Wimbledon 2010 Overview: The route to Round 4
Wimbledon 2010 has entered into the hotly contested matches of Round 3 as world number one Rafael Nadal faced his toughest challenge in the tournament thus far. During his match on Saturday, the champion suffered from a knee problem against German Philipp Petzschner. Despite the struggle, Nadal beat him in the fifth set with a score line of 6-4, 4-6, 6-7, 6-2 and 6-3. Nadal has now moved on to the next round and is showing his intent to retain his crown. Nadal was unable to stop the big man’s shots all over the court. After the match ended, Nadal visited his physician to consult for his knee. Nadal clarified later to the media that he is in a better situation to play in the rest of the tournament.
Nadal told that the reason why he suffered a knee injury was due to excessive tennis. Nadal said that it becomes tough to compete in back-to-back in five set matches in two days. During his match on Monday, Nadal was totally confident that he will do well in the court and will seal his victory. Nadal would compete against Frenchmen Paul-Henri Mathieu in the next round of Wimbledon. It is expected that Nadal will not be able to compete in the Davis Cup for Spain due to his knee problem which has been disturbing him for several months. During the match against Philipp, Nadal was cautioned by umpire Cedric Mourier for taking advice from his coach. Nadal on receiving the warning became angry and even shouted back at the umpire. That was a poor display of sportsmanship by the world number one. Nadal later said that he wasn’t receiving any help from his coach but was just getting some support from him. Nadal at last ended the five set game winning the last set with a thumping 6-2 score. Earlier in the tournament, Nadal was taken to five sets against Dutch tennis ace Robin Haase in the second round.
In the women’s corner, defending champion Serena Williams easily succeeded against Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets. Serena served 19 aces against the world number 46 and will now face Russia’s Maria Sharapova in the fourth round. Williams will face her toughest challenge against the Russian; she previously lost against her in the 2004 Wimbledon semi-final. Serena overpowered Dominika and closed the set 6-0 and 7-5. Williams won 37 out of 43 service points against Cibulkova and made it impossible for the Slovakian to respond back. The first set between the two lasted for only 18 minutes as Williams dominated the set and served six aces. Williams looked in top form during the match as she sealed the first set 6-0. As the second set started, Cibulkova made a comeback by winning the second game of the set. Cibulkova tried to keep herself on top of the game but was not able to hold on Serena’s strong serves. She lost the second set 7-5 after a competitive battle. Williams is working on winning her fourth Wimbledon title this year. The defending champion will be looking to take his come back on Monday from Sharapova as she previously lost her match from the Russian.
Maria Sharapova in her third round match defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of Czech Republic with a score of 7-5 and 6-3. The former number 1 was not in her top form against the Czech and played a couple of errors and double faults. Sharapova is looking to win her second Wimbledon title this year. Even though Williams defeated all her first three rounds opponents with ease, she still thinks Williams is not putting in her best performances as compared to last year. Both the players are looking forward to their match on Monday and will try their best to thrash each other and to qualify for the quarter-finals. Other players who can qualify for the fourth round include Danish player Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Andy Murray, Sam Querrey, Robin Soderling and Roger Federer.
Andy Murray, the British number 1 defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon in the third round with a score of 6-1, 6-4 and 6-4. Murray will now compete against Sam Austin Querrey in the fourth round. The Scot will look to win his first Grand Slam win of the year.
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