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Mauresmo and Kuznetsova Power On

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

In a third round Ladies' Doubles match carried over from yesterday afternoon, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and Amelie Mauresmo of France beat Australian Lisa McShea and Abigail Spears of the United States 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

Both pairs are unseeded and neither have killed giants in their previous rounds.

Kuznetsova, who turned 20 during the Championships, bears resemblance to Steffi Graf in her face and dusty blonde pony-tailed hair. Last year at Wimbledon, as the No. 2 seed with compatriot Elena Likhovtseva, Kuznetsova reached the fourth round of the Ladies' Doubles. Earlier this year, with Australian Alicia Molik, she won the Australian Open. She has also previously had a successful career partnering Martina Navratilova. But her partnership with Amelie Mauresmo is a new one for these Championships.

At 25, Mauresmo is making something of a comeback to the doubles track from her best performance five years ago when she won the Tour competition at Linz

When the match started yesterday, both players were fresh from playing their quarter-final singles matches. Kuznetsova had lost to No. 1 seed Lindsay Davenport and Mauresmo beat Anastasia Myskina.

On the other side of the net, 30-year-old Lisa McShea has four Tour doubles titles, but none with today's partner Abigail Spears. And 23-year-old Spears also has a couple of Tour wins under her belt, again with different partners.

The first set was a mixed affair. Kuznetsova opened the match with a strong game to love, but later on she looked the weakest link for a while.

Mauresmo played with a strong serve and approach game and on several occasions used a blistering court-splitting backhand drive which left her opponents standing. However both pairs showed great delicacy and direction of stroke-play, as well as dipping into their repertoires of more powerful volleys and driving shots.

Service games were broken regularly and the French and Russian duo was soon 5-2 up. But the Australian and American pair came back strongly.

Play was teasingly poised with Spears and McShea to level the match at 6-6 when the match was suspended on Tuesday due to rain.

Coming out into the bright sunshine today, the new world pair duly banked their advantage, but played less well in the tie-break, losing it 3-7.

Kuznetsova looked refreshed, and was timing the ball more sweetly, more strongly and more precisely.

To help win the tie-break, Mauresmo displayed her glorious return of serve that dips exactly at the feet of the incoming server, making it virtually impossible for the server to get the ball back over the net.

After this it was all but over, and Kuznetsova quicky found herself serving for the match. They go on to meet No.5 seeds Elena Likhovtseva and Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the quarter-finals.

Written by Sally Easton

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One to Watch: Feliciano López

Tuesday, 28 June, 2005

From a lineage which has earned the accolade; "Kings of Clay", now comes a slightly different type of player. They say that a serve-and-volleyer can't win this championship, but Feliciano López would like to disagree in the best way possible, on the courts.

The last and only time a Spaniard has won the Wimbledon Men's Singles was in 1966, when Manuel Santana beat the American R.D. Ralston in straight sets; 6-4, 11-9, 6-4. However, this is most definitely not due to a lack of trying, but rather almost an allergic reaction to grass by every other Spaniard to step onto the Wimbledon turf from then onwards.

So, it seemed that despite being able to field the highest number of players for any one country, the Spaniards were never anyone's favorites to lift the winner's trophy, until now perhaps? Feliciano López - a member of the Spanish Davis Cup Champions team - is the man to watch, or the man to watch out for, depending upon your perspective.

Almost certainly ignored as an immediate threat to the favourites, López has quietly but steadily made his way through the early rounds. Removing without much difficulty the obstacles that have come across his path, notably the big-serving No.5 seeded Russian Marat Safin and the No.10 seeded Croatian Mario Ancic, using his own rapidly improving serve.

Surprisingly, to some, with every game he plays López is creeping further into the top ten aces leaderboard and also the service speed leaderboard. Although he may never emulate the feat of 51 aces in a single game like the Croatian Ivo Karlovic, he has now equaled that total over 4 games and shares equal ninth place, not too far behind Boom boom Belarusian Max Mirnyi, the leader at 89. But if we compare him again with Karlovic, we find them both sharing eighth spot in the service speed leader board at 138mph, almost as fast as American Taylor Dent, who has been the only one to be clocked at a staggering 146mph.

However, he now faces the No.3 seeded Australian, Lleyton Hewitt, who has also picked up a reputation for dealing with the big serve. Hewitt beat over 4 sets in the previous round, reasonably comfortably, the No.24 seeded Dent and looks himself to be on form to make a serious challenge to the trophy. López though remains unphased, and has already accepted that he will have to adapt his game somewhat to meet the challenge. He expects a longer and tougher encounter, which will surely be a thrilling match for the lucky spectator.

Written by Luis López

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Roddick Rides into the Semis

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Andy Roddick emerged triumphant from a seesaw battle with Sebastien Grosjean to win through to the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday evening. Before an enthralled Centre Court crowd, the two friends too turns to out-think and outplay one another before Roddick edged it 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Roddick will play the 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson for a place in the final.

Simply by winning the first set, Grosjean achieved something which had eluded him against Roddick since early 2003. In their last 11 competitive sets - all played in best-of-three matches - Grosjean had not managed to put a single one against his own name.

Even disregarding that statistic, it was obviously important to do it today at the first opportunity, although that said the opening set was a curious affair. Perhaps Roddick was unnerved by the court covers coming on and off for a light rain shower not once but twice while the players were warming up before the match had even started. Whatever the reason, he made 10 unforced errors during the set, over-hitting the lines. Grosjean was attacking his second serve, and the 2003 US Open champion was unable to convert a single one of the five break points he held throughout the set. Grosjean himself required three opportunities to convert set point, but eventually he managed it, taking his first set from Roddick after five blank encounters. It was game on.

If anyone was surprised, presumably 22-year-old Roddick was not among them. The two are longtime friends and practice partners, and before today's match began he described Grosjean as "one of the top five grasscourt players in the world, which makes him tough to deal with". Yet only a week before this Wimbledon began, Grosjean was deposed as French No.1 after Richard Gasquet won the first tournament of his career, at Nottingham. Grosjean had held the top spot for 212 weeks, since May 2001. Suddenly the youngster was 14th in the Champion's Race to Grosjean's 28th, and 20th in the entry rankings to Grosjean's 27th.

Perhaps Grosjean was spurred on by that, but then again Wimbledon is not exactly fallow territory for him. In playing Roddick the 27-year-old Frenchman was bidding to make his third successive semi-final in SW19, although in 2005 his previous best showing was runner-up at Houston - to Roddick. Houston is one of three titles collected by the American to date this year, and he was also a semi-finalist at the Australian Open.

Before this tournament began Roddick was everyone's anointed nomination to play Roger Federer in the final, and when the second set got underway Roddick appeared to remember that. At 3-2 he grabbed two break points, and on the second an overlong Grosjean forehand made it 2-4. Would this be a turning point in the match? It seemed so. Minutes later Grosjean dumped a forehand into the net to give Roddick two set points on the Frenchman's serve, and a great return set up the winner. Roddick was turning the match around.

Grosjean, in his first Centre Court match of the 2005 fortnight, had to prevent the momentum moving against him. But Roddick was a new man, dramatically cutting back on the errors, reducing the serves out wide mystifyingly deployed in the first set, and finding a new confidence which enabled him to hit the lines. Immediately the third set was underway he forced the break. He could even afford to showboat with an attempted "hotdog" shot - between his legs - a gesturing in mock disgust when he failed to make it. He broke again for 5-1, and took the set with some room to spare.

Yet Grosjean would not obligingly fold. At 2-3 a loose game from Roddick meant he had to save two break points. Then a stunning crosscourt backhand from the Frenchman yielded a third opportunity. An overlong Roddick forehand converted it. The crowd was delighted, hungry for a fifth set. Roddick wasn't so keen, testing Grosjean with break points of his own, but without success.

No sooner was the match into the decider than Grosjean's first serve deserted him. Roddick broke him instantly and was all over the Frenchman, as if angry with himself for allowing the fourth set to get away. Hard as Grosjean tried, Roddick would not let him back in. The American was into his third successive semi-final.

Incidentally, for the benefit of the curious, the blue wristband on Roddick's left forearm is worn in support of various children's charities, known by the umbrella label 'No Compromise'. Now that's the kind of name a player of Roddick's style would appreciate.

Written by Kate Battersby

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Roddick Takes the Long Road

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

If this is to be Andy Roddick's year at Wimbledon, the triumph will have been hard earned. Today's five-set success over Sebastien Grosjean which takes him into the semi-finals for the third straight year at The Championships comes hard on the heels of the win over Daniele Bracciali, the Italian who got into the tournament under the "lucky loser" regulation, which also went the full distance.

That was the first five-set match the man from Omaha, Nebraska, had ever played here. Prior to that he had last played a five-set match in the semi-finals at the 2003 US Open, defeating David Nalbandian on his way to the title.

Grosjean's fighting qualities came as a surprise to Roddick, who had beaten him five times in a row without dropping a set, including twice this year. In a bid to keep that sequence rolling along, Roddick went flat out in the first set, standing in on the Grosjean serve and hitting everything as hard as he could. In fact, he overdid it and paid the penalty by conceding the opening set.

Once Roddick let his huge serve and howitzer forehand do the talking, as he normally does, Roddick saw the match swing his way. In this match between two men who wear the Lacoste badge, it was Roddick who eventually had the more impressive crocodile snap.

After Grosjean had bounced back to capture the fourth set, Roddick needed to call on his impressive powers of concentration and stamina to pull the match out. He did so in familiar fashion, with the frequent trademark tug of the peak of his white cap and plucking at the shoulders of his shirt as he steadily pulled clear of the Florida-based Frenchman.

The victory was called "a masterpiece of willpower and concentration" by BBC TV commentator Andrew Castle. This is Roddick's fifth year at Wimbledon. In the first two he got no further than the third round, but his challenge for the title in the subsequent three years has been foiled by the spectacular rise of Roger Federer, who beat him in the 2003 semi-finals and last year's four-set final.

Since 2001, his first full year on the professional tour, Roddick has won at least two titles every season. In 2005 he has so far collected three more, taking his total to 18 by winning San Jose, Houston for the third time and the Stella Artois grass court tournament at Queen's Club, also for the third time.

Since winning the 2003 US Open, Roddick's nearest challenge for a second Grand Slam title came at the Wimbledon final a year ago, where he finished runner-up. This year, having been elevated to second seed by the All England Club seeding committee from his fourth-ranked place in the world rankings, Roddick is determined to justify that confidence in his ability by halting Federer.

Written by Ronald Atkin

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Day 10 Preview

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

Losing in the semi-finals of any contest has to be the one of the biggest sporting disappointments. So near and yet so far, that sort of thing. If you lose in the final at least you have been part of the grand occasion, but all a defeated semi-finalist has is the prize money. The consolation is that there is never long to wait before the next tournament comes along.

So who will go marching on to Saturday's climax of the women's singles event, and who will be laundering the grass stains off clothing and shoes until this time next year?

The seedings have stood up remarkably well, with the top three, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo, filling their allotted places. They are joined by arguably the most distinguished 14th seed ever to get to Wimbledon's last four, Venus Williams. Here is a two-time Wimbledon winner and two-time runner-up (all achieved in four consecutive years) fallen, however temporarily, on the sort of hard times that have driven her down the rankings.

It would not be unfair to say that the 29-year-old Davenport has surprised herself by the all-conquering manner in which she has sailed through a tournament she did not plan to take part in again after last year. Not having won a Grand Slam since the Australian Open of 2000, Lindsay's thoughts were turning to the other things in life besides tennis, such as starting a family. Such thoughts were put on hold as she began to play like the Davenport of old and reclaimed the world No.1 spot. She is in her 75th non-consecutive week as top lady, a position she has held on six different occasions since 1998.

So Davenport is giving it the old gung-ho charge in pursuit of one, and maybe two or three, more Grand Slams to sit on the trophy shelf with the three she has already won, including Wimbledon in 1999. She came close in Australia six months ago, losing in the final to Serena Williams. Now the route to Saturday's final is blocked by one hurdle, a barricade built by the No. 3 seed, Amelie Mauresmo.

Lindsay would be entitled to regard the barrier as more of a traffic hump, since she has won their last seven meetings without having conceded a set to the Frenchwoman. But this will be their first clash on grass and only their second in a Grand Slam, with Mauresmo having won at the Australian Open six years ago. That event in Melbourne was the closest Amelie has come to one of the major titles. She finished runner-up to Martina Hingis.

Even tennis fans who do not live in France consider it is about time Mauresmo claimed a Grand Slam. This is the third consecutive time she has marched into Wimbledon's semi-finals. In this year's tournament she has not yet dropped a set, conceding only 22 games. Davenport yielded a set to Kim Clijsters in the fourth round, otherwise her sets-against sheet is clean too.

Davenport and Mauresmo were the losing semi-finalists at The Championships a year ago. This time one of them will take the step that matters into Saturday's final. If it is Davenport who comes through, the final could become what it so often has been in the past, an all-American beanfeast.

For that to happen, Venus Williams must do what she has not yet managed in two attempts, beat Maria Sharapova. The defending champion will not be awed by the prospect of tackling the older Williams, having swatted youngster sister Serena so brilliantly in last year's final. When that happened, the Girl with the Golden Shoes was only 17. Now she has matured by one year and many ranking positions, while Venus, beset by injury and loss of form, has slipped out of the top five where she dwelled for so long.

Sharapova conceded just seven games in each of her victories over Venus, gained indoors at Zurich last year and on the hard outdoor courts of Miami this spring. Neither has dropped a set in winning five rounds here, though neither would deny that at times their game has looked a mite rusty. But both possess that ability of a true champion, to lift themselves and their level of tennis when it matters.

This ability is what has pushed the Florida-based Russian teenager up the rankings ladder, where she is poised to take over from Davenport as No. 1. It will not happen this weekend, though, even if Sharapova retains her title and Lindsay goes out in the semi-finals. Sharapova's inevitable, eventual ascent would make her the first Russian to top the women's tennis world, but she would not be the youngest player to do so. Martina Hingis was 16, Monica Seles and Tracy Austin 17 and Steffi Graf a slightly younger 18-year-old. But none of them played in golden shoes.

Written by Ronald Atkin

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Hewitt Dashes Spanish Hopes

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Lleyton Hewitt marched confidently into a semi-final with the defending champion Roger Federer by posting an impressive straight-sets victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez. The third-seeded Australian needed just under two hours to eliminate the 26th-seeded Lopez, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

So well did Hewitt play that he asserted afterwards: "I was seeing the ball like a football."

The left-handed Lopez was the first Spaniard to reach Wimbledon's last eight since Manuel Orantes in 1972, and a guest of honour in the Centre Court VIP box was Manuel Santana, the only Spaniard ever to win the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles title, in 1966.

Lopez, earning the support of the crowd as the underdog, opened on a high note by capturing Hewitt's serve in the fifth game but Hewitt, behind a barrage of aces, did not need long to square the match by breaking back to 4-4 when the Spaniard double-faulted to drop serve.

Hewitt frequently found Lopez's ability to hit the acutest of angles troublesome but his strategy was to offer the 23-year-old from Toledo no pace on which to feed. Instead, Hewitt relied on the relentless accuracy of his medium pace groundstrokes to tempt Lopez into indiscretion and error. This, allied to the Spaniard's tendency to perpetrate serving errors at crucial times, won him the opening set after 39 minutes on a Lopez double-fault, his first of the match.

Things got no better for Lopez in the second set, either. Tending to overhit his forehands, he could not manage to dent Hewitt's solidity on serve and he suffered a rarely-invoked penalty for "hindrance" in the third game by calling a Hewitt serve out. The serve was indeed out, but Lopez's shout was deemed by the Swedish umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, a hindrance and he was penalised a point for it.

Rock solid on his own serve, Hewitt struck at a vital time as Lopez served to stay in the second set at 4-5. He did not help his own cause with a second double-fault or two loose backhands, the second of which put a jubilant Hewitt two sets up.

Lopez's desperate bid to get back into contention was frustrated by the fact that Hewitt was having his best match of the tournament, with his speed around the court backed up by top-class serving. The Australian hit three aces in succession at one stage and finished with 15 in all. Even though he managed to prolong the third set into a tiebreak, Lopez could not dent Hewitt's superiority and was swept away by seven points to two.

Written by Ronald Atkin

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