Wimbledon - June 22- July 5 Season I
The Championships
Day Nine - Fourth Round - Wimbledon
Gentlemen's Singles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Section 1 -
Section 2 -
Section 3 -
Section 4 -
Section 5 -
Section 6 -
Section 7 -
Section 8)
World number four
Sven Oxenstierna has become the third of the world's top five to bow out before the quarterfinals after a shock four-set defeat to Norway's
Kim Vollan. The unseeded monster looked completely at home on the fast surface as he surged to a first career quarterfinal with a
7-5, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 win. The scoreline probably didn't reflect the tight nature of the match as the
French Open finalist lost his way in the second set, before finding it again in the third to engage in a scrap with Vollan. It was a horror second for the CWLander as he failed to win a game; even following the match he was unable to provide answers to why he played so poorly. "Everything just went wrong," the Swedish born player said. "He played good, and I was somewhere else apparently. It was not a good day." Despite the second set brain malfunction, Oxenstierna was typically dogged as he kept Vollan to just seven aces in the other three sets; the Norwegian totalling thirteen for the match. But in a three-hour showdown, the Ox didn't have enough about him to pull off the expected win against a fired up Kim Vollan.
In another fourth round clash, ninth seed
Illya Altman also came into the match as a less-fancied player after having passed on grass tournaments in the lead up to this fortnight. Against the world's number six
Darcy Cowan, Altman was found well out of his depth as the nineteen year old wowed the crowd with his aggressive and athletic tennis against the Ukrainian. Looking to surge back into the world's top five, Cowan bagelled Altman in the first set and looked to be set for an almighty charge into the quarters at 4-1 in the second. But Altman fought back to take the set to a tiebreaker; and whilst Cowan took a two set lead, Altman showed fight. But not enough as the world number six bounced back from dropping the third set to set up a showdown with Vollan
6-0, 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4. If Cowan can manage to make it to the final, he will overtake Oxenstierna as the world's number four player.
In the other semifinal, eighth seed
József Boros will square off with world number two
Jason Hall after both also sealed four set wins. Boros ended the brave run of local hope
Henry Charles in a comfortable performance; storming out of the blocks with gusto to put a breadstick on the frustrated Brit in the first set. But with a packed centre court crowd behind him, Charles rallied to level the match at a set each and looked in a good position at 5-4 in the third. But Boros managed to pick up the break of service to steal the third from Charles, and then broke again early in the fourth set to a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Jason Hall meanwhile dropped his first set of the tournament against enigmatic Italian
Carlo Amato. Looking for his second Grand Slam quarterfinal, Hall was nervous early against an exciteable Amato. After dropping the first set, Hall took time to calm his nerves and came out looking a much more impressive player in the second set as he and Amato engaged in a series of lengthy and exciting rallies which had the packed crowd on their feet. After claiming the second thanks to an Amato double fault, Hall had all the momentum and managed to cruise to his 49th career victory
4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. Hall now moves one step closer to regaining the world's number one position; he must make the final to overtake current number one
Daniel Páez Blanco.
- Seeded players out: Illya Altman; Carlo Amato; Henry Charles; Sven Oxenstierna.
The Championships
Day Nine - Third Round - Wimbledon
Gentlemen's Doubles (
Seeds -
Finals -
Section 1 -
Section 2 -
Section 3 -
Section 4)
CWLand duo
Heath Davis and
Jojo Mustard are the last men from the new nation remaining in either draw at
The Championships after they advanced to the quarterfinals with a comfortable victory over sixth seeds
Andrej Konc and
Evgeniy Maximov. The two teams traded sets to begin with, and the third followed the pattern of the first two as some quick reflexes by Mustard at the net brought up three break points off the normally impenetrable Maximov serve. The Belarusian saved one of them, but wasn't so lucky on the second as Davis fired a winner into the back corner of the court to hand the ninth seeds a 5-4 lead. Taking the one set advantage gleefully, the CWLanders never looked back as the frustrated Belarus-Slovak pairing struggled to maintain the pressure of the first three sets as they wilted against a side quickly gaining in confidence. Davis and Mustard would advance to their first quarterfinals at a Grand Slam by avenging their third round
French Open loss to the same pair with a
6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.
They will face off against Americans
Wayne Boyd and
Morgan Carter in the third quarterfinal on Thursday after the underachieving pair finally put it together against giant Australian-Latvian duo
Davis Champion and
Ivars Emsis. After advancing in the second round through a walkover, the pair looked well rested despite dropping the opening set. Boyd's awesome reflexes at the net helped neutralise the power of Champion and Emsis, but they still could not avoid conceeding bundles of aces throughout the five set encounter. Ultimately, Champion and Emsis ran out of steam and left Boyd and Carter to pick turn the momentum of a brutal fourth set around to advance
4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Elsewhere, fourteenth seeds
Ashim and
Seby Kumar were bundled out by surprise Bulgarian packet
Ivan Genov and
Yordan Zakov. Genov and Zakov sensationally turned around a 2-6, 0-6 deficit in the second round, and continued their great form with a
6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 upset of the Indian brothers in the third. The other team to advance was Spanish seventh seeds
Ion Andueza and
Sanchez Emelio who took a hat trick of 6-4 sets against
Manfried Manz and
Walter Schiller to advance to a showdown with
Morton Blundell and
Carlos Machado,
6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
- Seeded teams out: Andrej Konc / Evgeniy Maximov; Ashim Kumar / Seby Kumar.