Serena Reveals Fracture at Wimbledon; Roddick Weathers 5-Set Win
Posted on June 25, 2005
Roddick, Hewitt Advance, Safin Beaten at WimbledonFormer Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt advanced Friday at the All-England Club, while crowd-favorite Marat Safin's new grass-loving attitude was of no help as he made a hasty third-round exit.
The No. 3-seeded Hewitt withstood an entertainingly diving, leaping challenge from unseeded American Justin Gimelstob, advancing into the fourth round with a 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-5 win.
"Justin served extremely well today," said Hewitt, who faces another American next in Taylor Dent. "That at least gave me a look at what I'm going to face on Monday. You know, I've just got to get mentally right to return well and go out there and believe in my passing shots and play a solid match from the back of the court, as well."
The No. 5-seeded Safin, playing with a problematic knee that will possibly require surgery following Wimbledon, lost to No. 26-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.
"Today was a little bit actually -- was a little bit painful," Safin said. "I had to put some ice before the match. But it's not because -- of course, it's not because of the knee I lost. I'm not finding any excuse. Just now I have enough time to take care of my knee and get ready."
For the rare grass-loving Spaniard Lopez, the opportunity is there for his career-best Wimbledon performance.
"I am in the fourth round for the third time in my career and I just feel that it's a great opportunity to go far, no?" said Lopez, who next faces Mario Ancic, the last man to beat Roger Federer on grass. "He's a grasscourt specialist. I just have to think in that match, nothing else."
In a match resumed from Thursday, No. 2 Andy Roddick stopped the comeback of Italian Daniele Bracciali 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-3.
"After a match like that, I will just have to concentrate on my next match," said Roddick with a chuckle after his hiccup. "I was surprised by his serves. He isn't a big guy but he regularly hit serves at over 135 mph. His groundstrokes were solid and I had to make sure I kept a good length in the final set to stop him crunching the ball."
In his post-match interview Bracciali said he was angry from the previous night when Roddick directed an f-bomb his way when he asked the umpire to play on, when Roddick wanted to quit due to darkness.
"I was a bit angry because, you know, when they stopped the match, like it was 10 to 9 last night, and I was asking why because it was earlier the other days," Bracciali said. "And Andy said something, you know, with the "f" word, so I was angry with that basically."
Other seeded winners were (10) Mario Ancic (d. Monfils), (21) Fernando Gonzalez (d. (11) J.Johansson), and (24) Taylor Dent (d. Berdych).
"I actually haven't weighed myself," said Dent, who hasn't been able to work out due to an ankle injury, when asked if he is at his ideal weight. "But I'd have to say no, just because I haven't been doing any training or anything like that. I'd like to lose probably five, 10 pounds. I feel like, like I said a couple days ago, I'm too scared to look at the scale right now."
No. 31 seed Mikhail Youzhny was leading Jonas Bjorkman 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 4-4 when play was suspended for the day due to rain.
Matches rained out for the day were (1) Federer vs. (25) Nicolas Kiefer, and (23) Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Florian Mayer.
On tap for Saturday at Wimbledon are (1) Federer vs. (25) Kiefer, Murray vs. (18) Nalbandian, Andreev vs. (2) Roddick, (23) Ferrero vs. Mayer, Tipsarevic vs. (12) T.Johansson, (31) Youzhny vs. Bjorkman (to finish), in doubles highlights Argentines (14) Etlis/Rodriguez vs. Zimbabwe's (4) Black/Ullyett, Belgians Malisse/O.Rochus vs. (12) Gonzalez/Massu, Mirnyi vs. (28) Novak, (27) Gasquet vs. Muller, Tursunov vs. Popp, Djokovic vs. (9) Grosjean, and (15) Coria vs. Melzer.
"I'll lose the match," Murray said of facing Nalbandian. "Nalbandian is Top 20, he's been to a Wimbledon final, I've won two matches at Queen's, two matches at Wimbledon, and I'm only 18."
Russian Women Romp at Wimbledon
Four of the six winners Friday on the women's side at Wimbledon were Russian in (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (27) Vaidisova in three), (6) Elena Dementieva (d. Washington), (9) Anastasia Myskina (d. (17) Jankovic, bagel in the first then 10-8 in the third), and (13) Elena Likhovtseva (d. (22) Farina Elia from a set down), completing matches before rain cut short the schedule at the All-England Club.
"I think that was pretty tough condition to play, you know. It was very windy on the court and I thought that, you know, it comes, the rain. And that was kind of difficult," said Dementieva, who has been working with Richard Krajicek on her shaky service delivery. "But I think my serve was pretty good today."
Kuznetsova weathered a tough three-setter over teen Sharapova-clone Nicole Vaidisova.
"You have to stay focused all the time, and I think I did that in the third set," Kuznetsova said. "I made the first two breaks. Then she broke me but I broke her back, and that was the most important game."
Myskina converted only nine of 33 break points against Jankovic in a competition to see who could choke the least.
"I was up 5-3 in the second, had a lot of matchpoints, and I could have just finished the game," Myskina said. "And she was serving well at match point when she served. And I guess, you know, when sometimes you lose one, two, three match points, then you kind of start thinking a lot, and it's not a good thing."
Other winners Friday were (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Perry, bagel in the first) and unseeded Maggie Maleeva (d. Ant. Serra Zanetti).
"It's the first day really we have some wind, you know, like this," Mauresmo said. "We had some in Eastbourne last week. But, you know, the first two rounds were, you know, perfect conditions. So it's still a big change. But, you know, I really managed to play with that wind and was able to really control the points even with these conditions, so it was good for me."
On Saturday's schedule is (15) Clijsters vs. Vinci, (4) Serena vs. Craybas in an all-American, (2) Sharapova vs. Srebotnik, (4) Venus vs. Hantuchova, (1) Davenport vs. (30) Safina, (19) Ivanovic vs. (12) Pierce, (16) Dechy vs. A.Bondarenko, Daniilidou vs. (26) Pennetta, (8) Petrova vs. Black, and the former champ Martinez vs. Peschke.
"I'm here to stay. I think I have the best chances of people left in the draw," Serena said. "I think I'm probably the most mentally tough person out here. I feel as if I have nothing to lose and only things to gain and I want to win this title really bad."
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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