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THE scoop: wimbledon, day 8
The other Spanish lefty: F-Lo
Hewitt, Fed, Roddick, Nalbandian advance;
Women's quarters set
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
FROM WIMBLEDON –
Spanish teen sensation Rafael Nadal hasn't left town yet as he playing doubles with his good friend, Feliciano Lopez. But Rafa left the singles draw last week where his big serve-and-volleying buddy has entered his first career Slam quarterfinal after he knocked out No. 10 seed Mario Ancic 6-4. 6-4, 6-2.
Even though he's has a huge serve and has been volleying quite well all tournament long, the result was a bit of shock. Lopez has never proven himself to a mentally tough player and most observers thought that the multi-talented Ancic was on the bullet train to the semifinals. But Lopez – who also upset fifth seed Marat Safin – was secure and in solid form all over the courts, while the young Croat was overcome with nerves, double-faulting 15 times.
Amazingly, the victory meant that Lopez is the first Spaniard in the quarters since another left, Manuel Orantes, reached them in 1972. The last Spaniard to win Wimby was Manuel Santana in 1966.
"I don't feel any extra pressure," Lopez said. "I just try to play every match as good as I can. This is very important for me. For example, now if you will see tomorrow all the newspapers, they will talk about my match, probably because I think it's 33 years already that there was no Spanish guy in the quarterfinals here. So, it's probably one thing that makes the people dream a little bit, no? But, I don't like to dream, no? I just going focus on the next match."
 Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com
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| Feliciano Lopez defeated Mario Ancic and Lleyton Hewitt downed Taylor Dent. |
His next opponent will be Lleyton Hewitt, who outgunned Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3. The Aussie played by far his best match of the fortnight, returning low and with speed, serving as big as he can and passing with abandon. But ,he'll have his hands full with Lopez, who's slice serve is constantly puffing up the chalk, who's adeptly picking his spots and who rarely misses a makeable volley.
"This is the way I play," said Lopez, who's nickname is "F-Lo." "I'm not the typical Spaniard. But I like to play from the baseline as well. But, for sure, one of my best weapon is to come in and to serve and volley. I'm not serving that many aces, but I'm serving good percentage, and then I win the point with the volley. For example, if you see [Ivo] Karlovic, for sure he's serving 51 aces, but he lost the match. But is not that important only the ace; it's also important the way and where you serving to play the next shot. But [Hewitt] is one of the best players in the world. He's returning unbelievable. You have to be in all the match because he's fighting every ball."
No question. Heart, speed, changing tactics and all-around mental toughness highlighted Hewitt's win over Dent. His cracked ribs have healed; he's as competitive as ever and even if Lopez is on a roll, Hewitt will be a substantial favorite on Wednesday.
"It was a little bit of a question mark purely because I hadn't played that many matches coming into this tournament – and in such a big tournament," Hewitt said. "The first week was especially important for me to get through. Now you come up against the name players, the real chances – challengers for the title. That's when you've got to play your best tennis. I felt like I went up a notch today. But I'm still a long way from holding up the trophy."
Top seed Roger Federer was in fine form taking down Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6). He'll face Fernando Gonzalez, who out-served Mikhail Youzhny.
"Interesting match," Gonzo said. "I would love to play [on Centre Court]. I'm already in quarterfinals and I haven't played there. I never beat him, but last two times it was close matches. It was on clay. Here will be different."
On the bottom half of the draw, Andy Roddick played his best match of the tournament, out-muscling and out-thinking Guillermo Coria 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4. He'll face his practice partner Seb Grosjean, who needed more than three hours to get past Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
"Seb's getting through every week on grass. I think he's only lost to Roger and me the last couple years on grass. Actually, yeah, Flip also," Roddick said. "He's proven that he's one of the top five grass courters in the world. That's definitely tough to deal with. But I feel like I'm playing pretty well. I feel confident."
David Nalbandian continues to school the kids like a relentless headmaster, frustrating 19-year-old Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-0. Just two days ago, the cagey Argentine survived 18-year-old Andrew Murray. The '02 finalist plays every corner of the court with every nuance available.
"You can win a lot of matches just with the mind and not with the good tennis," the Argentine said. "The mind is very important. When you feel confidence and when you have very clear what you have to do, it's easy to see what's going on in the match or what's his big shots are or not. So when you feel confidence to do any shots, it makes it easy." Nalbandian will face another man with a quick on-court intellect, Thomas Johansson, who consistently passed Max Mirnyi in a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Mauresmo v. Myskina, Venus v. Pierce; Sharapova v. Petrova
Amelie Mauresmo did what she needed to in an impressive
6-4, 6-0 win over Elena Likhovtseva, to set up a fascinating quarterfinal against Anastasia Myskina, who pulled off another highly dramatic Wimbledon victory with a 1-6, 7-6(9), 7-5 win over Fed Cup teammate Elena Dementieva.
Mauresmo has reached the semifinals twice here, falling both times to Serena Williams. She loves the grass and being able to cast her speed around the net, but that doesn't mean that she's actually going to play well when things get tight later in the week.
"It is a special surface," she said. "I adjust my game to that surface, some don't. I like to think that playing on grass is going forwards, is serve and volley, return and volley sometimes. It's a mix of all of these things. After the French Open, I'm always a little bit down and then, suddenly, I'm going to England and at Wimbledon, it feels so much different. I am taking things much more easily and it's funny because I see Tim Henman going through the same things I went through a couple of weeks before. So, it's pretty amazing.
The players continue to talk about how the courts have been slowed down and the balls are heavier, which makes it a bit more difficult to simply blow a foe off the court. That's a good thing for spectators, but does force the players to make adjustments."
"I couldn't really find the rhythm," Mauresmo said. "Am I supposed to come in? Do I stay back? Do I serve and volley? Or really do I go to the net after one or two extra shots? Sometimes when you have different opportunities, you ask yourself too many questions. Sometimes it's not so good. But, I still enjoy the fact that I can play coming in or staying back. I think it's still a weapon, so that's good."
RUSSIAN V. RUSSIAN
Myskina played form the backcourt for the most part against Dementieva winning an thrilling end to end battle, She fought off two match points in the second-set tiebreak. On the first one, Dementieva dumped a backhand into the net. On the second one, Myskina gunned a forehand down the line and forced her into a backhand error.
Although Myskina didn't always played her best, she played standout defense and frequently found the lines when on the run. After a harrowing season when she lost her level, confidence and nearly her mother to a serious illness, she has rediscovered her will to win. She'll give Mauresmo all she can handle.
"I'm very happy," Myskina said. "I'm satisfied with my game right now, but doesn't mean that I'm going to really relax right now and say it's good enough for me, quarterfinal. I really want to do even better tomorrow. I think my game is improving every match. And I think I starting play better right now. At least I feel the ball better."
Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com |
| Mary Pierce will come up against Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. |
Venus Williams got a good measure of revenge for Serena's loss to Jill Craybas, wiping it the former collegiate star 6-0, 6-2. She'll face Mary Piece, who played tremendously well in her 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Italy's Flavia Pennetta.
"We've played quite a few times," said Venus about Pierce. "I think my game is good. And I feel like that I'm raising to the next level if things get tight in all my matches. I have had some close sets, and I am able to step it up in gear, especially if I get a high percentage of first serves in, too."
Venus owns a 6-3 lifetime edge over Pierce, but the French-American woman took her down the last time they played, at the Olympics. Pierce does give herself a fighting chance, and maybe more.
"Venus is an excellent player," Pierce said. "Definitely on grass, it's a good surface for her I think as well with the fast pace. We know each other's games really well. I feel like when I can return well, take her serve away from her – it's a big part of her game – so I think I did that pretty well [the last time ] and moved well around the court, just played solid from the baseline."
Maria Sharapova came though easily against Natalie Dechy and will face Nadia Petrova, who outlasted Kveta Peschke in three long sets. Myskina gives Sharapova the edge.
"Maybe it's going to be really difficult for Maria because she never play against Petrova. But still she's favorite here. I think she's really, really good player here."
Women's quarterfinals quick picks
Davenport over Kuznetsova in 3, Mauresmo over Myskina in 3, Williams over Pierce in 3 and Sharapova over Petrova in 3.
Don't pay too close attention here, as I was flat out awful picking guys matches on Monday, although I was decent with the women.
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