Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Sports » Tennis » Wimbledon 2008 » Reuters > Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Hewitt sets up Federer showdown
Get Sports updates:What's this?
Advertisement
June 27, 2008 21:47 IST

Lleyton Hewitt [Images] warmed up for a fourth-round Wimbledon date with Roger Federer [Images] by hustling past Italy's [Images] Simon Bolelli 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 on Friday.

Six to savour | Indy Pop @ Wimbledon

The Australian, the only other men's winner in the draw other than five-times champion Federer, barely broke sweat in the opening two sets on a humid afternoon as he easily outclassed Bolelli to reach the last 16 here for the fifth year running.

Hewitt made his intentions clear from the outset as he fired an ace to begin his account and ran out grinding winners from both flanks to frustrate Bolelli, who until this week had never won back-to-back matches on grass.

Bolelli finally showed some resistance in the third set, saving a match point in the 10th game, but the 2002 champion wrapped up the tiebreak 7-2 with a thunderbolt ace -- his 14th of the contest.

Federer eases past Gicquel

Earlier, Roger Federer successfully navigated the third round and the first week, steaming past French challenger Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 on Friday.

The world number one needs four more victories next week to set a modern era record of six men's titles in a row and on Friday's showing is in no mood to let the opportunity slip.

He captured the first set with a booming ace and the second, after two breaks of serve, with a screaming forehand winner.

With the 53rd-ranked Gicquel completely out of his depth, the Swiss master sailed through the third with two breaks to claim his 62nd grasscourt victory in a row.

Kuznetsova in pre-quarters

Meanwhile, Russian number four seed Svetlana Kuznetsova eased into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fiery Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova who became enraged with the slippery court.

Kuznetsova, the highest-ranked Russian after the shock exit of Maria Sharapova, played a patchy and inconsistent game but it was enough to overwhelm her opponent who is ranked 109.

The big drama came in the first set when the Czech was infuriated by the sliding court conditions, was warned for an audible obscenity and shouted "Oh My God, this is unbelievable."

The players came off court, the umpire checked the surface and told them to play on -- only for heavy rain to interrupt the match minutes later. After the break, Kuznetsova finally triumphed in a messy second set in which she twice dropped her serve.



© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
 Email this Article      Print this Article

© 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback