Wimbledon: Nadal faces Minaur for pre-quarterfinal spot

World number one Rafael Nadal will look to storm into the pre-quarterfinals of the Wimbledon when he faces Australia's Alex de Minaur in the third round of the men's singles event here on Saturday.

Earlier, the 32-year-old defeated Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Wimbledon to set up the third-round clash with Minaur.

Heading to the clash, the match holds significance for the Spaniard as he will retain his numero-uno spot if emerged victorious in the match.

However, if Minaur clinched the triumph on the hallowed grass, and Swiss star Roger Federer went on to win his ninth Wimbledon crown, Nadal will come down to the second rank.

Meanwhile, Federer got past the third round after defeating German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in straight sets.

In the women's singles event, American tennis star Serena Williams advanced to the round-of-16 of Wimbledon after sweeping aside French player Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) in last-32.

Meanwhile, Serena's elder sister Venus Williams was knocked out of the campaign after suffering a shocking 2-6, 7-6, 6-8 defeat against Dutch tennis player Kiki Bertens.

In other clashes of the day, world number twenty one Novak Djokovic will battle with world number seventeen Kyle Edmund in the fourth round of the championship.