Wimbledon - View from the courts: Day seven
Eurosport - Mon, 29 Jun 23:26:00 2009
Reaction from the key protagonists on a busy day of fourth-round action at Wimbledon.
Ana Ivanovic departs Wimbledon in tears after sustaining an injury to her left thigh at the start of the second set against Venus Williams: "I felt a sharp pain in my inner thigh and I couldn't stand. Over the past few days I have felt muscle tightness but that's normal after playing so much on grass."
Williams, who has been playing with heavy strapping to her left knee, says that no injury will stop her playing as she bids to win a third straight Wimbledon title: "I think she (Ivanovic) was in a lot of pain. I'm one of those players who only pays attention to what's going on on my side of the net. But today I felt really sad for her actually. This is Wimbledon, it doesn't matter how much pain I'm in. I'm going to keep playing. She (Ivanovic) didn't have a lot of opportunities in that first set and not because she wasn't playing well. I think I was just on top of the ball."
Tommy Haas is delighted to make the "elite eight club" for the first time at Wimbledon after beating Igor Andreev in the fourth round: "If you'd told me maybe even two months ago that I was gonna get to the quarters of Wimbledon, playing at this level now, I'm not sure I would have believed it. This is so far a fantastic run no matter what happens from here on out. I'm really happy and pleased to make it to the 'elite eight club', or whatever you call it here. So that's really nice."
Serena Williams sends a warning to her rivals after blasting past Daniela Hantuchova for the loss of just four games: "I feel like I definitely need to step it up, play better, really start playing some great tennis, or go home. And I don't want to go home, so I feel like, you know, I'm just getting more serious."
Roger Federer reveals his surprise at Robin Soderling's tactics during their fourth round clash: "Today was really a serving contest, there weren't many rallies so it's hard to judge these kind of matches. I was expecting more baseline play today. He's got nothing to lose. Grass is more dangerous than clay, that's why I knew there was danger all over. If I was able to serve well and play well, I knew I had a good chance, because I've got some confidence against him."
Robin Soderling is not happy about being reminded of his 11-0 losing record against Federer but believes he could beat the world number two if they switched sports: "Thanks for reminding me. I lost in straight sets but I think deserved maybe a better ending. I think I will beat him in a marathon, easy. I'm pretty good at marathon. I'm a strong guy."
Sabine Lisicki gives her version of the spat between her and opponent Caroline Wozniacki during their fourth round clash: "We'd been changing sides the whole match. I was always passing on the left side and she was passing on the right side. She all of a sudden went to the side I was passing all the time, and we just bumped each other. It was no big deal for me. She was discussing it with the umpire. I was just focusing on the next game."
Lleyton Hewitt is delighted to have won the "battle of the crocks" against Czech 23rd seed Radek Stepanek and pays tribute to his vociferous crowd support: "I had to dig deep out there. It is great to be back in the quarter-finals at my favourite Grand Slam. It's an awesome feeling. I had a small strain," Hewitt said of his injury time-out. I was struggling to move. I had to play with a bit of pain. It's like playing a Davis Cup tie out there. They slept out all night (in the queue). I owe them a few beers."
American 17-year-old Melanie Oudin believes her run to the fourth round justifies her choice of career: "I'm disappointed that I lost today. But I'm very proud of myself how I did here. Now I know that I can play with these girls and this is what I want to do and this is what I want to be. I believe that I can beat a lot of these girls and I belong here. That's the key thing for me I think, believing that now. I've just loved it. Even losing today, I think that I've learned a lot from this experience and I'm just going to keep working hard and keep going."
Novak Djokovic is confident he can gain revenge over Tommy Haas when they meet in the quarter-finals after losing to the German in the Halle final earlier this month: "I hadn't felt comfortable on the court at all in that final. I was still getting used to grass and the movements, the way I should play. Here it is a different story, I've already played really well in the last two, three matches so I'm quite confident. Right now physically and mentally I'm in the right direction."
Dinara Safina becomes the first to play under the new Centre Court roof after light rain interrupted her match with Amelie Mauresmo: "It was really nice atmosphere to play under the roof, because somehow you feel a little bit more the crowd. Even the crowd also wanted the roof, so it was like unbelievable atmosphere on the court. I didn't have any problems, you know, to adjust. I felt pretty comfortable. She pushed me to play my best tennis. I'm feeling pretty good... enjoying it more and more playing on grass."
India's Prakash Amritraj plans to continue his partnership with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the future after reaching the third round of the men's doubles: "I'm glad we had these two weeks as a team. I think we should take this partnership forward and we're definitely a team to be reckoned with."
Ivo Karlovic after serving 35 aces against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, taking his tally to a whopping 137 in the first four rounds of Wimbledon this year: "Yeah, I mean, on my serve I was feeling good. In the last tiebreaker, he returned a few serves unbelievably but other than that, I was feeling good on my serve."
Andy Roddick reveals the reason behind his run to the quarter-finals - he is having fun: "I'm having so much fun... I love playing here, it's an honour and something that is never lost on me. That's the best I have played so far. I was really aggressive, I did a good job of moving the ball around. I was kind of in control of it the whole way... overall it was a pretty good performance. I know that so far I'm happy with the way I've been going here. That's probably my concern. I have loads of respect for Lleyton (Hewitt), you know, what he's been able to accomplish. Everyone knows he's certainly capable of playing very, very, very well on this surface."
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Comment 1 - 15 of 15
Sorry but i think Karlovic is the guy who will just stop serving when it’s most needed ! I can bet that his serve will be way less precise against Federer.. Many tennis players are just afraid of him way to much ! I hope I’m wrong, I would love to see he kick Fed`s @#$% ;-) but this guy showed many many times so far that simply doesn’t have guts to fight with Federer.. serving impressive until, and then just flips !
again I hope he grow up finally (even in 30 ;-), because we saw flawless serving against Tsonga and Verdasco.. also his volleying improved significantly... this gives people right to think he is finally ready for Federer.. I think opposite, and surely his tennis is not nice one to watch !
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Watching any sport in front empty stadiums whether it's tennis, football, cricket or anything is just plain boring and it's time the WTA started looking at the numbers at matches, not TV ratings; Wimbledon's fine you Brits are tennis crazy God knows why you've been loyal to the sport for so many years, living in dreamland I suppose. but I visited Roland Garros and the outside courts were like a morgue even the show courts didn't fill up until the later stages. I leave court-side when the women start grunting like pigs or squealing like banshee's and I know others who won't attend matches for this reason. The TV companies mute the sound so armchair viewers think it's not to bad, but court-side it's a problem and if spectators stop going there will be no atmosphere and TV viewers will stop watching. Come on WTA think of the fans, curb this unnecessary din, in some cases it's cheating or gamesmanship at best. Think of the fans give our ears a rest.
Watching any sport in front empty stadiums whether it's tennis, football, cricket or anything is just plain boring and it's time the WTA started looking at the numbers at matches, not TV ratings; Wimbledon's fine you Brits are tennis crazy God knows why you've been loyal to the sport for so many years, living in dreamland I suppose. but I visited Roland Garros and the outside courts were like a morgue even the show courts didn't fill up until the later stages. I leave court-side when the women start grunting like pigs or squealing like banshee's and I know others who won't attend matches for this reason. The TV companies mute the sound so armchair viewers think it's not to bad, but court-side it's a problem and if spectators stop going there will be no atmosphere and TV viewers will stop watching. Come on WTA think of the fans, curb this unnecessary din, in some cases it's cheating or gamesmanship at best. Think of the fans give our ears a rest.
Stephen, ive watched a lot of feds game, when his tight he has the tendency to over cook his shot...meaning too strong that it goes beyond the baseline.
youre too slow brother...its all the same banana ive ranting about.
Well now you're making more sense! I agree that Karlovic has a big chance in tiebreaks because of his serve. I agree that players get slightly more cautious in breakers. But Federer doesn't tighten up more than any other player. I think he plays better than most in them despite the obvious cautious nature of them. That's all I'm saying.
It isnt a perfect example for the very reason that Nadal is not a serve and volley player. Ivo Karlovic primary weapon is his serve and service counts a lot on tie breaks...as simple as that. Two types of player that can take a set or deafeat Fed are the excellent baseline defenders and the strong servers with decent net game. Ivo Karlovic belongs to the later and thats is why when the game reaches a tie break he has a big chance. On grass, big servers are more favored to win than the baseliners. Rafa Nadals is more superior on the baseline than Fed thats why he won. Rafas service wasnt much of a factor in that win that is why he lost the tie breaks to Fed. As i have said, for other players specially big servers to get a shot at Fed, all they have to do is to protect and hold their service and force Fed to a tie breaker. Fed or any player for the same matter becomes more cautious and by being such, more often than not, their game is altered. Even Rafa himself has a good tie break record against Fed.
bravo venus! that comment was very sincere and humble.
Look here! There's no need to get personal. You can't use one instance as absolute proof that Federer tightens up in tiebreaks when I can use many to prove that he doesn't. I will count the game against Nadal because we're talking about Federer's performances in tiebreaks so it's a perfect example regardless of the final outcome of the match which was not decided on a tiebreak. I don't think you should start insulting me for no reason.
Karlovics only win against Fed was from two tie breaks....dont count that Feds finals match with Rafa. Fed wasnt the victor of that match...if you are a Feds true fan you should know what type of players can defeat him. Ivos game is one that can or may cause an upset to Fed. You didnt prove anything right dude. What i have proven was that you are merely a tennis fan and not a tennis player.
Ray V I have corrected you on that before! Federer loves tie breaks! Why do you keep insisting that he "tightens up" during them? How much more seasoned can you get than Rafeal Nadal against whom he won two breakers last year. What you're saying is crazy and there is plenty of proof to prove it wrong!
Soderling was betrayed by his service on very important occations...as i have mentioned Fed will be tentative when the games are forced into tie breaks and he showed some signs today. But Soderling appeared to be more nervous than his opponent. I wander how Fed will handle the same situation to a more seasoned opponent. Karlovic is still one of the guys to watch.
That is not the talk of champions. Nadal and Federer, in their humility and courtesy, speak like the true gentlemen champions they are. Serena and Venus have the intelligence and experience to tone down attitude and upgrade their remarks (which Venus sometimes does, and quite endearingly, to her credit). One wonders why they don't improve this part of their game. They would certainly earn more fans if they did.
this is the talk of champions. They don't quit- Bravo Serena and Venus. You are true champions.
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