Kerber battles through at Wimbledon

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World number one Kerber sent down 25 winners compared to 48 from Rogers

Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July Starts: 11:30 BST
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for full times.

Top seed Angelique Kerber survived a scare against American world number 70 Shelby Rogers to reach the Wimbledon last 16.

Germany’s Kerber, 29, lost a tight first set before fighting back to win 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in a thrilling battle on Court Two.

She will face Spain’s 14th seed Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round on Monday.

Kerber will lose her world number one ranking if she does not reach the final.

Muguruza, a Wimbledon finalist in 2015, powered to a straightforward 6-2 6-2 victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Second seed Simona Halep could take top spot from Kerber by reaching the semi-finals, while Karolina Pliskova – despite her second-round exit – still has a chance of taking it.

Kerber, who was beaten by Serena Williams in last year’s final, is known for her fighting qualities and needed to show all of them to beat Rogers in two hours and 17 minutes.

Kerber roared with relief as Rogers, bidding to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, cracked a forehand long on the German’s second match point.

The form of the two-time Grand Slam champion has dipped since winning the US Open last year. She has failed to win any tour titles since then and sits just 15th in the year-to-date rankings.

More to follow.