Defending champion Roger Federer joined the party on Friday, but US warrior John Isner’s Herculean efforts finally caught up with him as his surreal Wimbledon adventure came to an abrupt and weary end.
Isner’s freakish 11-hour, first-round victory against gallant Nicolas Mahut re-wrote the tennis record books and overshadowed pretty much everything else on offer over the first four days, including a first visit by Queen Elizabeth since 1977.
As the eye-popping statistics churned out of the gargantuan contest on Court 18 during Wednesday and Thursday, six-times champion Federer’s obvious unease in two scratchy victories against lowly-ranked players was largely overlooked.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The 28-year-old Swiss dined with the Queen on Thursday and he returned to the All England Club looking like the player who has reigned at Wimbledon for most of the last decade.
Against Colombia’s Alejandro Falla, who was three points shy of a sensational first-round knockout on Monday, Federer looked awkward and error-prone and he was only slightly better against Serbia’s Ilija Bozoljac in round two.
Against experienced Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Centre Court Federer’s game clicked back into gear as he moved into the last 16 with a classy 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
PHOTO: AFP
“This felt much better,” the top-seed, who faces Jurgen Melzer tomorrow, told reporters. “Right off the bat I got the early break. Same thing in the second set. From then on, it was a race to the finish line.”
The top half of the draw is now taking shape nicely with third-seed Novak Djokovic, fifth-seed Andy Roddick and French Open semi-finalist Tomas Berdych all into the fourth round.
Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Federer in the Halle final, is also in the mix after grinding down Frenchman Gael Monfils to set up an enticing clash with Djokovic, who thrashed Spanish claycourter Albert Montanes.
PHOTO: EPA
In women’s third-round play, Justine Henin and fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters set up a fourth-round collision of former world No.1s as they waltzed through against tricky Russians.
Clijsters, back at the tournament for the first time since 2006, crushed Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3, while Henin, whose last appearance was in 2007, beat 12th-seed Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-4.
“You go out there and it’s 50-50,” Clijsters, who was followed out of retirement by Henin, said of the match that will be the pick of the last 16.
“It’s a great opportunity for both of us,” Henin said. “I mean, to play each other again in a grand slam, I think it’s something we couldn’t expect a year ago.”
Five-times champion Venus Williams steamed into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of another Russian, Alisa Kleybanova, while fourth-seed Jelena Jankovic played her best tennis of the week to demolish Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-3.
Williams will play Slovakian-born Australian Jarmila Groth, while Jankovic is up against Vera Zvonareva, who knocked out 15th-seed Yanina Wickmayer.
Hewitt has now reached the last 16 for the past seven years at Wimbledon and his performance against the unpredictable Monfils was one of the highlights of the day.
The 2002 champion delighted a sprinkling of his yellow-clad fan club who serenaded their hero with several renditions of If You All Love Lleyton, Clap Your Hands.
As the sun dipped down at the end of another warm day, Roddick looked set for a struggle against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, but the American’s serve was as reliable as ever as he completed a 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
It was left to the ever-chatty Texan to have the final say on buddy Isner’s heroics.
“Normally, records in sports, you say: ‘Okay, eventually it will be broken.’ That will never be broken, ever, ever, not even close,” he said.
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