LONDON, 1 July 2003 — Andre Agassi joined Lleyton Hewitt on the Wimbledon scrapheap yesterday — ruining what was otherwise shaping up as a dream of a day for the American contingent at the All England Club.
Andy Roddick, the young pretender to Agassi’s crown as the king of American tennis, blasted his way past Paradorn Srichaphan to join four of his female compatriots in his quarterfinals.
But the hoped-for clean sweep failed to materialize as Agassi crashed in the fifth set under a barrage of hostile fire from the man they call the Scud, Australia’s Mark Philippoussis. The 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 win was a victory to relish for Philippoussis, who has battled back from a recurring knee injury which had threatened to end the 26-year-old’s career.
But for Agassi, now 33 and preparing for the birth of his second child with wife Steffi Graf, it was a defeat that could herald the end of any realistic chance he had of adding another Wimbledon crown to the title he won here in 1992.
Roddick, the favorite even before Agassi’s demise, dropped a service game for only the second time in the tournament.
That cost him the second set but it was to prove an isolated blemish on an otherwise flawless progression to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win and a quarterfinal against experienced Swede Jonas Bjorkman.
Despite the mounting expectations, Roddick refused to get carried away by Agassi’s exit.
“There are eight guys still left in and I’m just one of them,” the 20-year-old insisted. “That is the gameplan and I’m sticking to it.”
British tenth seed Tim Henman’s Wimbledon title dream is still alive after he beat Argentinian sixth seed David Nalbandian to reach the men’s quarterfinals. Henman saw off last year’s finalist 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-3 to book a meeting with either French 13th seed Sebastien Grosjean or Spanish third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Roger Federer, seen by many as Roddick’s main title rival, suffered a blow to his chances when his back seized up during the warm-up for his match against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez. The 21-year-old had to have on-court treatment from the trainer and said afterward he had been in pain throughout the match. That did not prevent him from claiming a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 victory but the injury must cast doubt on his ability to go all the way.
Federer, who next faces the Netherlands’ Sjeng Schalken, admitted he thought his time in this year’s tournament was up.
World number one Serena Williams led the quartet of American women into the last eight with three of the victories coming at the expense of Russian opponents.
Serena needed just 51 minutes to send Russian 15th seed Elena Dementieva packing 6-2, 6-2 on Center Court.
The win sends the defending champion into a quarterfinal clash with compatriot Jennifer Capriati, who was every bit as ruthless in her 6-3, 6-2 dismissal of Anastasia Myskina, the 10th seed and the most highly-ranked of the five Russian girls who had made it to the last 16.
With the quarterfinals scheduled for today and play disrupted by rain, Serena admitted she had been keen to get things wrapped up quickly.
“I have to play tomorrow and I’ve got a doubles match today so I definitely wanted to get it on and get it over with,” she said.
The American quartet was made up by Venus Williams, who avenged her shock French Open defeat by Vera Zvonareva, and Lindsay Davenport, who ended the surprise run of Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe 6-4, 6-1.
Venus Williams and Davenport will meet in the quarterfinals. Asked to comment on whether the strength of the new wave of Russian stars had perhaps been exaggerated, Davenport joked: “It just shows the Americans are still on top of the Russians.”
The Americans were joined in the quarters by Belgium’s twin force — Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Clijsters, the second seed, made it through before a heavy downpour forced a break in play in the early afternoon, beating doubles partner Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-2 to end Japanese interest in the women’s singles.
When the sun returned, Henin-Hardenne came out and quickly overcame former French and Australian Open champion Mary Pierce, 6-3, 6-3.
Clijsters revealed she was benefiting from the extra support she has been receiving from her boyfriend Hewitt, who has been left kicking his heels after his own first round exit from the tournament. “It’s nice to have him around,” she said. “He definitely helping me and its always nice to have him there.”
Serena, who is bidding for a fifth Grand Slam title in six events, looked like she might set a new record for the quickest ever victory on centre court as she romped into a 4-0 lead in just nine minutes.
But then her hitting became somewhat erratic and Dementieva was briefly able to get into the match although her resistance served only to slightly delay the inevitable.
Davenport’s victory over Asagoe was an equally one-sided mismatch in terms of power. But the Japanese girl, who turned 27 on Saturday, will leave Wimbledon happy after reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, accounting for 9th seed Daniela Hantuchova along the way.
It was the sixth straight year that Venus Williams, bidding to add a third Wimbledon crown to her 2000 and 2001 titles at the All England club, had reached the quarterfinals and she has yet to drop a set here.
Ominously for Davenport, there has not been the slightest hint of Venus being constrained by the abdominal muscle injury, which contributed to her defeat by Zvonareva at the same stage in Paris a month ago.
Russia will have at least one representative in the last eight — Svetlana Kuznetsova emerged victorious from an all-Russian clash with 16-year-old Maria Sharapova and will face Henin-Hardenne in the quarters. Clijsters will face Italy’s Silvia Farina Elia in her quarterfinal.
