Federer, Nadal Win on Same Day as Wimbledon Catches Up
Posted on June 29, 2007World No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal competed on the same day Thursday as Wimbledon made up for rain-delayed matches, and both easily advanced in their quest to repeat last year's final.
Federer resumed his match with Juan Martin Del Potro, defeating the lanky Argentine 6-2, 7-5, 6-1. Nadal put in a below-average performance but still had an easy time against Austrian journeyman Werner Eschauer 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
"I would like to come to the net much more often," Federer said. "That would be my ideal style of play. Serve and volley maybe a hundred percent of the first serves and once in a while on the second serve just to keep mixing it up. Like this, you'd have so many maybe more, you know, like points sometimes you can't control but you react to them because at the net you'll always have a lot of passing shots, volley winners. Sometimes that's really exciting."
Other Top 10 seeded winners Thursday were (4) Novak Djokovic (d. Delic in four), (6) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Guccione from two sets down), (7) Tomas Berdych (d. Llodra in four), (9) James Blake (d. Pavel), and (10) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Devilder in four).
Four seeds were planted in the lawns Thursday when Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs topped No. 11 Tommy Robredo, Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu straight-setted No. 17 David Ferrer, Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin straight-setted No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela, and Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee outlasted No. 29 Agustin Calleri in four.
Other seeded winners into the third round were (13) Tommy Haas (d. Zib), (14) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Simon in five), (15) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Hernych), (16) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Bolelli), (18) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Mayer in five), (19) Jonas Bjorkman (d. Wang in four), (20) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Muller in four), (21) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Berrer in four), (22) Guillermo Canas (d. Mirnyi in four), (23) David Nalbandian (d. Dancevic in four), (26) Marat Safin (d. Qureshi), and (28) Robin Soderling (d. Grosjean in four).
Safin will next face Federer.
"For me it's another opportunity to play a great match," Safin said. "First of all, for me it's a huge challenge. Centre Court, play against Federer. He's playing pretty well. He's playing great tennis. If I want to have a chance at least to be close to beat him, I have of course to put up my best game, go for it."
Winners in all-unseeded matches were Feliciano Lopez ending the British hopes in defeating Tim Henman 6-1 in the fifth, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga straight-setting Nicolas Lapentti, Frenchman Gael Monfils topping Kristof Vliegen, and German Nicolas Kiefer subduing Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro in straight sets.
Highlights of Friday play are Janko Tipsarevic vs. (5) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (1) Roger Federer vs. Marat Safin, (9) James Blake vs. (20) Juan Carlos Ferrero, (3) Andy Roddick vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (21) Dmitry Tursunov vs. (13) Tommy Haas, Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. (15) Ivan Ljubicic, and in an all-French (12) Richard Gasquet vs. Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
"He's quite dangerous, very powerful," Haas said of facing Tursunov. "You never know what to expect. Unbelievable forehand winner, backhand winner, good serve or something or a couple of unforced errors. I'm going to have to try to play really steady and keep a cool head out there and try and use my chances."
Federer resumed his match with Juan Martin Del Potro, defeating the lanky Argentine 6-2, 7-5, 6-1. Nadal put in a below-average performance but still had an easy time against Austrian journeyman Werner Eschauer 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
"I would like to come to the net much more often," Federer said. "That would be my ideal style of play. Serve and volley maybe a hundred percent of the first serves and once in a while on the second serve just to keep mixing it up. Like this, you'd have so many maybe more, you know, like points sometimes you can't control but you react to them because at the net you'll always have a lot of passing shots, volley winners. Sometimes that's really exciting."
Other Top 10 seeded winners Thursday were (4) Novak Djokovic (d. Delic in four), (6) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Guccione from two sets down), (7) Tomas Berdych (d. Llodra in four), (9) James Blake (d. Pavel), and (10) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Devilder in four).
Four seeds were planted in the lawns Thursday when Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs topped No. 11 Tommy Robredo, Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu straight-setted No. 17 David Ferrer, Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin straight-setted No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela, and Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee outlasted No. 29 Agustin Calleri in four.
Other seeded winners into the third round were (13) Tommy Haas (d. Zib), (14) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Simon in five), (15) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Hernych), (16) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Bolelli), (18) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Mayer in five), (19) Jonas Bjorkman (d. Wang in four), (20) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Muller in four), (21) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Berrer in four), (22) Guillermo Canas (d. Mirnyi in four), (23) David Nalbandian (d. Dancevic in four), (26) Marat Safin (d. Qureshi), and (28) Robin Soderling (d. Grosjean in four).
Safin will next face Federer.
"For me it's another opportunity to play a great match," Safin said. "First of all, for me it's a huge challenge. Centre Court, play against Federer. He's playing pretty well. He's playing great tennis. If I want to have a chance at least to be close to beat him, I have of course to put up my best game, go for it."
Winners in all-unseeded matches were Feliciano Lopez ending the British hopes in defeating Tim Henman 6-1 in the fifth, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga straight-setting Nicolas Lapentti, Frenchman Gael Monfils topping Kristof Vliegen, and German Nicolas Kiefer subduing Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro in straight sets.
Highlights of Friday play are Janko Tipsarevic vs. (5) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (1) Roger Federer vs. Marat Safin, (9) James Blake vs. (20) Juan Carlos Ferrero, (3) Andy Roddick vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (21) Dmitry Tursunov vs. (13) Tommy Haas, Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. (15) Ivan Ljubicic, and in an all-French (12) Richard Gasquet vs. Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
"He's quite dangerous, very powerful," Haas said of facing Tursunov. "You never know what to expect. Unbelievable forehand winner, backhand winner, good serve or something or a couple of unforced errors. I'm going to have to try to play really steady and keep a cool head out there and try and use my chances."