LONDON, 28 June 2003 — Andy Roddick and Venus Williams had the Stars and Stripes flying proudly over Center Court as the two Americans powered into the fourth round at Wimbledon yesterday.
Barely an hour after Roddick had qualified for the last 16 of the men’s singles for the first time, Venus had joined him at the same stage of the women’s with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Russia’s Nadia Petrova.
The fourth seed, champion here in 2000 and 2001 before being dethroned last year by sister Serena, will now get her chance to avenge her fourth round defeat at the French Open by Petrova’s compatriot, Vera Zvonareva.
Roddick meanwhile was in bullish mood after his third straight sets victory of the tournament, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3 dismissal of Spanish claycourter Tommy Robredo.
The win sets up an exciting fourth round clash between Roddick and Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.
Paradorn advanced by ending the hopes of Spain’s Rafael Nadal. After having to battle through five sets in his first two matches, Asia’s top male player hit the ground running against the Spanish left-hander, securing a break in the first game of the match.
He then went on to complete a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to the delight of the numerous Thai fans who had managed to get hold of tickets for the number one showcourt.
Croatian giant-killer Ivo Karlovic, who spectacularly defeated top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, lost his battle of the giants with Max Mirnyi.
In probably the tallest ever match at the championships, 1m96 (6’5”) Belarus doubles master Mirnyi defeated the 2m08 (6’10”) Croat 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to set up a fourth round tie with Swede Jonas Bjorkman. Bjorkman got a welcome victory for Sweden as he took out Justin Gimelstob 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to win his 15th Wimbledon match and recover further after last year’s first-round knockout by eventual winner Lleyton Hewitt.
Sjeng Schalken proved there is still life in Dutch tennis following the injury-enforced retirement of Richard Krajicek when he became the first man into the last 16 of the men’s singles. The Dutch eighth seed, a quarterfinalist here last year, cruised to a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win over Romanian Victor Hanescu, a lucky loser from the qualifying tournament.
Schalken now plays ninth seed Rainer Schuettler, who finally killed off the dogged resistance of American Todd Martin 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 7-5.
In the women’s singles, Venus Williams was joined in the last 16 by Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport, both of whom face Japanese opponents in the next round.
Clijsters wrecked Samantha Reeves’ Wimbledon hopes for a second year in a row, beating the American 6-1, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Clijsters will take on Japanese No. 1 Ai Sugiyama, who equaled her best performance at Wimbledon by advancing to the fourth round with a straight sets victory over Nathalie Dechy of France.
Davenport, firmly putting injury worries behind her, coasted into the fourth round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Zimbabwe’s Cara Black.
The fifth seed, who recovered from knee surgery and then had to contend with an injured toe, has not dropped a set so far in the tournament and she was delighted with her improving form. “I do feel like I’m hitting my spots well,” she said after the bloodless victory on a blustery court number two.
Shinobu Asagoe had never been beyond the second round of any Grand Slam before but, after eliminating ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova in the last round, she continued her progress here with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
