Sharapova gets Beat at Wimbledon

[SteveH]

Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 154 Seed,claimed a massive Wimbledon upset by knocking out number three Seed and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova in the second round.

Sharapova, 21, was way off colour on Court One, losing 2-6 4-6 to record her worst Wimbledon performance.

The 20-year-old Kudryavtseva, ranked 154th in the world, has never won a WTA tournament and is in the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.

Kudryavtseva will now play China's Peng Shuai for a place in the last 16.

[matlockk]

I'm gutted. The sight of Masha in full flow and grunting hard makes my day

[P-N]

I'm gutted. The sight of Masha in full flow and grunting hard makes my day

Likewise 

[SteveH]

Matt,Sharapova was Roaring at over 100 Decibels in her final Set.
She often "falls to pieces" for some of these games against "Fellow" Russian Girls.
She only decided to Play in the Russian Federation Tennis Tournament for the First time this Year ,so that she is Eligible to Play in this Years Olympic Games.

[SteveH]

World number one Ana Ivanovic was sent crashing out of Wimbledon in the third round by world number 133 Jie Zheng.

Ivanovic, the top seed, had survived two match points in the second round against Nathalie Dechy but paid the price for another erratic display.

The Serb struggled with her serve and her backhand was totally out of sorts.

Zheng broke at will in the first set and, although Ivanovic fought to turn things round, she continued to make errors and was thumped 6-1 6-4.

Ivanovic had been lucky to avoid defeat against Dechy, particularly when she saved one match point through a fortunate net-cord which crept over the net.

But her lack of form was completely exposed by Zheng and she had to battle in the second set to avoid complete humiliation.

The 20-year-old, who won the French Open at the start of June to reach the top of the rankings for the first time, again looked tense on Number One Court and her poor serving reflected her fragile state.

"I didn't play well," Ivanovic admitted afterwards. "But she plays very well on grass and I found it difficult adjusting to the timing of the ball.

"She has very powerful shot. She stays very low, so the balls are coming much faster through the air.

"And she was reading my serves very well. Even when I tried to kick it and bounce the ball high, she was still there on the ball."

"It was tough, I tried to hit my shots higher and get under the ball to play with speed but I was making too many mis-hits."

Zheng, who won the doubles title here in 2006 but missed the whole of the 2007 season because of an ankle injury, admitted she did not expect to win so easily.

"It was a surprise," Zheng said. "I believed I could win but I didn't think it would be in two sets, I though it would be tough and in three.

"When I got ahead, I just tried to keep going. I told myself she is a better player I had to be at the top of my game.

"She has a big serve and a big forehand but I tried to go for her backhand. She also served only so-so at first and it gave me a chance to play aggressively."


Zheng admitted she was surprised by her victory
Ivanovic started slowly and the first sign she was in trouble came as early as her second service game when a double fault saw her broken for the first time.

She had the opportunity to quickly break back but her game was already proving far too inconsistent to take advantage of the few opportunities Zheng was giving her.

And, soon after wasting the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 2-3, she quickly found herself 1-5 down after some big Zheng forehands ripped her serve to shreds.

Again, she had opportunities to reply but wasted four break points in the next game before Zheng wrapped up the set.

Ivanovic's struggles continued and she was broken again at the start of the second set with Zheng again dominant.

The Chinese player dropped her own serve immediately afterwards to give Ivanovic hope at 2-2.

But it soon became clear that another remarkable comeback from the 2007 semi-finalist was not on the cards as more double faults landed her back in trouble.

Zheng had wobbled before despatching Britain's Elena Baltacha in round two but showed no nerves on this occasion, serving out for a stunning victory.  I didn't have too much time to practice and to do all these little specific movements and things you need to in order to adjust to the grass

Ana Ivanovic

She will face Hungarian 15th seed Agnes Szavay on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals. Ivanovic's exit, together with that of third seed Maria Sharapova on Thursday evening, leaves the women's draw wide open.

She put her poor performance at the All England Club down to her failure to work hard enough on adjusting from clay to grass.

"After winning the French Open, I had a very emotional two weeks," Ivanovic explained.

"With my coaches, we cut down practice so I could recover and spend more time with myself. Next year I'll have to spend more time on court.

"I had to have some time off, so I didn't have too much time to practice and to do all these little specific movements and things you need to in order to adjust to the grass.

"From the first match on, I tried to find my game, but I felt like I was struggling a little bit.

"It took time to adjust to the grass because, especially after clay, it's a completely different game."

[SteveH]

Nadal has finished runner-up at Wimbledon for the last two years

By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon 


Second seed Rafael Nadal kept his Wimbledon campaign on track with victory over German veteran Nicolas Kiefer in the third round.

The French Open champion, seeking a first title at the All England Club, was pushed hard in the first set before coming through 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-3.

In the last 16 he will face Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Radek Stepanek.

Britain's Andy Murray is a potential quarter-final opponent for the brilliant Spaniard.

Kiefer, 30, provided a stern test for the world number two early on, serving well and forcing a tie-break before Nadal stepped up a gear on his fearsome forehand.

The German struggled to keep pace after that and he handed over a break at the start of the second set with two forehand errors.

Nadal, 22, found the form that took him to his first grass-court title at Queen's two weeks ago as he powered on.

Kiefer's only hope was the gathering darkness but, despite dropping serve late on, the Spaniard was not about to be held up overnight and won in two hours 21 minutes.

 At the end of the day, I do what I love, what I enjoy, and that's the most important thing

Rainer Schuettler

"Kiefer is a difficult opponent on every surface but especially here on a faster surface," Nadal told BBC Sport.

"He's an aggressive player with a good serve, good volleys, but I played a very good tie-break and then played well after that."

[SteveH]

By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon 


 
Murray is trying to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final

Andy Murray overcame a second-set wobble to beat former world number two Tommy Haas of Germany in the third round at Wimbledon.

The British number one, 21, came through 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 to reach the last 16 and give further evidence he could be a real contender this year.

Murray won in two hours 35 minutes on a hushed Centre Court.

He will next face eighth seed Richard Gasquet after last year's semi-finalist beat Gilles Simon 6-3 6-3 6-7 6-3.

It will be the fourth time Murray has played in the fourth round of a Grand Slam and the second at Wimbledon, following his loss to Marcos Baghdatis two years ago.

Murray and Haas had met twice before, with one win apiece, the German having got the better of their last encounter in Indian Wells earlier this year.

An experienced campaigner, the 30-year-old former Australian Open semi-finalist is ranked down at 38 after a succession of injury problems but won his first two matches in straight sets.



Murray happy to handle pressure
Things did not look good for Murray when he lost the opening six points, but the 12th seed remained calm and took advantage of his first chance in game three, chasing down a volley to send a stunning sliced backhand down the line for the break.

Another break point chance went begging in game seven but the Scot carried on where he left off in the previous round with some fine serving, and comfortably saw out the set in 32 minutes.

It was a similar story early in the second set as Murray again made the breakthrough in game three with some superb returning that left Haas struggling at the net.

A number of world-class shots followed from Murray - a drop shot followed by a lob in game six were particular highlights - and it came as a shock when Haas broke back.

Murray saved the first break point he faced in game eight with an ace out wide but put a very makeable forehand pass in the net on the second.

 I probably didn't play the best tie-break today, and in the past that might have affected me, but today it didn't

Andy Murray

It came down to a tie-break and with the score on serve after nine points, Murray hit a double fault and netted a forehand to gift a set he should have won to Haas.

The momentum was with Haas at the start of the third but the German missed a golden opportunity when he put a high backhand volley just wide on break point at 1-1, before Murray saved another with an ace.

Murray was clinging on but had seen off the danger for the moment, and Haas gave him a huge boost in the next game with a double fault and two unforced errors handing over the break.

This time the Briton managed to hold on to the advantage and serve out the set.

A superb running forehand pass down the line helped Murray to three more break points at 2-2 in the fourth and, when Haas double faulted on the third, the game was up.

Renewed confidence surged through the British number one and he was back in the form of the first set and a half, getting another break as he closed out in style.

[Carlushika]

Watch Sharapova's post match interview after that defeat! We watched the whole match - it wasn't as though Kudryavtseva played particularly well rather, the screeching Masha played a real howler!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/gXMW4FQK_3A&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/gXMW4FQK_3A&rel=1</a>

[ORDUCK]

After this series, I think I want to press my landlord for TV service!!!!! Thanks!

[Carlushika]

Sorry, Orduck! I did not wish to imply I watched the match in Ukraine for we are in UK at the moment. The good old Beeb (BBC) provdes us with blanket coverage, sometimes on two of their channels at the same time. Now that digital TV is available, there is also an option to select which match you wish to watch, sometimes from four different games.

We get about 65 to 70 channels on our Ukraine TV via cable but of these, hardly ever any live sport and certainly not Wimbledon as we were in Odessa at this time last year.

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