Ivanovic Out-ovic at Wimbledon; Federer v Hewitt Next

Federer Lines Up Hewitt Next at Wimbledon

World No. 1 Roger Federer eased into the Round of 16 on Friday at Wimbledon, defeating Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and setting up a meeting with former No. 1 and Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt.
ADHEREL
The Swiss, entering the All England Club after a subpar first half of the year, says he is more than ready to win a record sixth Wimbledon title in a row.

“I think I know what it takes to win Slams or to go far,” Federer said. So I have the proper preparation. I have the belief…Playing at Wimbledon always creates extra pressure because it’s what’s closest to my heart…I want to prove it to myself I can do it again here.”

The No. 20 Hewitt advanced after a straight-set win over Simone Bolelli.

Two tour veterans orchestrated upsets Friday, with Croatian Mario “Baby Goran” Ancic topping No. 5 David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6 (3), and Marat Safin seeing out No. 29 Andreas Seppi 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Seeded winners Friday were (10) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Simon Stadler), (13) Stan Wawrinka (d. Mischa Zverev who retired after the second), (22) Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco (d. (11) Tomas Berdych, bagel in the third), and (31) Feliciano Lopez, who ushered out the last American in the men’s draw, Bobby Reynolds 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Highlights of Saturday play are former world No. 2 Tommy Haas vs. (12) Andy Murray, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. (27) Nicolas Kiefer, (8) Richard “Baby Fed” Gasquet vs. Gilles Simon in an all-French, the Roddick-killer Janko Tipsarevic vs. (25) Dmitry Tursunov, (16) Radek “The Worm” Stepanek vs. (17) Mikhail Youzhny, and (14) Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Croat threat Marin Cilic.

World No. 1 Ivanovic and 2007 Runner-Up Bartoli Exit at Wimbledon

World No. 1 and French Open champ Ana Ivanovic admitted she lacked confidence and felt a grasscourt rookie in making a third-round exit Friday at Wimbledon, falling 6-1, 6-4 to China’s No. 133-ranked Jie Zheng.

“It was very, very emotional past couple of weeks for me. It also took a little bit toll on me,” Ivanovic said of her French Open triumph less than a month ago. “I didn’t have as good preparation as I had hoped for because I had to have some time off, as well. It took some time to adjust to the grass…I was a little bit holding back.”

Also upset was last year’s runner-up, No. 11 seed Marion Bartoli, who was ousted 6-4, 6-1 by surging American Bethanie Mattek, who sets up a match with Serena Williams.

“The last couple months I think I’ve stepped up a couple levels,” Mattek said. “It’s really come down to me just being mentally tough in my matches. I think what’s tough about me is I just make my opponents play every single point. Regardless if I hit a winner the previous point or if I miss the previous point I’ll show up for the next point. I think that’s really what’s carried me through a lot of these matches, especially a lot of the close ones.”

Seeds advancing Friday were (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova), (6) Serena Williams (d. (29) Amelie Mauresmo), (8) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Evgeniya Rodina), (14) Agnieszka Radwanska (d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova), and (18) Agnes Szavay (d. Anabel Medina Garrigues in three).

Saturday highlights include (2) Jelena Jankovic vs. (31) Caroline Wozniacki, (7) Venus Williams vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and (24) Shahar Peer vs. (9) Dinara Safina.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer keeps winning on grass. He’s up to 61 straight on turf and 37 consecutive match wins at Wimbledon…

Ana Ivanovic hasn’t lost before the fourth round at a Slam since the 2007 Australia…

Ana Ivanovic will lose No. 1 if Jelena Jankovic reaches the semifinal or Sveta Kuznetsova reaches the final…

Svetlana Kuznetsova turned 23 on Friday…

Rafael Nadal has won 19 straight matches…

Zheng Jie becomes the first Chinese player to beat a world No. 1….

Lleyton Hewitt and Mario Ancic have only had their serves broken once in three matches…

Jelena Jankovic could become No. 1 without reaching a Grand Slam final. She’s three wins away…[edited: correction final, not semifinal]

Venus Williams has won nine straight matches at Wimbledon, and 18 of her last 19…

No American man in the Wimbledon fourth round for the third time in the last six years (2002, 2006)…

The 10 retirements in the men’s draw equal the 2002 US Open for most retirements in the Open Era at a Slam…

Weather Saturday: Rain possible, cool conditions…

ATP Player Council representative, Tennis Channel commentator and former player Justin Gimelstob has apologized to everyone within range for his lad mag-like comments on a U.S. radio show, where he said he will make World TeamTennis opponent Anna Kournikova cry, called her a “bitch,” and said he would like to see his brother have sex with Kournikova. “There is no excuse and I am extremely disappointed in myself,” Gimelstob said. “I take full responsibility for all the words that came out of my mouth, and, while I can’t take them back, I hope my heartfelt remorse can begin to heal the wounds felt by many. Among the targets of my comments was Anna Kournikova, not to mention a general disregard and disrespect toward women. They all deserve and have my deepest apologies. While I see how it could be implied by my remarks, I assure you that I have the utmost respect for women.” Nicole Vaidisova, who Gimelstob referred to as a “well-developed young lady,” told reporters at Wimbledon, “I know his sense of humour a little bit. I know he kind of talks like that a little bit. So I can cut him some slack.”

Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic — both blew off all the Wimbledon warm-up tournaments — good thinking…

From SI.com’s Jon Wertheim: “Over the years, many of you have asked, “When will a gay male player finally come out of the closet?” Now, one has. Francisco Rodriguez, a South American whose ranking topped out at No. 373, is the subject of a story by writer David Torope in the August issue of Out magazine.”…