Wimbledon 2009 - daily coverage + latest news

[Iron Man]

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WIMBLEDON 2009 - DAILY COVERAGE + LATEST NEWS


[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]




Welcome to the 123rd Championships, staged for the first time this year beneath a breathtaking canopy that bids fair to enable Wimbledon to match the "Theatre of Dreams" title so proudly held by Manchester United and their Old Trafford stadium. Except that, in the case of Centre Court, it might be more appropriately called the "Cathedral of Dreams". For one man, however, dream has transformed into nightmare before a ball has been struck: Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, forced to withdraw through injury.

The Man from Majorca has taken his aching knees off for an overdue rest, opening a motorway-wide avenue of opportunity for the other leading lights in the men's field. Despite any protests to the contrary, Roger Federer is entitled to be quietly exultant, whistling a happy tune as he fills in as the opening act on Centre Court this afternoon, since all five of the Grand Slam finals he has lost out of the 19 he has reached have been to Rafa. Thus will the Swiss giant pass another tennis milestone, the first time in the modern era that the same player has got The Championships under way for six straight years - five as defending champion and this one, to borrow from the world of football, wearing the number 12 shirt.

Serena Williams got it right when she said of Nadal's withdrawal: "A lot of guys on the men's tour will be celebrating and partying." Perhaps balloons and a funny hat would not be appropriate for Federer's opponent, who might better be conveyed to his fate today by tumbril rather than courtesy car. The chap who came out of the bag adjacent to Federer in the draw is from Taipei and goes by the name of Yen-Hsun Lu. Lu, is 25 years old and stands at 64 in the world rankings.

His story is a heart-warming one. Rendy, as he is known on the professional tour, took up tennis aged eight at the urging of his parents, but when his father died suddenly, the 17-year-old briefly gave up the sport, coming back only when it became obvious that he was now his family's main source of income. "My father had a dream that his son can maybe one day play Wimbledon and get into the top 100," he explains, in which case both of dad's wishes have been fulfilled.

This is, in fact, Rendy's sixth Wimbledon, but the previous five years have brought him a mere two victories, a total that is hardly likely to rise to three today, despite the fact that before this year's tournament his victims have included both Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian, Wimbledon's 2002 champion and runner-up respectively.

There will, of course, be a couple of incentives lending extra power to the Federer racket arm. If he goes the distance this year, as he did every year from 2003 to 2007, he would become the leading Grand Slam winner since he is level-pegging with Pete Sampras at 14 following his triumph on clay at the French Open this month. And a sixth Wimbledon title would place him only one behind the all-time biggies - Sampras with seven, which matches the number won by William Renshaw in the days when Queen Victoria ruled this land.

Since the opening day has been given over to the lower half of the singles draws because of the Nadal withdrawal, it is Serena Williams, like Federer the second seed, who gets to try out the newly-roofed Centre Court ahead of sister Venus, the Williams family member who actually won here last summer. As with Federer, the opposition for Serena's hammer-blow, high-decibel style of play is unlikely to detain the two-time Wimbledon champion for long. Neuza Silva, who got here via the qualifying competition, checks in at 155 on the WTA computer.

The other Centre Court showpiece involves Serbia's Novak Djokovic, pride of Serbia and fourth in the world, against Julien Benneteau of France. The 27-year-old Benneteau, who knows a good cheese when he sees one, having been born within smelling distance of one of his nation's finest at Bourg en Bresse, is ranked 80th in the world. In Britain this would have people talking up his chances of enduring fame, but in France Julien, who operates under the mysterious nickname of Muffle, is ony his country's 12th-best.

Will Muffle stifle the energetic Novak, winner of one Grand Slam already (Australia 2008) and favoured to add to that total soon? Don't put money, or cheese, on it. Djokovic, seeded fourth, finds himself on the less fortunate side of the draw along with Federer, while Andy Murray, who overtook Djokovic as world number three this year, dropped more conveniently into the half that no longer contains Nadal.

For the No.1 Court patrons there is a richly varied offering, starting with Maria Sharapova, going on to Robin Soderling and concluding with a British wild card hopeful, James Ward. Sharapova, the 2004 champion, is newly returned to tennis following a shoulder operation last autumn and has been awarded a seeding of 24 for The Championships despite a ranking of 59 as a result of that 10-month absence. Whatever the numbers, a return to the tournament she loves more than any other should inspire her to see off the opposition, provided by Viktoriya Kutuzova, another survivor of the qualifying process (where she was top seed) and a native of Ukraine.

Soderling, the toast of a Swedish nation no longer awash with tennis talent following his demolition of Nadal at Roland Garros this month, has ascended to 13th seed for this fortnight and can expect to see off an opponent he has never previously played, Gilles Muller, the top gun of Luxembourg tennis. Ward's task is, as so often with a British player accorded a wild card pass into the tournament, an onerous one, since he takes on Fernando Verdasco, Mr Perpetual Motion of Spain and the seventh seed.

There is a fine line-up, too, for the new 4,000-seat Court Two, with the 15-year-old British wild card Laura Robson, of whom great things are forecast, opening proceedings against tough opposition in Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, followed by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Monsieur Showbiz of French tennis.

And finally, as for that "breathtaking canopy" mentioned in the opening paragraph, it is entirely in keeping with the British climate that the weather is turning hot and dry just as the tennis balls begin to fly. So will the roof not be needed? In the words of Wimbledon's wise head groundsman, Eddie Seaward, "Don't get carried away just yet."

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Five-time champion Roger Federer overcame an early hiccup to book a place in the second round at Wimbledon with a 7-5 6-3 6-2 win over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun.
Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun during at Wimbledon REUTERS - 0


[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]


Swiss Federer, accorded the honour of opening proceedings on Centre Court in the absence of champion Rafael Nadal through injury, went an early break down against the only Asian player in the men's draw but soon made amends.

Federer, who sported a white military-style jacket for his latest fashion statement when he took to court, broke serve for a second time in the 12th game to take the opening set and won the next two to wrap up victory in an hour and 45 minutes.

The Swiss world number two will face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a place in round three, with the Spaniard emerging an easy 6-2 6-3 6-2 over Argentine Agustin Calleri.

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic reached the second round after a 6-7(8) 7-6(1) 6-2 6-4 win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who called on the trainer at match point down after a nasty fall.

The world number 81, facing his second match point against the Serb, sprinted back to try to reach a Djokovic lob but then skidded into the screen at the back of the court.

His racket flew out of his hands and he clutched his left knee in agony, with the trainer having to ice the injury for several minutes. Benneteau resumed to save match point before losing on the third and left Centre Court to a standing ovation.

Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, will face qualifier Simon Greul for a place in the third round, after the German beat American Michael Yani 6-4 6-2 7-5.

American James Blake became the first seeded casualty at Wimbledon when he lost 7-5 6-4 7-6(5) to Italy's Andreas Seppi .

Blake, the beaten finalist in the grass-court tune-up at Queen's Club last week, looked all at sea against Seppi's powerful strokes off both wings from the baseline and lost the first round match in 44 minutes.

Seppi, who has never got past the third round in his previous four visits to Wimbledon, showed superior movement again in the second set and needed just 35 minutes more to double his lead.

Blake, seeded 17, stormed to a 5-0 lead in the third set tiebreak but Seppi rattled off seven straight points to book his place in round two when he will play Frenchman Marc Gicquel, after he downed compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-2 6-4.

Spain's seventh seed Fernando Verdasco booked his place in the second round with a 6-1 6-3 6-4 drubbing of British wildcard James Ward. Verdasco, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, will next face Belgium's Kristof Vliegen, who beat Frenchman Nicholas Mahut 6-3 7-6(6) 5-7 5-7 6-4.

Swedish 13th seed Robin Soderling, who shocked world number one Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros just a few weeks ago, was forced to work hard to beat Luxembourg's Gilles Muller but eventually came through 6-7(4) 7-5 6-1 6-2.

Spain's Marcel Granollers awaits Soderling, having also battled through a four set, 6-2 6-4 6-7(4) 6-2, clash with Germany's Andreas Beck.

Another Spaniard, Nicholas Almagro, booked his place in the second round after a five set 6-7(3) 6-7(7) 7-6(5) 6-4 8-6 epic against Argentina's Juan Monaco. Almagro will next face lucky loser Karol Beck after the Slovak battled past Spanish 21st seed Feliciano Lopez 1-6 7-5 6-3 4-6 10-8.

French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was made to overcome a minor blip to beat Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 6-3 5-7 7-6(4) 7-6(5) and will face Italy's Simone Bolleli, who beat Austrian Daniel Koellerer 6-7(3) 2-6 7-5 6-4 6-4.

Germany's 27th seed Philipp Kohlschrieber eased past Florent Serra 7-6(3) 6-1 6-4 to set up a second round meeting with Czech Ivo Minar, who beat Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-0.

Spain's 15th seed Tommy Robredo and American Mardy Fish , seeded 28th, both progressed at the expense of Luka Gregorc and Sergio Roitman respectively.

Robredo will face Stefan Koubek in the next round, after the Austrian battled past Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-3, while Fish's next opponent will be Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic , who beat Czech Jan Hernych 6-4 6-4 7-6(4).

Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev beat compatriot Evgeny Korolev 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4 7-6(4) to set up a second round clash with Vince Spadea, after the American eased past Chile's Paul Capdeville 6-0 6-4 7-5.

Albert Montanes, seeded 32nd, continued a successful day for Spain when he reached the second round thanks to a straightforward 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja, and will play Guillermo Canas in the second round after the Argentine beat compatriot Diego Junquiera 6-1 6-2 6-2.

German 18th seed Rainer Schuettler won the battle of the former semi-finalists by knocking out Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-7(9) 6-4 7-6(3) 6-1, while 22nd seed Ivo Karlovic also progressed with a 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko .

Schuettler will play Israel's Dudi Sela in the next round, after he beat Mexican qualifier Santiago Gonzalez 6-4 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3, while Karlovic will face Steve Darcis after the Belgian beat Canada's Frank Dancevic 6-4 7-6(4) 6-3.
Reuters


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[بسـ الطفـε(｡◕‿◕｡)зـوله ــمة]

Go fedreeeeeeeeeeeeer ^_^

thanks 4 keeping us updated karim

regards

[Iron Man]

thanks Mariem for the reply

hoping that the legend restore his crown

especially when we know that the chacal Nadal is absent

loooool

[Iron Man]

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Wimbledon - Men: Del Potro batters Clement

[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]

Fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro made a mockery of his supposed lack of grass-court prowess by battering experienced Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 6-1 6-2 in the first round of Wimbledon.
Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina returns the ball to Arnaud Clement of France during their match at Wimbledon REUTERS - 0


The 20-year-old Argentine, elevated to the top of the draw following Rafa Nadal's withdrawal on Friday, ran last year's quarter-finalist Clement ragged with a precise mix of angled winners and powerful serving.

Del Potro, who has only won two matches in two previous visits to Wimbledon, put Clement out of his misery when the Frenchman ballooned a forehand long after an hour and 37 minutes on Court One.

The Argentine will face 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who recovered from a 2-4 deficit early in the first set to dismiss American Robby Ginepri 6-4 6-1 6-1 in 91 minutes.

Andy Roddick showed few ill-effects from his ankle injury as he eased past Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3.

Roddick, twice a former finalist here, had been an injury doubt after rolling his ankle and retiring from his semi-final at Queen's Club last week, but showed no clear sign of pain in a clinical dismantling of the world number 41 on Centre Court.

The American raced into a two-set lead before Chardy pulled one back courtesy of a break in game nine of the third set. The Frenchman struggled with his footing at times in the fourth and Roddick sealed victory when the Chardy netted a forehand.

The number six seed will face Russia's Igor Kunitsyn, who progressed when Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov retired hurt while trailing 3-6 6-0 4-0.

There was to be no repeat of last year's dream run to the semi-finals for former world number one Marat Safin. The Russian, who will retire at the end of the year, slumped to a dispiriting 6-2 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 defeat against American qualifier Jesse Levine.

Russian 12th seed Nikolay Daydenko eased past Brit Daniel Evans 6-2 6-3 6-3 to book his place in the second round where he will play Victor Crivoi, after the Romanian battled past Germany's Bjorn Phau 4-6 6-1 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3.

Alex Bogdanovic was also comprehensively beaten in straight sets, by Czech 20th seed Tomas Berdych, but Josh Goodall provided something for the home crowd to cheer about when he pushed Frenchman Michael Llodra to five sets before losing 4-6 6-7(5) 6-4 3-6 6-4.

Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez progressed courtesy of a 7-5 7-5 6-3 win over Teimuraz Gabashvili and will next face Leonardo Mayer, who obliterated Oscar Hernandez 6-0 6-0 6-3.

German 24th seed Tommy Haas needed just two games to complete his 6-7(5) 7-6(0) 6-3 6-4 win over Alexander Peya, and will be joined in the second round by seeds Radek Stepanek, Victor Hanescu, Viktor Troicki and David Ferrer who recorded victories over Alejandro Falla, Ivan Navarro , Brian Dabul and Kevin Kim respectively.
Reuters

[Iron Man]

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Wimbledon - Men: Federer drops set on way to win

Eurosport - Fri, 26 Jun 22:13:00 2009

Roger Federer lost his first set of the tournament but still managed to conjure a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at Wimbledon.
TENNIS 2009 Wimbledon Roger Federer

[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]

The 27th seed was meant to provide a stern test for Federer after disposing of Novak Djokovic at the French Open last month but the gulf in class was immediate as the Swiss maestro opened up a one-set lead in just 37 minutes.

The second was in the bag 30 minutes later but the German rallied from 2-0 down in the third to take it to a tiebreak which he won with a wonderful angled backhand 7-5.

Federer snuffed out the rising threat by racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth and finally booked a fourth-round berth with a thunderous forehand winner.

The five-times Wimbledon champion set up a repeat of the French Open final with Swedish 13th seed Robin Soderling, who beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6(7) 6-4 6-4.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France could find no solution to the problem of Ivo Karlovic's massive serve as the Croatian ran out a 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) winner on Court One.

Tsonga failed to create a single break point against the 2.08 metre player from Zagreb, who blasted 46 aces and has this week spectacularly broken a run of four successive first-round exits at the All England Club.

After sharing the first two sets with tiebreaks, Karlovic carved out the match's only break in the 12th game of the third set to give him the initiative and he clinched the fourth set breaker 7-5 with his final ace after two hours and 44 minutes.

He will next play seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, after the Spaniard recovered from a set down to beat compatriot and 32nd seed Nicolas Almagro 4-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(2).

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic made serene progress into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over American Mardy Fish.

The Serbian, who made a shock exit in round two 12 months ago, seems to be peaking at the right time and barely put a foot wrong in a match lasting just under two hours.

Djokovic, largely ignored so far amid all the hype over a possible Federer-Andy Murray final, fired an unreturnable serve to win the match then threw his wristbands into the crowd.

The 2008 Australian Open champion next faces Dudi Sela, who became the first Israeli to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam since Amos Mansdorf at the Australian Open in 1992.

Sela recorded the win of his career when he battled past Spain's 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-6(8) 7-5 2-6 7-5.

Croatian 12th seed Marin Cilic was locked in an epic battle with 24th seed Tommy Haas when play was suspended at 9:36pm due to lack of light.

Haas took the first two sets before Cilic hit back to level the match, and play was eventually suspended with the score at 5-7 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) 6-6.

The winner of that clash will face either Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev or Italian Andreas Seppi, with that match also being suspended due to lack of light, with the Russian leading 6-1 7-6(5) 4-6 5-5.
Reuters

[بسـ الطفـε(｡◕‿◕｡)зـوله ــمة]

I watched the game

he was amazing

no doubt he z gonna win the tournament ^_^

[Iron Man]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة بسـ الطفـε(●̮̮̃•̃)зـوله ــمة

I watched the game

he was amazing

no doubt he z gonna win the tournament ^_^

federer is always amazing but he will face very tough opponents in the coming rounds

his most dangerous rival in this tournament is murray

because he aims at taking the leadership in the overall ranking

as for today , roger will face soderling the guy who reached the final in roland garros

and the one who managed to beat nadal

wish that roger play his best tennis


thanks mimo

[Iron Man]

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Andy Murray produces another gold medal performance

Sat 27 Jun, 10:41 PM

Andy Murray treated an audience of British Olympic gold medallists to a sparkling display of tennis on Centre Court to reach the business end of Wimbledon for the second year running on Saturday.

The world number three, hoping to end Britain's seven decade wait for a men's singles champion here, trounced Serbian Victor Troicki 6-2 6-3 6-4, firing six aces in a row at one point during a display mixing controlled power with a silky touch.

Four times Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy, rowing great Steve Redgrave and 800 and 1500 metres Athens champion Kelly Holmes were all in the Royal Box.

Martina Navratilova, winner of 20 Wimbledon titles, was also among the great and the good to watch Murray illustrate his title credentials with thunder rumbling overhead.

They would have been impressed by what they saw and Murray admitted he was slightly in awe of fellow Scot Hoy, who won three of his gold medals in Beijing last year and was knighted this year at Buckingham Palace.

"I didn't really know whether to call him Sir and stuff," the 22-year-old Murray told reporters. "I didn't speak to him for that long but he just congratulated me on the way I played and wished me luck for the rest of the tournament.

"There were a lot of great sportsmen and women watching today. To get the chance to play in front of them was nice."

Murray's performances over the last two years, which have propelled him into the world's top three, have made him a household name in Britain and expectation is building that he can become the nation's latest sporting hero.

Four more performances of the quality he has shown here so far would take him tantalisingly close to becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry 73 years ago but Murray, as always, is taking it all in his stride.

"I'm very happy I won the three matches this week," said Murray, who plays Swiss Olympic doubles champion Stanislas Wawrinka in Monday's fourth round. "I hope that I can keep it going next week because my performances were pretty solid."

"(The expectation) is just one of those things you have to get used to dealing with. It hasn't troubled me this week. I'd be very surprised if it did next week."

Murray, favourite to face five times champion and world number two Roger Federer in next Sunday's final, was unruffled by Troicki, a player he beat for the loss of just one game on the way to the Miami Masters title this year.

With light rain falling his main concern was finishing the match in case it got any heavier and caused a delay to close the new multi-million pound roof for the first time during a match at the grasscourt championships.

Despite some spirited play from Troicki, who finally eeked out a break point in the fourth game of the third set only to have an ace slammed past him, Murray made sure he was home in time for an early dinner.

"I wanted to finish the match as quickly as possible," he said. "It would have been a nice bit of history, I guess, the first match to play under the roof but I wasn't that worried."

"I enjoy playing indoors. But when it's sort of right at the end of the match I wanted to finish it before the rain came."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman)


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Wimbledon - Murray blasts into fourth round

Eurosport - Sun, 28 Jun 08:51:00 2009

World number three Andy Murray produced another sterling display to beat Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-3 6-4 and book his place in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Viktor Troicki of Serbia during their match at Wimbledon


[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]


Murray delivered a masterclass from start to finish and will next face Swiss 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who came from a set down to beat American Jesse Levine 5-7 7-5 6-3 6-3.

Murray got off to a steady start but took control of the match in the sixth game, breaking when Troicki slapped down two double faults.

The Scot then broke again two games later to seal the first set when his opponent dumped the ball into the net.

The second set was equally one-sided as Murray broke in just the second game, with a running backhand passing shot, to seize control before taking a two sets to love lead with his 11th and 12th aces of the match.

Troicki offered a little more resistance in the third set but the Serb was always playing catch up after slapping a forehand into the net to concede serve in the first game.

Troicki even held his first, and only, break point of the match in the fourth game but Murray quickly slammed the door shut with an ace and a forehand winner. The Scot threatened again in the seventh and ninth games and Troicki did well to hold on.

But there was nothing he could do when Murray stepped up to serve out the match and the 22-year-old emphatically booked his place in the second week with an ace down the centre of the court.

Murray's performances over the last two years, which have propelled him into the world's top three, have made him a household name in Britain and expectation is building that he can become the nation's latest sporting hero.

Four more performances of the quality he has shown so far would take him tantalisingly close to becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry 73 years ago but Murray, as always, is taking it all in his stride.

"I'm very happy I won the three matches this week," said Murray. "I hope that I can keep it going next week because my performances were pretty solid."

"(The expectation) is just one of those things you have to get used to dealing with. It hasn't troubled me this week. I'd be very surprised if it did next week."

"I wanted to finish the match as quickly as possible," he added. "It would have been a nice bit of history, I guess, the first match to play under the roof but I wasn't that worried."

"I enjoy playing indoors. But when it's sort of right at the end of the match I wanted to finish it before the rain came."
Pippa Davis / Eurosport



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Wimbledon - Men: Roddick serves his way through

Eurosport - Sat, 27 Jun 21:14:00 2009

Andy Roddick used his big serve to overcome Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6(2) 7-6(2) 4-6 6-3 to book his place in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Andy Roddick of the US gestures during his match against Jurgen Melzer of Austria at Wimbledon


[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]


The first two sets went with serve but each time the American sixth seed kept his cool in the tiebreak.

Melzer, the 26th seed, broke for 3-2 in the third and gave himself three set points with a beautiful lob, sealing the set with a crosscourt forehand that Roddick did not even move for.

With rain clouds gathering above Centre Court, Roddick made sure the match did not go into a decider and secured victory with his 33rd ace of the match.

The American, runner-up in 2004 and 2005, will face Czech 20th seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarter-finals.

Berdych, a quarter-finalist in 2007, pulled off his first win over Russian 12th seed Nikolay Davydenko, after eight defeats, with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 6-2 triumph.

Australian Lleyton Hewitt delighted an army of yellow and green clad fans at Wimbledon, beating German Philipp Petzschner 7-5 7-6(3) 6-3 to reach the last 16 for the sixth consecutive year.

The former 2002 champion, gradually working his way back up the rankings after hip surgery last year, once again showed his grass-court pedigree having removed fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round.

He broke the Petzschner serve for the first time in the 12th game to move a set ahead then edged the second set on a tiebreak after both players had looked solid on serve.

With some amusing chants ringing in his ears, including adapted versions of popular songs by The Beatles, Gary Glitter and Frankie Valli, Hewitt broke Petzschner's resolve in the third set and clinched the win on his third match point.

Australia's sole representative in the men's draw will face Radek Stepanek for a place in the quarter-finals, after the Czech 23rd seed battled heat and a knee problem to beat Spanish 16th seed David Ferrer 7-5 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4.

German 24th seed Tommy Haas booked his place in the fourth round after returning to Court One to complete a 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7(3) 10-8 win over 11th seed Marin Cilic. The match was postponed late on Friday night with the scores locked at 6-6 in the fifth set due to lack of light.

Haas will next face Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev who needed just the one game to complete his 6-1 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(5) win over Italy's Andreas Seppi. Andreev and Seppi were also forced to postpone their match on Friday night with the scores at 6-6 in the fourth but Andreev completed the breaker with ease.

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero booked his place in the last 16 with an impressive, battling 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4 win over Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Ferrero will next face French eighth seed Gilles Simon, who eased past 30th seed Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2 7-5 6-2.
Reuters

[Iron Man]

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Wimbledon - Safina battles into first semi-finals

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 17:34:00 2009

[فقط الأعضاء المسجلين والمفعلين يمكنهم رؤية الوصلات . إضغط هنا للتسجيل]


World number one Dinara Safina reached her first Wimbledon semi-final but she had a real fight on her hand subduing feisty German Sabine Lisicki 6-7 6-4 6-1.
Dinara Safina of Russia reacts during her quarter-final match against Sabine Lisicki of Germany at

The willowy Muscovite's serve let her down badly at crucial moments in a tense match and she will need to sharpen her game if she is to have a serious chance against five-times Wimbledon champion Venus Williams for a place in the final.

"I was tough mentally - that was the key today," Safina said afterwards.

The battle-hardened Safina, playing her 50th match of the year, lost a tight tie-break on a double fault, one of 15 in a patchy performance on a sun-kissed Centre Court.

In one game alone in the first set, she had three double faults and could not cope with the unseeded Lisicki's power and pace which had earlier in the tournament accounted for French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"I have had a problem with the knee. I was always compensating it and I lost maybe the rhythm a bit. The serve is there. I just have to put the brain there," Safina explained.

But Safina, world number one like her brother Marat Safin once was, finally found her rhythm in a much more assured second set, dominating the 19-year-old Lisicki, a pupil of Nick Bollettieri's Florida tennis academy.

The top seed took complete control in the deciding set, racing to a 4-1 lead with a double break against Lisicki, who then called the trainer to massage her right leg.

The Russian, whose tortured expressions suggest she is as much fighting her own game as her opponent's, then finished off Lisicki, ranked 41 in the world, with ruthless efficiency.

Safina, who also dropped a set against former champion Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round, has three times been a finalist in Grand Slams but has never yet managed to win one of the coveted titles.

She will play third seed and defending champion Venus Williams for a place in Saturday's final, after the American cruised past Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-2.

"It's not going to be easy, a match against Venus," she said. "She likes to play on grass. I have nothing to lose. I want to go out, enjoy and show my best tennis."
Reuters

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[Iron Man]

Preview: Karlovic v Federer


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Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Written by Byron Vale
Photo Titled Federer fired upFederer fired up
©EPA / G. Penny
It’s not the elephant in the corner of the room that no one wants to talk about, it’s the 6ft 10in tennis player.

If Ivo Karlovic beats Roger Federer in their quarter-final then, for some people, it ruins the chance of a dream final between Federer and Andy Murray and for many others it denies them their dream finish to this year’s Championships, with Federer claming a sixth Wimbledon title.

There is a precedent. The last time one player had such a hold over the men’s title, it was Pete Sampras. Yet he had one fallow year in 1996, when he was beaten by Dutchman Richard Krajicek, a player who relied heavily on a massive serve. It was the only defeat Sampras suffered at Wimbledon in eight years.

Krajicek thinks that Karlovic could do the same thing to Federer. “It will be very difficult for Federer to break but Karlovic does not have the greatest of return games so maybe he’ll only break Federer once or twice. But that’ll be enough if he’s serving well,” the Dutchman said.

“I think they will play a few tiebreakers. Federer wants to avoid that because Karlovic has played a lot of tiebreakers this tournament and won a lot.”

Karlovic has won all of his 79 service games at Wimbledon 2009 and has faced just four break points, all against first-round opponent Lukas Lasko.

Federer leads Karlovic 8-1 in head-to-head encounters. The interesting match in that list is Karlovic’s solitary win - at on the hard courts at the Cincinnati Masters in 2008 where Karlovic won 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5). But he didn’t break the Federer serve once on that occasion and it is telling that in their nine matches there have been 12 tiebreaks in 22 sets.

Krajicek said: “I think Roger wants to get the breaks. If anyone can break a serve Roger can and he has neutralised the Andy Roddick serve over the last couple of years. Anyone would think that Andy has a bad serve the way Federer returns. It’s so tough to ace him.

Federer holds the advantage over Karlovic on almost every objective measure – except one crucial statistics for grass court tennis. Karlovic is the leading ace server at this tournament, as he is on the ATP tour, as he has been for the last two years.

Critics attack Karlovic as one-dimensional but when that one dimension can end a game in four swings of the racket, it is hard to dispute its success.

Federer is not a fan. During the press conference after his victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round, Federer was informed that Karlovic had just taken the fourth set to defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. “In a tiebreak?” he asked. “It’s not that I don’t have any respect for him, but that’s not tennis. I lost to him in Cincinnati – I broke him once, he didn’t break me and I had three chances in the tiebreaks. I got one right and made two mistakes and that was that. It’s good for people who are lower in the rankings and bad for those who are higher as he tends to raise his game.”