It took USA’s Andy Roddick 2 hours, 53 minutes to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon but the important thing is that he did it.  The sixth-seeded player beat 26th-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-3 despite the fact that Melzer managed to fire 26 aces.

The end of the match was predictable – Melzer and Roddick have battled nine times in the past and the Austrian has lost every single time.  Since Roddick has been the runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in both 2004 and 2005, I’m sure his mind is beginning to wonder if …read more

Maria Sharapova’s match was delayed earlier this week due to rain (she ended up beating Alexa Glatch when they resumed play yesterday) but that seems far less dramatic than the reason for the disruption to Andy Roddick’s third-round showdown with Lleyton Hewitt.

The match was halted when a spectator discovered a bomb threat message pinned to a wall.  Instead of panicking, Roddick and Hewitt actually stood at the net and talked during the 20-minute delay while the security officials investigated the situation.  What do you even talk about (with your opponent) as you wait to find out if someone has planted …read more

Well, it wasn’t the match I was hoping for. It wasn’t anything really. Roger Federer imposed his will on Lleyton Hewitt and ousted the Aussie in straight sets (7-6, 6-2, 6-4) to move into the quarterfinals. Federer looks good, folks. He looks really sharp.
Holy whoa! What have we got going on Court 11?! Fernando Verdasco and Mario Ancic are in an old-fashioned brawl. Verdasco won the first two sets 6-3, 6-4, but Ancic counter-punched by winning the next two sets 6-4, 6-3. Neither one is giving way in the fifth set; they’re deadlocked at 9-all. Man, I wish I …read more

I left off something very important from yesterday’s post about the fall of a very short-term Goliath. Slacker of the Day awards for Thursday go to Ana Ivanovic. Obviously. But it still had to be said, ya know?
Jelena Jankovic just survived a three-set scare from Caroline Wozniacki. The Serb dropped the first set 2-6 but bounced back at 6-4 in the second and closed it out with a dominating 6-2 deciding set. Bet she was wishing the could have pulled some of that out in the first, huh?
I didn’t get around to talking about the men yesterday for some oddly …read more

Oh the carnage! Opening day at Wimbledon has come and gone, and half of those who took the court today are disappointed. The other half are not. (Deep – I know…)
I got home from work today and flipped through the draw to see who was still alive and kickin’. This morning I mentioned that Lleyton Hewitt and Svetlana Kuznetsova both dropped their first sets in tiebreakers. Kuznetsova bounced back with a 7-5 second set and 6-3 third set to move on to the second round.
Hewitt had to go five rounds with Robin Haase before finally getting the go-ahead into the …read more

The grass action is hot and heavy at Queen’s with all the big names coming out to play. Rafael Nadal reached the quarterfinals after getting pushed to three sets by up-and-comer Kei Nishikori. The Japanese player lost the first set 3-6 but rallied to take the second 6-4 before bowing out to Nadal in a 3-6 deciding set.
Nishikori turned pro a year ago and claims Nadal “as his idol.” Not too bad of a showing in the first meeting if you ask me.
Lleyton Hewitt fought his way past Paul-Henri Mathieu for a 6-4, 6-4 trip to the quarters. Hewitt …read more

Venus Williams could be the next icon for women around the world when it comes to holding ground on center stage.
Williams was asked to move her third-round match against Sania Mirza from Rod Laver to Vodafone in order to start the Lleyton Hewitt-Marcos Baghdatis showdown. Williams said “no go” and the officials of Operation Aussie decided to let the elder Williams sister have her way.
As this has already played out, we know that Hewitt downed Baghdatis in a 4:30 a.m. finish. That late night/early morning ending was courtesy of Venus.
I can’t say that I disagree with Venus. It was a …read more

Gah. Lleyton Hewitt. He won. That was me eating my words. Now let’s move on.
In other news, David Nalbandian? Cremated. Burnt toast. Hasta la pasta in three sets (6-1, 6-2, 6-3) by Juan Carlos Ferrero. and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took out Richard Gasquet in four. Is it going to be Tsonga in the final with Roger?
For the women, what everyone was mostly expecting happened: Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin will face off in the quarters. It should be a good match and I’ll be happy as long as Henin gets the W over the Russian shrieker.
With all the fluff out of …read more

Wow. It’s amazing what happens in the tennis world over night, especially during the Australian Open.
Perhaps the biggest news is that Roger Federer got pushed to five sets. It would have been monumental had Federer lost, but we won’t go there. It took the Big Man over four hours to finally push Janko Tipsarevic (a Serbian…where did all these Serbian tennis powers come from? I mean, obviously Serbia, but you know what I mean.) out of the Australian Open with a 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 victory.
The big question really is: will the vigorous five-set exertion play a role in …read more

You know, if I had a kid, I would consider naming him Lleyton. Something about the double ‘L’ just gets to me…like llama. Remember when Hewitt and Andy Roddick used to be the big rivalry? He was good, Hewitt was. He’s faded off the scene a bit but he’s still smacking the ball around.
Advancing in the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships yesterday. Hewitt made his seventh quarterfinal match of this year. He may be a bit off peoples’ radars but Hewitt is the fourth seed in this tournament and 19th in the world. Not too shabby, eh mate?