FRIDAY, JUNE 27- Before the top half of the draw had settled into sorting out just who was going to challenge the Andy’s – Murray and Roddick – for spots in the semifinals, the bottom half still has some work to do when Tommy Haas and Marin Cilic had to finish off their five setter from Friday evening. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, the Germany veteran kept enough backhand slices low, enough forehands deep and plenty of serves swerving and came away with a tremendous 7-5, 7-5 1-6, 6-7(3), 10-8 victory.
Unlike in Paris, when Haas let a two sets to love lead slip away against Roger Federer, this time, he kept his head about him. But that doesn’t mean that he enjoys the five set marathon.
“It has never happened to me that we stopped playing at six-all in the fifth,” said Haas, who will face Igor Andreev in the fourth round. “We should have a tiebreak at six-all in the fifth like in the U.S. Open. All the Grand Slams should have this, that’s my personal opinion. When you’ve played so much tennis… it’s really draining.
Haas is confident of finally reaching the Wimbledon quarters for the first time, as he has now won eight matches in a row following his win at in Halle.
“Winning a title again in Halle, Germany, is obviously a dream come true for me in some ways to do it on home turf,” said the 31-year-old. “Also winning (titles) now on all four surfaces is a great accomplishment in my career. So you kind of want to keep going.”
It’s fairly remarkable that Andreev, who loves clay and is a ho-hum player on hardcourts, has gotten this far, but he beat another dirt-lover, Andreas Seppi, 6-1, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5).
But really, this side of the draw is about the Andy’s, the British one who took a resounding 6-2 6-3 6-4 victory over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, and the American one who stood strong and survived Juergen Melzer 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3.
Roddick will face a much less mentally tough, but extremely talented player in Tomas Berdych, who blitzed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Roddick and Berdych have split four matches, but have never played on grass. Roddick has reached four Slam finals, while the Czech has only reached one quarter, at Wimbledon two years ago when he fell to Rafa Nadal.
“He likes the grass, as well,” Berdych said. “But I think it’s a good chance for me. It’s going to be really about the serve, because if I can stay with him, until the tiebreak or really close games, then some other things can show in the game. Nerves, whatever. So that’s the really important thing. Because if one of us is going to be ahead in the beginning of the set, then he’s going to be really up and he’s going to be confident. I will try my best to stay with him on serve, and in tiebreak you never know. Could be one point, two points and you can be set up, set down, you never know. So I think that’s going to be some kind of tactic.”
Roddick is well aware of hot Berdych can get, and how cold he can be. The American won their biggest matches – at the US Open and at Davis Cup, so he’s showed himself to be a much better pressure player. Patience will be key.
“He’s got weapons,” Roddick said. “On a surface like this, he likes the ball in his pocket. Here it stays low enough to where he can get a comfortable hit on it most times. He has stuff that you have to deal with. There’s going to be times during the match where it’s going to be out of my hands. He can serve big. He’s going to hit big from the baseline. It’s just a matter of trying to weather what he’s bringing.”
Murray will play Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who ended the hopes of American Jesse Levine 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, and although Stan is a very entertaining player to watch from the baseline, Murray has played lights out in his last two matches and will again be a substantial favorite.
The veterans have done quite well here and on Monday, two men who have been through war after war, Lleyton Hewitt and Radek Stepanek will face off.
Former champ Hewitt bested Philipp Petzschner 7-5 7-6(3) 6-3, while Radek Stepanek nearly collapsed in his 7-5, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6 6-4 win over David Ferrer. Stepanek will approach the net more and try to mix it up, while Hewitt will attempt to pull the Czech around until his legs cave. Both men can be cantankerous, so don’t expect a lot of love out there, but do expect a series of mind-bending rallies.
Almost out of nowhere on grass, Gilles Simon of France beat Victor Hanescu 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 and will face the winner of the contest between JC Ferrero and Fernando Gonzalez. Regardless of who is favored to come through and whether they fall early or not, France always seem too have a man in the second week. Same goes with Spain these days, no?
From TennisReporters.net
