Roddick and Venus march into third round
Former World Number 1 and last year’s finalist Andy Roddick reached the third round of Wimbledon with an emphatic win. Similarly former Wimbledon and World Number 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia also marched his way to the third round.
In women’s action, last year’s beaten finalist Venus Williams also booked her place in third round.
5th seed American Andy Roddick defeated French Michael Llodra to progress into the next round. He defeated the Frenchman with the score of 4-, 6-4, 6-1 and 7-6(2). Three-time Wimbledon finalist had a tough time getting pass Llodra. It was Roddick’s first appearance in centre-court since his epic final with Federer, which he lost in the 5th set tie-breaker.
Roddick faced an early scare as French Llodra broke Roddick’s serve in the opening set to take the lead, which he eventually converted into a set. After losing his first set, Roddick evaluated his strategy and came back in the second set strongly. This time it was Roddick, who broke Llodra’s serve and held his serve to seal the second set.
In the Third set it was a one sided affair as Roddick dominated the proceedings. Llodra was able to hold his only one serve in the set and hence lost with the score of 6-1. Llodra gave his last try in fourth set as he took the set to a tie-breaker. Last time Roddick faced a tie-break in centre court was in last year’s final which was one of longest 5th set tie-breaker of Wimbledon’s history. Roddick’s fast serve was instrumental in closing the match as he wrapped the tie-breaker with the score of 7-2. After this victory, Roddick precedes to third round.
Similarly, 2002 Wimbledon Champion Lleyton Hewitt also reached the third round after he won the match against Evgeny Korolev. Hewitt showed some gritty display as he got passed the Korolev. The match failed to conclude normally as Korolev sustained injury during the match and retired handing victory to Hewitt. Even before Kazakhstan’s Korolev sustained injury Hewitt was dominating the match. The Australian Hewitt took the first two sets with the score of 6-4. He was even leading the 3rd set 3-0 before Korolev crumbled and retired from the match.
On the other hand, in the women’s circuit, Hewitt’s Belgian fiancé Kim Clijsters along with compatriot Justine Henin and American Venus Williams all reached to the third round with convincing wins.
Former World Number 1 and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams reached the third round after overcoming Russian Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. Williams won the match with the score of 6-0, 6-4. Williams has won Wimbledon nine times and was the losing finalist in last year’s edition. She displayed a brilliant performance as she crushed the Russian. She broke all Makarova’s serve in the first set, to take first set 6-0. She was broken in the second set but fought back to win and seal the match.
Venus Williams’ compatriot Shenay Perry lost to Russian Maria Kirilenko with the score of 6-1, 6-4. Meanwhile, comeback girl Kim Clijsters also reached third round after beating Croatian Karolina Sprem. Former World Number 1 and current 8th seed Clijsters won the match with score of 6-3, 6-2.
Similarly former World Number 1 and Clijsters’ compatriot Justine Henin won the match against German Kristina Barrois. She defeated the German with the score of 6-3, 7-5. Henin started the match strongly as she broke her opponent serve twice in the opening set to take 1-0 set lead. Second set was a tense affair as both opponents indulged in a gruelling battle.
Henin eventually got success when she broke Barrois in 12th game to seal the match. In other matches, 12th seed Nadia Petrova defeated Taiwan’s Chan Yung-Jan to book her place in the third round. She won the match with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be playing later. Federer, who almost lost the match in the first round against Alejandro Falla, would be hoping to overcome his rustiness and assert his authority on grass court. Nadal meanwhile will be hoping to continue his winning form and repeat the success of 2008.
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