Cherchesov and his charges to the Kremlin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commiserated with the players in the dressing room after the defeat.

Away from Russia, the Spanish football federation said Fernando Hierro, who stood in as Spain coach when Julen Lopetegui was sacked on the eve of the World Cup, would not continue in the role.

Under the former Real Madrid and Spain defender, who had little previous coaching experience, 2010 winners Spain lost on penalties to Russia in the last 16.

Federer has been in imperious mood in pursuit of his ninth Wimbledon crown, while Williams is rounding into form just as the seven-time champion’s rivals have collapsed all around her.

The status quo has been challenged like never before in the women’s singles, with nine of the top 10 seeds crashing out before the Wimbledon last 16 for the first time in the Open area.

In the men’s draw, third seed Marin Cilic, fourth seed Alexander Zverev and sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov have all fallen.

But it’s business was usual for Federer as the defending champion took his consecutive sets won at Wimbledon to 29 in a third round dismissal of Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Federer’s 175th win from 200 career grass-court matches saw him overtake Jimmy Connors as the most successful male player on the surface.

Next, the Swiss star faces French 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino for a place in the quarter-finals.

World number two Federer, eyeing a 21st Grand Slam title, has won all five of his previous meetings with Mannarino, a 30-year-old journeyman who has never been past the last 16 at a major.

Although Federer is approaching peak form, he knows world number one Rafael Nadal — yet to drop a set in his first three matches — and three-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic — playing his way back to his best this week — are lurking as potential final opponents.

French Open champion Nadal, bidding for a first Wimbledon title since 2010, plays Czech world number 93 Jiri Vesely, while Djokovic takes on Russian world number 40 Karen Khachanov.

“Novak and Rafa, all these guys are still in the draw,” Federer said.

“At the end of the day I feel on our side not that much has happened. I know on the women’s side more so.

“In the past it has made me nervous when I’ve seen bigger guys go out.

“I feel like, ‘OK, it’s me next time’. I didn’t feel the effect this time.”

– Fear factor –

Federer’s tie is one of 16 fourth round matches across the men’s and women’s events in a frenetic day of action at the All England Club.

With the draw opening up in her favour, Williams is widely expected to make history with a first Grand Slam title since the birth of her daughter Olympia in September last year.

A series of unexpected results have seen Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki all eliminated.

The 36-year-old faces Russian qualifier — and fellow mother — Evgeniya Rodina in the last 16.

Williams will equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles if she wins Wimbledon for the third time in the last four years.

Having missed Wimbledon last year due to her pregnancy, Serena is on a 17-match winning streak at the All England Club.

It is a remarkable record sure to alarm her opponents, but Williams, seeded 25th after her maternity leave, admits that fear factor can be a double-edged sword.

“Yeah, there’s definitely that aura, that kind of thing of playing Serena,” she said.

“Every single match I play, whether I’m coming back from a baby or surgery, it doesn’t matter, these young ladies, they bring a game that I’ve never seen before.

“That’s what makes me great: I always play everyone at their greatest, so I have to be greater.”

Karolina Pliskova, the seventh seed, is the only top 10 ranked player remaining, but she has never won a major title.

The Czech faces Dutch 20th seed Kiki Bertens, who stunned five-time Wimbledon winner Venus in the third round.

Zverev, playing for the third day in succession, was shocked by Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, ranked 138, in a gruelling five sets, 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

French Open champion Halep lost to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 which leaves just one of the top 10 seeds in the last 16.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Rafael Nadal made the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Alex De Minaur of Australia which ensured he would retain the world number one spot at the end of the tournament.

Three-time winner Novak Djokovic made the last 16 of a Slam for the 44th time with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Kyle Edmund, the last remaining Briton.

Despite being widely-tipped to be a Grand Slam threat, it was another letdown for Zverev whose run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month remains his best performance at the majors.

Gulbis, a former world number 10 who famously defeated Roger Federer on his way to the French Open semi-finals in 2014, will be playing in  the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time at the 11th attempt.

The 29-year-old will take on Japan’s Kei Nishikori who registered his 350th career win with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory over Australian Nick Kyrgios.

His win on Saturday was his third successive five-setter having also played three matches in qualifying.

“It’s a great day, it’s been a great match for me,” said Gulbis who before Wimbledon had won just one match on tour in 2018.

He fired 18 aces and 61 winners past Zverev who said he felt he had been “unplugged” in the fourth set.

“I didn’t think I could win after losing the third set, but he got tired and I played smarter,” added Gulbis.

Defeat for Halep means that Karolina Pliskova, at number seven, is the only women’s top 10 seed to reach the fourth round.

It’s the first time in the Open era that none of the top five women’s seeds have made the last 16 of a Slam.

Hsieh, the world number 48, battled back from 2-5 down in the final set and saved a match point when the Romanian served for the match at 5-3 in the decider.

It will be Hsieh’s first appearance in the last 16 at Wimbledon where she will face Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

“It’s my first win against a world number one,” said 26-year-old Hsieh.

“It’s amazing. I was 2-5 down in the final set but the crowd pushed me to fight.”

Halep was left to rue her lost opportunities.

– ‘Unprofessional’ Halep –

“I was leading the match, I was up, and I couldn’t finish it,” said the 2014 semi-finalist.

“It was an unprofessional attitude from me today.”

Nadal reached the last 16 for the eighth time, making sure of keeping the world number one ranking.

The 11-time French Open champion and bidding for an 18th career major will next face unseeded Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.

“It was a positive match against a player with a lot of energy,” said Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion.

Djokovic was furious when he was denied a break of serve in the seventh game of the fourth set on Centre Court when the ball bounced twice before Edmund hit what was ruled a winner.

But the Serb managed to refocus after a lengthy complaint to umpire Jake Garner.

“I was 100 percent convinced it was a double bounce,” Djokovic said.

“It was an important point. I asked the chair umpire how is it possible he plays that shot if it didn’t bounce twice. It didn’t make sense.”

Djokovic next plays Russian world number 40 Karen Khachanov.

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.

The former US Open winner, who made the semi-finals in 2013, next faces unseeded Gilles Simon of France.

Other winners 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.

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, a former top 10 player whose ranking slumped out of the top 300 last year after wrist surgery, made the fourth round for the second time with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.

Bencic, now at 56 in the world, next faces two-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber who swept past Naomi Osaka of Japan.