London - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt showed his
Wimbledon pedigree as he reached the second week for the sixth
straight year through a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 defeat of German Philipp
Petzschner Saturday.
Accompanied by a chorus of singing from yellow-shirted Australian
Fanatic fans at nearly every changeover, the former number one who
lifted the trophy in 2002, continued his remarkable run with the
third-round victory in just under two and a half hours.
The 56th-ranked Hewitt who underwent hip surgery last summer, held
off 16 aces from his opponent to advance.
German Tommy Haas, 31, a one-time world number two who has
undergone multiple shoulder operations, finished of a thriller held
over in the fifth set due to darkness, defeating 11th seed Marin
Cilic, 7-5, 7-5, 1-6, 6-7 (3-7), 10-8.
Haas had a late-night Indian takeaway at his rented house after
undergoing physio on his tired 29-year-old body Friday night.
'While that was going on, we were listening to all the great
legendary songs from Michael Jackson,' he added.
'Winning these kind of matches, it's like you're still on a high
in some ways. The body's feeling a little bit tired, to be honest.
It was a long match, a tough battle yesterday with so many ups and
downs.
'Also mentally it drains you for sure. But overall, I'm feeling
great.'
Russian Igor Andreev also completed a match stalled at 5-5 in the
fourth set, ending with a winning tiebreaker over Italy's Andreas
Seppi 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Czech Tomas Berdych swept Russian 12th seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2,
6-3, 6-2.
Five-time women's winner Venus Williams defeated Spain's Carla
Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-4, backing up an Australian Open victory of six
months ago against the 20-year-old.
Williams will play against former French Open holder Ana Ivanovic,
as the 13th seed ended the run of Australian Sam Stosur 7-5, 6-2.
Williams and Ivanovic will next meet for the sixth time in their
careers, with the American standing 5-1, her lone loss coming at the
Melbourne quarter-finals last year.
American Melanie Oudin, ranked 124, produced the shock of the
women's draw when she stunned former number one and sixth seed Jelena
Jankovic 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-2.
Jankovic came to the new Court 3 against the 17-year-old from
Atlanta complaining of illness and was seen by the trainer during
contest which stretched for almost three hours as she became the
highest seed to exit so far.
'After the first set, I felt really dizzy, and I thought that I
was just gonna end up in the hospital,' said the noted Serbian drama
queen. 'I started to shake. I was losing my, how you say
consciousness.
'I didn't know if I was gonna fall down and just (leave the court)
in an ambulance. But I started to feel a little bit better.
'It's some woman problems, as well. It's not easy being a woman
sometimes. All these things happen. What can I do? I tried my
best.'
Qualifier Oudin's victory was her first in two starts as majors,
losing in the first round at the Australian Open and failing to make
the main draw in Paris.
'I was just thinking that she was any other player and this was
any other match and I was at any other tournament,' said the
home-schooled teenager who got into tennis through her grandmother.
'Not like I was on the biggest stage at Wimbledon playing my first
Top 10 player. I think I handled it really well today.'
Dane Caroline Wozniacki, number nine, put out Anabel Medina
Garrigues 6-2, 6-2.
USA
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