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wimbledon, day 5
Taylor's time:
Dent takes aim at Hewitt
Roddick finally gets 5-set win; Myskina pulls off best win of year
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com
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| Taylor Dent slices through Tomas Berdych in straight sets. |
FROM WIMBLEDON – Even though he's seeded No. 24 and is a tremendous serve and volleyer, Taylor Dent didn't really expect to reach the second week here. Due to a injury, he came in here with few matches and slightly out of shape.
But his huge game is clicking on grass and after his 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over the talented Tomas Berdych, the American has reason to believe that he can gain his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"Strange things always seem to happen," he said. "I come in here with fairly low expectations, thinking, 'Oh, my body feels terrible, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.' You just kind of eke through matches. That's the way sports are. Funny things seem to happen."
But first, he has to stop '02 Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt, who isn't in top form, but who is gutting out matches. On Friday, Hewitt edged a leaping and diving Justin Gimelstob 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-5. When the big points came, the snarling Aussie was simply mentally tougher, just like he is in almost every match he plays.
Dent took Hewitt to five sets at '01 Wimbledon, winning a spectacular fourth-set breaker and then being punched out in the deciding set. He may get to a fifth again on Monday and if he does, he'll have to swallow his own wide grin, or Hewitt will wipe it off his face.
"I'm just going to have to try and match him mentally tough because I think that's what it's all about in the fifth set," Dent said. "Obviously if you're there, you're playing as good as your opponent. Two sets apiece. I'm going to have to match him and try an out-mentally tough him on the big points. That's the bottom line."
Outside of his brain, the bottom line is that he's going to have to serve huge, volley beautifully, return with precision and not waste time in the back court. He beat Hewitt in Adelaide earlier this year, so at least he'll have a measure of confidence coming in, but he hasn't taken him down at a Slam before, so he'll be testing his own reserve when things get tough.
"Lleyton's got the best of me in our head-to-head, but I've won the last one," Dent said. "That gives me some hope out there. I feel like if I play very solid tennis, then things might happen."
FATHER PHIL IS WATCHING, NOT COACHING
Dent is from a terrific tennis stock. His dad, Phil, is a former Australian Open finalist and his mother, Betty Anne Stuart (now Grout), was a former US Top-10-er (who by the way just won the USTA 45s Nationals a few weeks back).
Phil is here and is advising Taylor, who's coach-less again. After he saw Taylor tag Berdych, papa went out to see Hewitt finish off Gimelstob.
"He's Dent more than Aussie, that's for sure. He's going to want me to win out there," Taylor said. "He'll be chomping at the bit to tell me everything he knows.
For me, my game is pretty simple. I like to tell him, 'Look, bottom line is if I execute out there, I'm going to be a handful for Lleyton. I'm going to be very tough to beat.' But he loves dissecting players and loves dissecting all that information so he'll have a good time telling me."
Hewitt agrees with that assessment of the Dent stands in Australia. When asked what the name Dent means in Australia, the Aussie snapped, "Not a whole heap when he's got USA written at the end of his name."
With little match play himself coming in here due to cracked ribs, Hewitt hasn't hit his stride yet. On a good day, he would have routined Gimelstob, but he's not consistently cracking his returns or passing shots yet.
"I still feel like I got to play better to guarantee myself a win against Taylor," Hewitt said. "I've got to play better again because he's capable of playing very good tennis, and he can sustain it over five sets, especially on a grass court. He's a tough competitor. He's not going to give me too many cheap points. He's obviously got a great serve-and-volley game. He's going to keep coming at me all day."
But even though Dent does own a win over him, Hewitt holds a 3-1 career edge over the rugged American. Moreover, he's lived in the second week of the Slams, while Dent is only a two-time visitor.
"This is a Grand Slam. This is over five sets. So it will be a little bit different," Hewitt said.
Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com
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| Daniele Bracciali fought Andy Roddick for five sets ƒ and, reportedly, wanted to fight him in the locker room. |
Roddick finally gets
5-set win
Andy Roddick, who has seen plenty of Hewitt and Dent in his career, completed his match against Italian up-and-comer Daniele Bracciali with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3 victory. It was tremendous test for Roddick, as the Italian had seized the momentum by winning the third-set tiebreak before night fell on Thursday and then came out on Friday and wowed him from the back court to take the fourth set.
But, in the final set, Roddick tossed aside his hesitation around the cords and charged ahead, knocking away one crisp volley after another. He hadn't won a significant five-setter in some time and by employing a strategy that he isn't comfortable with, he scored a major victory.
"My whole mantra was if I'm holding serve and feeling like I'm dictating my service games by staying back and playing my most comfortable game, then I'm going to do that. But if the situation called for it, I was going to try to switch it up," Roddick said. "That was a decision that I felt had to be made there in the fifth because, he was just cranking and hitting. The fourth set was pretty amazing stuff from his part. I, at least, wanted to give him a different look and make him think about his returns a little bit. … I didn't lose many points at net. I think the biggest thing was just that I was able to do it. I was able to kind of make myself do it. It was definitely big."
Roddick held a 4-7 record in five-setters coming in here and in his last four Slam appearances, had dropped a four-setter to Roger Federer in the '04 Wimbledon final, a five-setter to Joachim Johansson in the US Open quarters, a long four-setter to Lleyton Hewitt in the Aussie Open semis and a five-setter to Jose Acasuso in the second round of Roland Garos. That isn't something he's proud of.
"I know all you guys were there with your stat books counting the last couple losses in fives, all that nonsense," Roddick snarled. "It was definitely big for me to put one on the board. I wanted to prove something out there today, for sure. There was definitely a chip on my shoulder. It's not totally turned around. But the more matches I win that are tough, in tougher circumstances, the more you remember what it's like to do that. It was big to get through. It would have been a devastating loss."
Roddick will play Igor Andreev in the third round on Saturday.
Marat Safin's love of grass came to end an with a 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3 loss to big lefty Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Last year's semifinalist, Mario Ancic, is looking very good and took down Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Fernando Gonzalez downed Joachim Johannson in straight sets.
Myskina pulls off best win of year
There was no better sight for Anastasia Myskina fans than seeing their heroine pull out a thriller over Jelena Jankovic out on Court 13. The Russian – who has been put upon all year with her mother serious illness, a shoulder injury and her own lack of confidence –
came back from a 1-5 deficit in the final set to down Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-0, 5-7, 10-8. Crushing her groundstrokes to all angles, Myskina looked like she had the contest on her at 5-3 in the second set, but Jankovic fought back. In an 86-minute third set, the ywent end to end, clipping groundies. But, when the final bell rung, it was Myskina pulling off her biggest win of the year.
"For sure," Myskina said. "Especially because she's a great player. I think that was a good match, even that was maybe I was up 6-0, 5-3. But still it was a really good match. She holds rallies, she play really fast, you know, she serve pretty good. It really does a lot for my confidence I start believing in myself. Definitely, I know what I can do right now even that maybe I'm not playing my best tennis, but at least I fight and I do my best on the court no matter what right now."
Myskina says that the top players are so close in ability now that winning is mostly mental. She'll have edge over her friend Elena Dementieva, who defeated Mashona Washington 7-5, 6-1.
"I know her weakness, I know what she can do her best, and she knows me as well the same thing," Myskina said. "Right now, I'm just have to fight and I have to do the same what I did today. Because I know her serve not that great. Even she's improving her serve every day, but still maybe that's my advantage, that I have to take it."
MOM TELEPHONES FROM MOSCOW
What really pleased Myskina was getting a call from her mother, Galina, who was watching the match back home in Moscow.
"Well, my mom called me and said she almost died, so that was really not good news," she joked. "On her it's really hard. She's really proud. Right now she's really happy. That's really good."
Two other RussianS pulled out tough wins when Svetlana Kuznetsova, survived Czech 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, and veteran Elena Likhovtseva, who out-toughed Italian Silvia Farina Elia 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Amelie Mauresmo blitzed Shenay Perry, and will face Bulgarian veteran Maggie Maleeva.
Random notes on Andy's alleged F-bomb and Dent's weight
Here's an entertaining exchange between Roddick and veteran Italian journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta, who by the way, has written a brilliant history of the Italian Open. Roddick allegedly dropped an F-bomb on Bracciali on Thursday night while walking off court. There was some talk that Roddick walked off court without permission from the umpire and Bracciali wanted to play on. Also, according to Scanagatta, Bracciali was so upset that the Italian player said he was ready to punch Roddick in the locker room.
Ubaldo Scanagatta: He wasn't very happy about the fact that yesterday you packed your bags and you left the Centre Court. What happened? Did you tell him some bad words, because he said he couldn't understand too well, but he understood a bad word, F.
Andy Roddick: I have a question for you. Would you try reading in the dark? Would you read a book in the dark?
Scanagatta: Well, the thing was that he said it was 10 to 9.
Roddick: Would you read a book in the dark?
Scanagatta: If I can read, yes.
Roddick: You would read a book in the dark?
Scanagatta: When I can see it, yes.
Roddick: How can you see a book in the dark?
Scanagatta: Come on. I'm telling you what he said.
Roddick: I'm asking you a question. I'm going to get to my answer here in a second, if you give me an answer that is honest.
Scanagatta: You're saying it was dark. He's saying it wasn't dark. Don't ask me if I read a book in the dark. I don't care. I don't read a book not even in the light sometimes.
Roddick: You should try it sometimes. It's good. You can't see the title of the book. That's the point.
Scanagatta: The day before they played until 9:30. Yesterday at 10 minutes before 9, you packed before the umpire says the match is suspended. That is what happened.
Roddick: No, the umpire said, "Play is suspended." You think I make the decision if we walk off or not?
Scanagatta: I'm just asking you.
Roddick: No, you're not. You made a statement.
Scanagatta: Did you say a bad word to Bracciali?
Roddick: I said a bad word. I don't know if it was to Bracciali. I was walking off and he was throwing a fit. Maybe ask him what he said first. I'm not one to just go at people. That's not my style, okay? If he's upset about it, he can come talk to me about it.
Scanagatta: He wanted to.
Roddick: He doesn't need to use an interpreter. All I know is that you wouldn't do many things in the dark. Try returning a 135-mile-an-hour serve when you can kind of see the ball. It's not the easiest thing. I don't think there's anything bad about walking off a dark tennis court because you can't see and you can't play. That seems like a pretty logical decision for me.
Now, here's your's truly question Dent, who says he wasn't at his ideal playing weight and is "too scared to look at the scale right now."
TennisReporters.net: Are you from the David Wells or John Daly school of guys who tried to drop weight and get in shape?
Taylor Dent: John Daly, God!
TR.net: Not that you look like Daly, but that your more more comfortable playing at the natural weight, not trying to bust your gut every single day.
Dent: I just tend to think it's a fine line between spending your time too much training and getting the right weight and executing your game the best you can. I think there's a fine line. If you go one way, you're going to run into problems. It's just a fine line. It's a juggling act.
Right now I've been working so hard to get my game down because I feel like when I'm executing well, I'm extremely tough to beat. That's kind of been my priority at the moment, and then as soon as I feel like I've kind of got that under control, then, boom, fitness is number one.
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