Andy Murray's gathered massive momentum as he cruised into the last 16 by crushing Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-3 6-4 in 96 minutes. Troicki, who had suffered two embarrassing defeats previously at the hands of Murray, made his Centre Court debut clearly with the intention of blasting the Scot off the court where he has so far been so comfortable.
The number six seed Andy Roddick securing his place in Monday’s last 16 with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-3 win over the Austrian Jurgen Melzer. Eight times before today they have met, and eight times the American has triumphed. American is second only to Federer with the most grasscourt wins among current players.
Hewitt, the world No. 56, is a former Wimbledon and US Open Champion who came into this match with a career Grand Slam record of 122-40. Petzschner, the world No.55, has won just the single title and before this match his Grand Slam record was 5-4, and that was all the difference. Only one place in the world rankings separates Lleyton Hewitt and Philipp Petzschner, and little separated the players for much of their third round match, which Hewitt won 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number one, came through an extraordinary match to beat the number 10 seed Fernando Gonzalez on No.1 Court. Ferrero, playing as a wild card because his ranking was not high enough to justify automatic entry into the draw, emerged victorious from a see-saw encounter 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. It was a bolt from the blue, and Ferrero greeted it with a Nadal-like cry of: “Vamos!”
Simon beat Hanescu 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 27 minutes to reach the fourth round for the first time. The French challenge in the men’s singles now rests exclusively with 24-year-old Gilles Simon who is their lone survivor after his straight sets win over Victor Hanescu of Romania.
Czech Tomas Berdych finally broke his hoodoo against Nikolay Davydenko, taking just 107 minutes to crush the Russian No.12 seed for the first time in nine meetings. Berdych, the 20th seed, looked impressive from the outset and secured 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Berdych added: “I can’t wait till next week. This was by my best match and performance this year. I played very well and believe I’m getting better and better with each match.”
Stanislas Wawrinka played low-risk tennis and outlasted Jesse Levine 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to move into the fourth round. Wawrinka played the ball at a comfortable height onto the American’s forehand and then watched as it was fired back past him. Levine can take heart from his five-match winning run and then here in the main draw.
