Saturday 25th June 2011 – A beautiful day for tennis

The rain stayed away from Wimbledon today and allowed some spectacular tennis to take place. There was a match of epic proportions on Centre Court as Novak Djokovic showed his first sign of weakness has he struggled against Marcus Baghdatis. The Serbian did power through to win 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 but it was not at all easy.

The No.2 seed started well getting a break to win the first set but then the Cypriot gained the backing of large sections of the crowd. He improved his game and won the set, which caused Djokovic to smash up his racquet in anger. This venting of frustration helped Djokovic and he eventually struggled through to set up at fourth round tie against 19th seed Michael Llodra.
Roger Federer had a far more comfortable win over David Nalbandian. Federer won through 6-4 6-2 6-4 but Nalbandian did show glimpses of his ability. The Argentine had to have treatment several times on a problematic thigh which hampered any chance of him proving a serious threat. Federer now faces Mikhail Youzhny in the last 16.

There was a shock departure for fifth seed Robin Soderling who was beaten by the 18 year old Australian Bernard Tomic. Soderling suffered from dizziness and complained of feeling sick which clearly hampered his performance as Tomic won through in straight sets. Next up for the youngster is Xavier Malisse who beat 11th seed Jurgen Melzer.

Juan Martin Del Potro will be Rafael Nadal’s opponent in the fourth round after both players won their games which were interrupted by the rain yesterday. Also through is Tomas Berdych who will face 10th seed Mardy Fish and David Ferrer who will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

In the women’s draw Serena Williams beat Maria Kirilenko in what was a much easier game for the American. Williams seems to be definitely improving as the tournament progresses and will now face 9th seed and Eastbourne champion Marion Bartoli.

There was a shock departure for Francesca Schiavone as she was beaten by unseeded Tamira Paszek. The match which continued over from yesterday went to 11-9 in the final set and was an entertaining match for the crowd.

Also through to the fourth round is Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki and Sabine Lisicki. Lisicki, who had already beaten 3rd seed Li Na in the second round, managed another win over Misaki Doi and will now face Petra Cetkovska.

In the doubles matches there wasn’t much look for the British. Delgado and Marray lost out in the second round and the women’s pairs of Rae and Watson along with Keothavong and Robson also lost their matches. In the mixed doubles there was more luck with four of the five British pairs making it through.

Tomorrow the players have the luxury of a day off but on Monday we have the delights of the fourth round to look forward to.

Image source - flickr