The third round, completed on schedule and in some excellent weather, was littered with high quality matches and top players exiting the tournament.
On the men’s side, much has been made of who could challenge the top four. Expected challengers Robin Soderling and Andy Roddick both showed that they were not up to the task on this occasion as they were knocked out in straight sets by Bernard Tomic and Feliciano Lopez respectively. Tomic’s emphatic victory over Soderling marked a real breakthrough for the teenage Australian. A former Junior number 1 and Grand Slam winner, much has been made of whether he can become a top player. His win over World number 5 Soderling showed that he can match the best players on tour and he will fancy his chances against the unseeded Xavier Malisse in the next round.
The big four themselves went though as expected but in testing circumstances. Whilst Federer crushed David Nalbandian, the others were all made to work hard for their victories. Murray prevailed in 4 tough sets against Ivan Ljubicic and Nadal needed to come through two tie-breaks to defeat Gilles Muller. The tightest match, and one of the matches of the tournament so far, was Djokovic’s encounter with Marcos Baghdatis.
The Cypriot is usually followed by a huge number of fans, but even he could not have expected the electric atmosphere that would accompany the game on Centre Court. With virtually every point cheered, and some even given standing ovations, both players delivered huge performances. Whilst Djokovic will argue that he was not at his best, he showed huge mental strength to come through, especially given his loss of control at the end of the second set when he smashed his racket repeatedly against the court.
Up next for Djokovic is Frenchman Michael Llodra and, in another seemingly straight forward match, Federer plays Mikhail Youzhny. Nadal and Murray however are involved in what should be, on paper at least, the matches of the tournament. Nadal plays Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro and Murray plays Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Del Potro is the 24th seed, but this is only due to a lengthy period out with a wrist injury. Before the injury, he had broken into the top 4 and won the US Open. Beating Nadal may be asking too much from him so soon into his recovery, but it still promises to be a superb match. Meanwhile, Gasquet will be looking for some revenge against Murray after their encounter in 2008. In that match, Gasquet was 2 sets and a break up, but choked and allowed Murray to come back and win the match. Gasquet is however an accomplished grass court player, having previously reached the semi finals of Wimbledon, and his natural talent means he can cause problems to any player on his day.
On the women’s side, there were mixed fortunes for the top players. Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, and Venus and Serena Williams all cruised through to the last 16, but Andrea Petkovic, Svetlana Kuznetosva, Francesca Schiavone and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva all departed. Schiavone lost to unseeded Tamira Paszek in a marathon 3hour 41minute match, one of the longest ever women’s matches at Wimbledon.
Marion Bartoli was also involved in a lengthy game, as she took the third set 9-7 against Italian Flavia Pennetta. Bartoli’s reward is a match against a resurgent Serena Williams. As the tournament progresses, thoughts that Serena may have been vulnerable after severe injuries and illnesses are being dispelled. However, her match against Bartoli, the 2007 runner up, will be her biggest test since returning to Wimbledon.
Monday’s play promises to showcase some top class tennis with all 4th round matches scheduled to take place and weather reports showing good weather. For the full schedule of the day’s play, please visit http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/schedule/index.html
Akbar Shah
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