Month of July , 2008

Monday, 30 June 2008
 
Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-2
 
Q. How much was the knee responsible for you losing today?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know, but I was really happy just to be on the court, especially when I did an MRI two days ago. The doctors were telling me that I'm questionable to play, so I was just, you know, happy that I could go out there and play the match.

Monday, 30 June 2008
 
Serena Williams def. Bethanie Mattek 6-3, 6-3
 
Q. Can you imagine the defending champion here at Wimbledon, Roger Federer, playing on Court 2?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I haven't seen him on Court 2 in, like, six years. So, no, I couldn't imagine.
 

Monday, 30 June 2008
 
V. Williams def A Kleybanova 6-3, 6-4
 
Q. You must be fairly happy with the way your tournament's progressed so far. Haven't dropped a set. Going quite nicely.

Ladies' Singles - Qtr. Finals
 
Centre Court 1:00 pm Start
  Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5]    v.      Nadia Petrova (RUS)[21]
 Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[14]    v.      Serena Williams (USA)[6]
 
 
Court 1 1:00 pm Start
 Venus Williams (USA)[7]    v.      Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)

Elena Dementieva (RUS) [5] vs. Nadia Petrova (RUS) [21] Centre Court: 1:00 pm

Tennis Week is partnering with legendary coach and New York native Nick Bollettieri to provide previews and in-depth analysis of Wimbledon. Nick's Picks for the women's quarterfinal matches are here. Look for Nick's Picks of the most exciting Wimbledon matches on a round-by-round basis in the coming days and please visit his web site Nick's Picks.  
 
(7) Venus Williams (USA) vs. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)

Roger Federer already has dispatched the last player to win Wimbledon before he started his five-year winning run. Next up is the last player to beat him here.

Federer has cruised into the quarterfinals without dropping a set, beating 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round Monday 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-4 for his 63rd consecutive win on grass and 38th in a row at the All England Club.

“I’m just happy the way I’m playing,” he said. “No real problems so far.”

Andy Murray def. Richard Gasquet 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-4

Q. Was that the most bizarre match you've ever played in?

ANDY MURRAY: It wasn't bizarre.

Q. The finish of the match.

 
Feliciano Lopez def. Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 8-6

Q. How do you feel you played today? Are you pleased with your success?

FELICIANO LÓPEZ : Yeah, of course, no? Have to be happy to be in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, no? That's pretty obvious.

Q. Were you spurred on by your success last night with Spain winning the title?

R. NADAL d.  M. Youzhny 6 3, 6 3, 6 1

Q. How is your knee?
RAFAEL NADAL: I think fine.

Q. Have you had it checked out?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, nothing very important. That's sure.

Q. You weren't too concerned then, even when you had to have the restrapping? You weren't too bothered? You felt okay, felt fine?

Andy Murray won over the Wimbledon Centre Court crowd on Monday with the sort of nail-biting finale that British fans used to enjoy from favourite Tim Henman. Murray had not witnessed the type of adoration the now retired Henman inspired at the All England Club but after watching the Scot pull back from the brink of defeat to beat Richard Gasquet, the fans seemed converted.

"You know, the crowd were awesome," Murray told a news conference after sealing his quarter-final spot with a 5-7 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4 win over the Frenchman.

Ana Ivanovic will retain her world number one ranking despite the record carnage suffered by the leading Wimbledon women's seeds.
 
Ivanovic was top seed here but fell in the third round to China'sh Zeng Jie while number two Jelena Jankovic, third seed Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the fourth seed, all failed to make the last eight.
 
Their dismal performances marked the first time in the Open era that all four top seeds failed to make the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.
 

Defending champion Venus Williams moved another step closer to a potential fifth title with a largely trouble-free 6-4, 6-3 win over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Tanasugarn, fresh from her famous win over Jelena Jankovic, knew she had a mountain to climb in her first Grand Slam quarter-final. She had lost all six of her previous encounters against the seventh seed.

For all the training and practice, for all the perfecting of shots and tactics, Elena Dementieva won her quarter-final against Nadia Petrova between the ears. Sigmund Freud would have had a field day.

Dementieva reached her first Wimbledon semi-final on her tenth attempt with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 win over Petrova, but that is only the half of it.

Serena Williams bulldozed her way into the last four after defeating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-0 in just 51 minutes on Centre Court. Her victory keeps alive the prospect of a third all-Williams Wimbledon final after sister Venus won earlier in the day.

When Andy Murray sealed his epic comeback win over Richard Gasquet to advance to the quarter-finals, he turned to his support team in the stands, drew up his shirtsleeve and flexed a pale bicep by way of celebration.

Later he would say the act was in tribute to his personal trainers, who have been working hard to build up the young Scotsman’s strength. But he may have been sending a subliminal message to the man with the biggest biceps in the sport – Rafael Nadal, his opponent in the last eight on Wednesday.

(1) Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Mario Ancic (CRO)

Federer was pushed by Lleyton Hewitt in the first set of his fourth round match, but after that Federer only lost six total games. He had 21 aces and was 3/3 on break chances, which is a great mix for success on grass. He has yet to drop a set, and it is going to take one heck of a performance to take him down.

 Nicolas Massu of Chile, who won gold medals in singles and doubles at the 2004 Olympics, was among 12 players given special places Monday in singles at the 2008 event at Beijing.

The places are awarded by the International Tennis Federation to players who didn't meet requirements for direct acceptance, such as Massu, whose ranking of 131st was too low.

With a record 20 Wimbledon titles already in the trophy cabinet, the motivation to run around a tennis court in front of a watching crowd at the age of 51 would escape many. But Martina Navratilova showed that she can still cut it on the grass of SW19 with a straight sets victory in her first match of the ladies’ invitation doubles tournament.

Zheng Jie became the first wild card to reach a semi-final of the ladies' singles and the first Chinese woman in the last four of a Grand Slam semi-final as she beat 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Zheng, who is ranked 133 in the world and has beaten three seeds already, included top seed Ana Ivanovic, will play Serena Williams in the semi-finals.