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."