Right now onto Day 7 of my coverage of the Wimbledon Championships and it will cover the last 16 on the men's and ladies side of the net.
OK to start with the ladies, Serena Williams took on the dangerous German player, Sabine Lisicki in what promised to be a tough encounter for the World No.1. And to say it was tough was something of an understatement, as Lisicki put Serena under heavy fire right from the start as the American found it tough to deal with Lisicki's powerful serve (which is on a par with Serena's) and she broke Serena twice to nab the opening set. In the 2nd set however, Serena fought back as you would expect her to and she showed her A game to break Lisicki twice and level the match. In the 3rd set, Serena moved ahead with an early break, but at 3-1, Lisicki dug deep and broke Serena's serve to get back on serve. And at 4-4 Lisicki did the near unthinkable as she broke Serena again to move ahead to serve for the match. In the final game however Lisicki didn't have a trouble free time as she had to stave off a couple of break points, before she pulled off one of the biggest wins of her career, if not the biggest as she toppled the defending champion with a remarkable 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 victory.
Well upsets don't get more remarkable than this one, and to think that Serena would be knocked out of Wimbledon, having been on a record breaking 34 match winning streak is almost beyond belief in itself. But Lisicki deserves tremendous credit for her fighting qualities and she also beat Maria Sharapova last year aswell, which shows that she is no stranger to causing upsets, and there is no doubt that grass is her best surface. And this means the ladies title is now wide open and there is a strong possibility that we might have a new champion on our hands on the ladies side, which makes for a breath of fresh air, rather than just seeing the usual suspects like Serena win the title, so its going to fascinating to see how will go on to win.
Next up we had Laura Robson who faced the Estonian player Kaia Kanepi for a place in the quarter finals, and if Laura would win she would be the first British player to make it into the quarter finals of a grand slam in 25 years. However Laura didn't have have it her way as Kanepi made live difficult for her, and despite going a break up in the first set, Kanepi broke back and play went to a tiebreak which Kanepi won. In the 2nd set, play went by serve again but it was Kanepi that made the crucial break and ended Laura's dream of reaching the last eight by serving out with a 7-6, 7-5 win. It was a big disappointment to see Laura lose this match and it would be hard not to feel sorry for her, but she should take many positives from the tournament as it saw her reach her first 4th round at Wimbledon and it shows she will go a long way and no doubt she will have many chances ahead of her to move deeper and go further in the future.
In other matches of the day, Agnieszka Radwanska had to battle her way into the quarter finals as she faced another grass court specialist in Tsvetana Pironokova from Bulgaria, and she was pushed all the way before coming through in 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Li Na on the other hand had little trouble at all as she breezed past Roberta Vinci of Italy conceding just two games with a 6-2, 6-0 win. Sloane Stephens the rising American star, also made it into the final eight as she had to battle her way past Monica Puig in three sets in 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Marion Bartoli, former ladies singles finalist, who has been playing her best tennis for quite some time also made it into the quarter finals by cruising past Karin Knapp in 6-2, 6-3. Petra Kvitova, the former champion, also had rediscovered her form by beating the tricky Spanish player, Carla Suarez Navarro in 7-6, 6-3. And finally Kirsten Flipkins from Belgium, made it into her first Wimbledon quarter final with a straight sets win against Flavia Pennetta in 7-6, 6-3.
Now onto the men's 4th round matches starting Novak Djokovic who took on the in form Tommy Haas, who is just outside the top 10, at the age of 35. And Nole from the start looked to be in full control as he breezed through the opening set with a double break in almost 25 minutes. In the 2nd set Haas put a bit more pressue on Novak but the Serb managed to break to win it out. In the 3rd set Novak however suffered some nerves in trying to serve it out at 5-3, allowing Haas to break back and the scores were levelled and play went to a tiebreak, but in the breaker Djokovic re-established his control and won it 7-4 to nab his quarter final place with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 scoreline. This was the first mini wobble that Djokovic has shown so far in the tournament but the No.1 player in the world, he managed to recover it very well and once he was in the breaker, he had no real problems in closing it out.
Next up Andy Murray took on another tricky grass court player, Mikhail Youhzny, whom at times pushed Andy hard in the match. In the 1st set Andy managed to get a break of serve and he took the opener, however in the 2nd set, Andy suffered a lapse of concentration on serve as Youzhny broke to take the lead. However a 5-3 with Youzhny looking to level the match at a set all, Andy seized the initiative and broke back, and play went to a tiebreak, which Andy won despite trailing 5-3 in the breaker. And in the 3rd set Andy sped to victory as he breezed his way to finish line to reach the final eight with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-1. This match saw the first dip in Andy's form in the tournament, but he did very well to recover himself and close out the match in straight sets, which sees him yet to drop a set in the tournament, so he is still looking very good at the moment. But things don't get any easier from here.
Tomas Berdych who was up against Beranrd Tomic had a much tougher test as he was pushed hard by the young Aussie, but he eventually managed to secure the win in a very tight four set contest in 3 hours, with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 score. David Ferrer, who has had quite a trying tournament so far continued to have a hard slog against his opponent, Ivan Dodig, but he finished up strong with a 4 set win of 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the last eight for the second year running. Juan Martin Del Potro also made his way safely into the quarter finals for the first time as he beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-3. Fernando Verdasco also showed his impressive form as he reached his first grand slam quarter final for some time as he beat Kenny De Schepper in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. And finally I will mention the upcoming and very dangerous big Pole, Jerzy Janowicz who was pushed the distance by the Austrian player, Jurgen Melzer as he battled his way through in 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach his first grand slam quarter final.
Janowicz is looking dangerous and he is showing impressive form so far in the tournament, and he is also in Andy's half of the draw which he could face in the semi finals, which make for a very unenviable opponent for the British No.1. And with Fernando Verdasco next up for Andy, things are still looking pretty tricky for him, even though Djokovic has Berdych next and possibly Ferrer or Del Potro in the semis, its still not easy on either side of the net for the men's top two, and there even be another twist or two yet in what has easily been the most crazy topsy turvey Wimbledon for many a year.
So that's it for now I will be back once the quarter finals are over for the men's and ladies.
Bye the now.
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