Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner has dropped just 17 games so far. Krejcikova loses and Djokovic wins

LONDON (AP) — As well as Jannik Sinner is playing at Wimbledon, he doesn't appear to need much in the way of help. Still, he got some Saturday when his opponent, Pedro Martinez, was dealing with a problematic shoulder and often put in first serves at so-so speeds.

The No. 1-ranked Sinner has dropped a record-tying total of only 17 games so far, made his way to the fourth round for the seventh consecutive Grand Slam tournament — he's collected three such trophies in that span — and never was truly in trouble during a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 52 Martinez.

“We all saw that he was struggling,” Sinner said, then noted about his own form: “First week couldn’t have gone better.”

Sinner is the second man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to cede just 17 games through three completed matches at the All England Club. The other player to do that, Jan Kodes, ended up losing in the semifinals in 1972.

For Sinner, there's been zero sign of any sort of inability to move past last month's French Open final, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets despite taking the first two and holding three championship points.

Against Martinez, Sinner — who returned in May from a three-month doping suspension — went up 5-0 after 20 minutes. During that stretch, Martinez managed one winner, while Sinner accumulated 10.

That's when Martinez took a medical timeout, and a trainer massaged the back of his right shoulder. The Spaniard was delivering first serves as slow as 76 mph, compared with Sinner's high of 133 mph.

That aspect of Martinez's game improved incrementally, but the only, ever-so-brief, moment of intrigue at Centre Court came in the second set, about 75 minutes in, with Sinner up a break and serving at 4-3. That's where Martinez managed to accrue his first four break points.

Sinner stayed as calm as can be — “I don't think Sinner’s changed expressions once in this match,” John McEnroe observed on BBC's telecast — and erased all four of those chances, held for 5-3, then broke to end the set.

Soon enough, Sinner — twice an Australian Open champion, once a U.S. Open champion and a 2023 semifinalist at Wimbledon — was headed into a contest Monday against No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov.

A ninth woman in the past nine editions of the tournament will leave the All England Club with the trophy. That's because defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was eliminated by No. 10 Emma Navarro of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina lost to No. 23 Clara Tauson by a 7-6 (6), 6-3 score. Krejcikova had her blood pressure checked during a medical timeout in the last set. No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian, moved into Week 2 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Hailey Baptiste of the United States, and five-time major title winner Iga Swiatek overwhelmed Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3. Another fourth-round matchup was set up when No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro advanced. Novak Djokovic picked up his 100th career singles victory at Wimbledon — only Martina Navratilova (120) and Roger Federer (105) have more — and other men's winners included No. 10 Ben Shelton, No. 11 Alex de Minaur, No. 22 Flavio Cobolli and 36-year-old Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion.

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, coming off a riveting win against Emma Raducanu, returns to Centre Court to face No. 24 Elise Mertens as the fourth round begins. Sunday's last scheduled match in the main stadium features two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz against No. 14 Andrey Rublev. Over at No. 1 Court, 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz begins play at 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) against Jordan Thompson.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Novak Djokovic of Serbia sits on the grass after diving to return to Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia during a third round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic gets assistance during her women's singles third round match against Emma Navarro of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Emma Navarro of the U.S. celebrates winning the women's singles third round match against Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. serves to Mirra Andreeva of Russia during their women's singles third round match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Mirra Andreeva of Russia celebrates winning the women's singles third round match against Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Clara Tauson of Denmark reacts during her women's singles third round match against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Pedro Martinez of Spain receives treatment during a medical timeout as he plays Jannik Sinner of Italy during a third round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jannik Sinner of Italy returns to Pedro Martinez of Spain during a third round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.

Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.

The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

The latest:

Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.

As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.

Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.

Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”

As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.

Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.

Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.

“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.

At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.

He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.

Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.

The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.

Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.

The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.

Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.

Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”

The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”

The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.

Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”

Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.

“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.

He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”

Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.

December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.

The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.

FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)