Out With the Old, In With the New

Wimbledon Review

British tennis may have seen a changing of the guard on the fourth day of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships with perennial contender Tim Henman getting bundled out of the tournament, while 18-year old Andrew Murray produced a massive upset to win through to the third round.

Playing in his first ever Grand Slam event Murray showed all and sundry that he will be a force to be reckoned with both now and in the future as he totally dismantled Czech no.14 seed Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Henman on the other hand frustrated his fans yet again making his earliest exit at Wimbledon since 1995 going down 3-6 6-2 3-6 6-3 8-6 to Russian world no.152 Dmitry Tursunov.

The veteran Brit saved match points in the 10th game of the final set, but finally succumbed a few games later much to the capacity centre court crowd’s chagrin.

"Having got myself back into it and not to come out with a win, it's tough to take," said Henman after the match.

“But you've got to give him a lot of credit. I certainly didn't play badly today."

Henman wasn’t the only big name to fall on day four as Spanish teen sensation Rafael Nadal was convincingly beaten by Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4.

The French Open champion had no complaints though afterwards crediting his opponent for a great match.

“I think he played a very good match. Today he served very at a good level all the time He played better than me today. That happens.”

Two time semi finalist, Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean, made a smooth entry into the third round with a simple 6-3 6-4 6-2 over Romanian Victor Hanescu, while his young compatriot Richard Gasquet also moved through after defeating Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer in four tough sets 7-6(7) 7-6(3) 6-7 (3) 6-2.

Argentinean pair Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian also had wins to get through to the next round with Coria winning a hard fought five setter against flamboyant Belgian Xavier Malisse 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-7 (3) 6-4, while Nalbandian had a much easier match cruising past Slovak Karol Kucera 6-2 6-4 6-3.

Russian glamour girl Maria Sharapova continued her defence of the 2004 crown in impressive style yet again smashing Bulgarian youngster Sesil Karatancheva 6-0 6-1.

Her opponent in last year’s final, Serena Williams, struggled with an ankle problem for the second match in a row losing the first set before recovering to pick up the victory 2-6 6-3 6-2 against Italian Mara Santangelo.

“I was feeling a little problem in my left leg in the beginning, but I got a second wind in the third set, so I just think I'm just fighting on adrenaline. I'm not in the best shape as I would prefer to be, as I have been in the past,” said Williams in her post match press conference.

William’s sister Venus finished off the Aussie women’s charge at the All England Club as she defeated a gallant Nicole Pratt 7-5 6-3.

Wayne Arthurs was the only other Australian in action on day four and he suffered a heart breaking five set defeat at the hands of German Alexander Popp 6-3 6-7 (4) 3-6 7-6 (4) 14-12.

Arthurs had two match points late in the fifth set, but the unseeded German saved both to stay alive and then in the 25th game played some stunning shots to get the vital break before comfortably holding his serve to win the match.

“Yeah, it's very frustrating to lose 14﷓12 in the fifth set. Just obviously didn't play the big points well enough today, and he took his opportunity when I gave it to him in the 25th game,” said an obviously disappointed Arthurs after the match.

Day Four Results

Men Second Round:

Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) bt 4-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4
Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) bt 6-Tim Henman (Great Britain) 3-6 6-2 3-6 6-3 8-6
9-Sebastian Grosjean (France) bt Victor Hanescu (Romania) 6-3 6-4 6-2
12-Thomas Johansson (Sweden) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-4 7-6 (4)
Andrew Murray (Great Britain) bt 14-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-4 6-4
15-Guillermo Coria (Argentina) bt Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-7 (3) 6-4
18-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 6-2 6-4 6-3
27-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Gilles Elseneer (Belgium) 7-6(7) 7-6(3) 6-7 (3) 6-2
28-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 1-6 6-4 7-6 (4) 7-3
Max Mirnyi (Belarus) bt 33-Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 7-6 (4) 6-2 7-6 (3)
Alexander Popp (Germany) bt Wayne Arthurs (Australia) 6-3 6-7 (4) 3-6 7-6 (4) 14-12
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 3-6 3-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (3) 6-4
Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3
Jurgen Melzer (Austria) bt Alex Calatrava (Spain) 6-4 6-4 6-1
Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (Taipei) 2-6 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5

Women Second Round:

2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Sesil Karatancheva (Bulgaria) 6-0 6-1
4-Serena Williams (USA) bt Mara Santangelo (Italy) 2-6 6-3 6-2
8-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Severine Beltrame (France) 6-1 6-2
Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) bt 11-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 1-6 6-4 6-3
12-Mary Pierce (France) bt Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) 4-6 7-6 (7) 9-7
14-Venus Williams (USA) bt Nicole Pratt (Australia) 7-5 6-3
16-Nathalie Dechy (France) bt Jane O'Donoghue (Great Britain) 6-2 6-1
19-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt Stephanie Foretz (France) 6-4 6-3
20-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Shahar Peer (Israel) 6-2 2-6 6-3
26-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-2 6-4
Jill Craybas (USA) bt 29-Marion Bartoli (France) 6-1 6-4
Cara Black (Zimbabwe) bt 32-Virginie Razzano (France) 6-4 7-6 (5)
Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Laura Granville (USA) 6-2 6-0
Katarina Srebotnik (Slovakia) bt Yoon Jeong Cho (Korea) 7-6 6-4
Alyona Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Tatiana Panova (Russia) 6-3 2-6 6-3
Conchita Martinez (Spain) bt Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) 6-2 6-3

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