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| June 28, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1426 |
Hewitt, Roddick ease into quarterfinals: Four Russians in women’s last eight
LONDON, June 27: Lleyton Hewitt moved a step closer to a Wimbledon semifinal showdown with Roger Federer on Monday but first the controversial Australian will have to get past history-maker Feliciano Lopez.
Hewitt won a stormy fourth round centre court clash with America’s Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 where he was accused of “bitching” and will now face Lopez who became the first Spanish man to make the last eight in 33 years.
American second seed Andy Roddick also moved into the last eight with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 over Argentina’s Guillermo Coria.
Lopez followed up his third round win over fifth seed Marat Safin with an easy win over Croatian 10th seed Mario Ancic, last year’s semifinalist, to reach his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Hewitt, the third seed, picked up a warning for verbal abuse and wasted two match points in the third set tiebreak before seeing off Dent, the 24th seed.
The Australian had cruised through the first two sets before going off the boil in the third.
In the fourth set, an increasingly petulant Hewitt, who had been dogged by foot faults all afternoon, fumed at an overrule by umpire Enric Molina which prompted Dent to complain about his opponent’s “bitching”.
But the row unsettled the American more as Hewitt reeled off the last three games to take the set and the match in a shade over three hours.
The 23-year Lopez, the 26th seed, served and volleyed his way to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Ancic.
Manuel Orantes, in 1972, was the last Spaniard to make the last eight at the All England Club. Manuel Santana was the only Spanish men’s champion in 1966.
Roddick’s reward for his win is a last eight clash with either French ninth seed Sebastien Grosjean.
The 22-year-old American wrapped up a one-sided clash with Coria in just 1hr 52min with the 12th ace of the match.
Federer, chasing a third successive title, faces Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero later Monday in his fourth round clash.
If he gets through that, he’ll face Chilean 21st seed Fernando Gonzalez who put out Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Argentina’s David Nalbandian, the 2002 runner-up, saw off French teenager Richard Gasquet and will now take on Sweden’s Thomas Johansson who put out Max Mirnyi of Belarus.
Nalbandian eased past Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 while former Australian Open winner Johansson, seeded 12, saw off Mirnyi 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Russia is providing Wimbledon with half its women quarterfinalists after a record four players, led by champion Maria Sharapova, won on Monday.
Tenacious former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, eighth seed Nadia Petrova and U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova have taken to the All England turf as if it were home from home.
Three Russians have made it to the quarterfinals in three of the last five grand slams, underlining the power in the women’s game there. Russia are also Fed Cup holders.
“There are five of us in the top 10 so it’s a natural thing there should be four in the quarter-finals,” Myskina said after beating compatriot and sixth seed Elena Dementieva 1-6 7-6 7-5.
Sharapova made short work France’s Nathalie Dechy, dispatching the 16th seed in one hour 13 minutes for the loss of six games.
Petrova had to work a bit harder to beat Czech Kveta Peschke 6-7 7-6 6-3 out on court 18.
For ninth seed Myskina, who like Petrova comes from Moscow, it was another energy-sapping three-set match, her third in the competition so far.
After Dementieva had romped through the first set and taken a 4-2 lead in the second, Myskina suddenly came to life.
Kuznetsova, from St Petersburg, celebrated her 20th birthday on Monday with a much more regulation win over Magdalena Maleeva, beating the 43rd-ranked Bulgarian 6-4 6-3.
Results:
Women’s fourth round
Lindsay Davenport bt Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-3; Anastasia Myskina bt Elena Dementieva 1-6 7-6(7)7-5; Nadia Petrova bt Kveta Peschke 6-7(5)7-6(7) 6-3; Venus Williams bt Jill Craybas 6-0 6-2; Maria Sharapova bt Nathalie Dechy 6-4 6-2; Amelie Mauresmo bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-4 6-0; Mary Pierce bt Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-1
Men’s singles fourth round
Andy Roddick bt Guillermo Coria 6-3 7-6(1) 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(3)7-6(5) 6-3; Lleyton Hewitt bt Taylor Dent 6-4 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3; David Nalbandian bt Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-6(3) 6-0; Thomas Johansson bt Max Mirnyi 6-4 7-5 6-4; Feliciano Lopez bt Mario Ancic 6-4 6-4 6-2; Sebastien Grosjean bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 3-6 6-1.—Reuters
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