Sublime Serena
Dumps defending champion Kvitova 6-3 7-5 to make the semis; Murray in last eight
The sounds were new to Serena Williams,and the feeling on Centre Court was different. The result,though,was quite familiar.
Playing under the retractable roof for the first time on the court where shes had some of her biggest triumphs,Williams eliminated defending champion Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-5 to reach her eighth Wimbledon semifinal on Tuesday. I loved it. I loved the sound, Williams said. The sound of the balls. Its kind of like a whoosh and a pop. Its really cool. Its almost like a video game,but youre playing. It kind of flies through and you hear it when it lands…I really like playing indoor.
Her game seems well suited for it as well. While rain disrupted play elsewhere at the All England Club,Williams used another commanding serving performance to overpower the fourth-seeded Czech in 1 hour,24 minutes. Williams hit 13 aces including three in the last game to end Kvitovas 11-match winning streak at Wimbledon. Her last loss here also came against Williams,in the 2010 semifinals. You cant play a defending Wimbledon champion or Grand Slam champion and not elevate your game, Williams said. I had to weed out the riffraff and just get serious.
The four-time champion seized control by breaking Kvitova for 4-2 in the first set and then never gave her opponent a chance to get back in the match. She saved a set point when trailing 5-4 in the second with a hard serve down the middle that Kvitova could return only into the net. That was the only break point the defending champion earned,as Williams won 86 percent of the points on her first serve. I think thats why shes the great champion,because she knows what she needs to play in the important points, Kvitova said. Its really tough to beat her.
Williams,who hit a Wimbledon-record 23 aces in a fourth-round win over Zheng Jie of China,is trying to become the first woman over 30 to win a Grand Slam title since Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon in 1990. She will next face either second-ranked Victoria Azarenka or Tamira Paszek of Austria.
Start-stop play
Outside Centre Court,it was a start-and-stop day at Wimbledon,as showers continued to cause headaches for organisers. Play was delayed for about 30 minutes on the outside courts in the morning,and two more rain delays interrupted play for a total of about three hours after that. Andy Murray and Florian Mayer still found enough time between the showers to wrap up suspended matches and reach the quarterfinals. In another fourth-round match that was suspended on Monday,Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame an ailing back and a one-set deficit to beat American Mardy Fish 4-6 7-6 4 6-4 6-4.
David Ferrer also advanced in the first match on Centre Court,where organisers again came under scrutiny for their use of the retractable roof. Their decision to open and then close it caused the start of Ferrers match against Juan Martin del Potro to be delayed by about 40 minutes. Ferrer needed less than two hours to beat del Potro 6-3 6-2 6-3.
Murray made the last eight for the fifth straight year by beating the 16th-seeded Marin Cilic 7-5 6-2 6-3 while Mayer ousted Richard Gasquet of France 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-2. American qualifier Brian Bakers remarkable run ended with a 6-1 7-6 4 6-3 loss to 27th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. We stopped,obviously,a lot, Murray said. Youre always a little bit edgy when you come out after a rain delay when you have the momentum with you. You stop,and then you come back out,and it feels a bit like you start from scratch again. I needed to serve well today and I got a lot of free points that helped me out.
The 126th-ranked Baker was trying to become the third American qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club. He was playing in Wimbledons main draw for the first time after being off the tour for more than five years because of a series of operations,one on his right elbow. He was ranked 458th at the start of 2012 and will next week rise inside the top 100. Its been an unbelievable run, Baker said.
Bhupathi,Leander out Indian challenge ended in the men’s doubles event of the Wimbledon Championships as Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek and the pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna suffered defeats. While fourth seeds Paes-Stepanek were stunned 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-62 6-8 by Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo,Bhupathi-Bopanna lost 5-7 6-7 3 3-6 sets to Mikhael Elgin and Denis Istomin.
Paes is still in the fray as he is playing in the second round of the mixed doubles,partnering Elena Vesnina.
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