Marat Safin's newfound confidence on grass faded fast Friday.
The big Russian came up short in his bid for a second Grand Slam title this year, losing to Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the third round at Wimbledon.
Safin, who threatened to stop trying at Wimbledon after losing in the first round last year, entered this year's tournament upbeat and easily won his first two matches. But he was outserved by Lopez and quickly became so frustrated he launched a ball onto the Court 1 roof in anger, prompting a warning from the chair umpire.
PHOTO: AP
"I just couldn't really find my game," said Safin, the Australian Open champion. "He's a tough player. What do you want me to do? I can't play my best tennis every day. I didn't really play bad."
No. 2-seeded Andy Roddick needed two days and five sets to beat Daniele Bracciali 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 6-3. The second-round match was halted Thursday after three sets because of darkness, and again for 33 minutes Friday because of the tournament's first rain delay.
Roddick, who hit 23 aces and was broken just once in 26 service games, had lost his past five five-set matches.
PHOTO: AP
"It felt good to be on the winning side of one," he said. "I was worried there for a while, so it was a lot of relief there in the end."
Roddick is scheduled to play Igor Andreev in the third round Saturday.
No. 3-seeded Lleyton Hewitt had American Justin Gimelstob diving all over the Centre Court lawn in vain pursuit of shots and won 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-5. Hewitt, the 2002 champion, advanced to the fourth round against another American, No. 24 Taylor Dent, who beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
PHOTO: AP
In women's third-round play, US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was pushed to three sets for the second straight match but beat 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Kuznetsova's next opponent will be unseeded Magdalena Maleeva, who reached the fourth round in the tournament for the fourth time in five years by defeating Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-3, 6-2.
Two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Amelie Mauresmo, seeded third, eliminated American Shenay Perry 6-0, 6-2. Mauresmo has lost just 11 games in three matches.
"I really am enjoying to play on this surface," Mauresmo said. "So we'll see where it takes me."
No. 9 Anastasia Myskina rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third set to beat No. 17 Jelena Jankovic 6-0, 5-7, 10-8. Myskina failed to convert two match points in the second set and squandered 24 of 33 break-point chances but still won in 2 hours, 43 minutes.
She'll next play Russian compatriot Elena Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, who beat American Mashona Washington 7-5, 6-1.
The third round began with a fifth consecutive day of warm sunshine, but rain moved in during the late afternoon and twice delayed matches. The second delay forced the suspension of one match until Saturday and the postponement of four others.
The Court 1 crowd watching Lopez's victory included his doubles partner, French Open champion Rafael Nadal. While Nadal lost in the second round, Lopez advanced to the round of 16 for the third time in four tries.
A left-hander seeded 26th, Lopez never lost serve and closed the victory with his 14th ace.
"My game is a little bit different than the other Spanish players, no?" Lopez said. "I go more to the net. I try to come in. I like to play also on clay, but for sure my game for grass I think is better."
No. 5-seeded Safin exchanged chuckles with Lopez over an early overrule by the umpire, but the mercurial Russian's mood soured as he fell behind. He whacked a ball in anger when he failed to convert two break points, allowing Lopez to hold for a 5-3 lead in the first set, and he muttered, shook his head and slumped his big shoulders as the match slipped away.
Safin lost serve only twice but went 0-for-4 on break-point chances against Lopez.
"He played really well," Safin said. "He had nothing to lose. He had no pressure whatsoever and he was playing his game.
"I'm satisfied. I found my game on grass. I have nothing to complain about."
Safin fell to 1-3 against Lopez and is expected to take a break for several weeks to rest a left knee injury that has bothered him this month. But he said he'll keep returning to Wimbledon in the years to come.
"I can manage it," he said with a smile. "It's only two weeks on grass. It doesn't take much."
Lopez will next play No. 10 Mario Ancic, a semifinalist last year. He beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Dent equaled his best Grand Slam showing by reaching the fourth round. His father, former Australian top 20 player Phil Dent, scouted the next opponent, Australian Hewitt.
Dent smiled when asked about his father's allegiance.
"He's Dent more than Aussie, that's for sure," Dent said. "He'll be chomping at the bit to tell me everything he knows. He'll be as detailed as you care to hear. The bottom line is I like to tell him, if I execute out there, I'm going to be handful for Lleyton."
Kuznetsova, seeded fifth, overcame a set point when Vaidisova hit an errant backhand in the 10th game of the first set. Kuznetsova broke serve for 5-all, then broke again two games later to take the set.
Vaidisova, seeded 27th, was making her Wimbledon debut.
"I had to get used to her, because she plays a very weird game," Kuznetsova said. "She serves well, but the serve can also go struggling. She hits good shots sometimes, and sometimes they're so weak, so I had to get used to it. But she has good potential."
When Taylor Dent faces Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round at Wimbledon, he can expect a pretty good scouting report.
Dent equaled his best Grand Slam showing by reaching the fourth round when he beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Dent's father, former top 20 player Phil Dent, scouted Hewitt's victory over Justin Gimelstob, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-5.
The younger Dent smiled when asked about his Australian father's allegiance.
"He's Dent more than Aussie, that's for sure," Taylor said with a laugh.
"Whether I want his report or not on matches, I'll get it. So he will definitely fill me in on what he thinks I need to do out there. He's going to want me to win out there. He'll be chomping at the bit to tell me everything he knows."
Phil Dent was runner-up to Jimmy Connors at the 1974 Australian Open and played Davis Cup for Australia before settling in California.
Taylor Dent won his first ATP tour title at Newport in 2002, making the Dents the first father-son duo in the Open era to win tour titles.
HELLO, GOODBYE
Wimbledon has a new local media darling, thanks to two victories this week by 18-year-old Scotsman Andrew Murray.
Because four-time semifinalist Tim Henman lost Thursday, Murray is the lone Brit left in the tournament.
"Andrew Murray, a new British hero," the Independent wrote in a front-page headline.
On the back page, there was a picture of Murray with his teeth clenched and his fists pumping and the headline "Hello."
Next to that was a picture of Henman's back while walking off the court with the headline "Goodbye."
Murray, making his Grand Slam debut, upset Radek Stepanek on Thursday.
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