Doubles wrap after double trap

In the singles draw, Americans Andy Roddick and Venus Williams joined men’s top seed Roger Federer in the favourites’ exodus. Men’s second seed Roddick and Williams, the 2000 Olympic women’s singles and doubles champion, both lost in third-round upsets a day after Swiss world number one Federer was beaten by a Czech teenager in the second round.

However, the top three women’s seeds — Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, France’s Amelie Mauresmo and Russian Anastasia Myskina — all advanced to the last eight.

Williams’s 6-4 6-4 defeat by France’s Mary Pierce on Court One meant the Americans have no representatives in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles after Chanda Rubin and Lisa Raymond also lost in the third round on Wednesday. ‘‘Obviously I would have liked to have done better. I just have to learn from my mistakes’’, said a jaded-looking Williams.

Martina Navratilova, old enough to be the mother of most of her team mates at 47, is now shouldering the U.S. women’s medal hopes with Raymond in the doubles.

U.S. Open champion Roddick lost 6-4 6-4 to talented but often erratic Chilean Fernando Gonzalez on centre court. ‘‘You have to tip your hat to Fernando’’, Roddick said. ‘‘I’m gutted right now. It’s not every day we get to play this. You can’t say ‘next year’.’’

His defeat left number three Carlos Moya of Spain as the only survivor from the top seven seeds in the men’s singles. Moya flirted with defeat himself before claiming a 4-6 7-6 6-4 victory over towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

Like Federer, who lost in three sets to Czech Tomas Berdych on Tuesday, the American looked out of sorts on the fast blue hardcourt and Gonzalez fully deserved one his finest career victories.

World number one Henin-Hardenne needed only 45 minutes to defeat Australia’s Nicole Pratt 6-1 6-0.