Wimbledon Update: Day 5 ends – Top seeds Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, Hewitt, Henin, Venus and Clijsters all sail into second week
Smarting from the longest match ever in the history of tennis American John Isner crashed out of the Wimbledon tennis championship as he was simply too exhausted to put up any semblance of a fight crashing to an ignominious straight set defeat at the hands of Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker.
John Isner’s epic first-round match lasted an incredible 11 hours and five minutes, with the final set being won by the American 70-68, it was easily the longest ever set in the history of tennis, and understandably Isner had hardly anything left in the tank as he went down in straight sets simply steamrolled by his opponent.
The American was beaten inside 74 minutes by the Dutchman in what went down as one of the most one-sided matches in the tournament, ironically for a player coming straight from one of the greatest matches of all times.
Isner, who was in incredible form in the match again Mahut lost his first four service games in his second-round match at the All England Club, before he required a medical timeout for treatment to his neck and shoulders.
De Bakker powered to a win in the first set 6-0 and seemed weary and off the pace throughout his vigil, which luckily for him lasted only 74 minutes
He was eventually put off his agony by his Dutch opponent who won with incredible ease as suggested by the score line of 6-0 6-3 6-2.
After the match Isner summed up his plight saying: "I was just low on fuel out there, so I didn't really have a chance."
Meanwhile there was plenty of action on the women’s side of the draw too as Belgian duo of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters set up an intriguing fourth-round collision.
The two former world No.1’s bulldozed through their third round matches against two otherwise gritty Russian opponents.
Clijsters, who won the US open in a dramatic fashion last year crushed Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-3 while on the other hand Henin, making an appearance in the tournament for the first time since 2007, defeated 12th seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-4.
After the match Henin claimed that she was eagerly awaiting her contest against Clijsters.
"It's a great opportunity for both of us to play each other again in a Grand Slam and it's something we wouldn't expect a year ago, it's going to be interesting, very exciting," she said.
Over in the men’s side third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia cruised past Spain’s Albert Montanes 6-1 6-4 6-4 to book a place in the fourth round of the only grass court grand slam event.
Djokovic is set to play former champion Lleyton Hewitt from Australia which will be tough and he was looking forward to a couple of days off to work on his game.
The Australian saved three set points in the second set tiebreak on his way to a 6-3 7-6 6-4 victory.
Hewitt thought that his opponent was extremely tough to beat, and he was lucky to escape through to the next round with relative ease: "Yes, he hits all the spots extremely well and that's what makes it tough on a grass court but I felt like I played well out there today."
Five-time champion Venus Williams from United Stated also cruised to the next round with relative ease against Russian 26th seed Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-2 in the third round.
The finalist from last year’s event, sixth seed Andy Roddick, came through a tough encounter, when his ever reliable serve helped him record a 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-3 victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Their was some respite for the man, seeking a record equalling seventh title, Roger Federer, who came through two extremely tough opening matches to record a 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement.
Tags: