LONDON, June 10: Andy Roddick kept the defence of his Stella Artois title alive on Thursday with a hard-fought 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win over Mario Ancic to reach the quarterfinals.
The US Open champion struggled against Ancic, a powerful Croatian, before finally clinching victory in 102 minutes.
Earlier, Ian Flanagan's unlikely run ended when the Welshman was outclassed 6-2, 6-0 by Sebastien Grosjean - Roddick's victim in last year's final. Flanagan became man of the moment at the grasscourt event by disposing of 2003 Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis and Romanian Victor Hanescu on his way to the third round.
But in a 50 minute-drubbing, each of the 853 ranking places separating the 22-year-old Briton from France's Grosjean became painfully evident on a blustery Queen's Club centre court.
KUERTEN OUT
HALLE: Three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten will miss this year's Wimbledon Championships because of an injury to his right hip, the Brazilian said on Thursday.
Kuerten, who has never been past the quarterfinals at the All England Club event, which begins June 21, said he wanted to be fit for the North American Masters Series at the end of July, the Athens Olympics and the US Open.
Kuerten will spend the next weeks at home in Florianopolis, Brazil, working with his physiotherapist and coach. He reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros before being ousted by David Nalbandian.
Wimbledon have already lost two of the biggest women's draws this week, Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, through illness and injury
Thursday's results (prefix number denotes seeding):
THIRD ROUND: Igor Andreev (Russia) beat Olivier Patience (France) 6-4, 7-5; 1-Andy Roddick (US) beat Mario Ancic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4; Karol Beck (Slovakia) beat 14-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; 5-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Ian Flanagan (Britain) 6-2, 6-0; 15-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) 6-2, 6-4.
Results from the Halle Open ATP tennis tournament on Thursday:
SECOND ROUND: Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; 2-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat Joachim Johansson (Sweden) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3, 6-4.
Results from the Birmingham Classic WTA tennis tournament in Edgbaston on Thursday:
SECOND ROUND: Anne Kremer (Luxembourg) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3); Tatiana Golovin (France) beat Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) 6-4, 6-0.
