Sergiy Stakhovsky tumbled from cloud nine at a rainy Wimbledon on Friday as the man who dethroned Roger Federer returned to relative obscurity, but British teenager Laura Robson was in no mood to waste the spotlight.
Wimbledon’s Centre Court roof operators were busy as day five of the championships began in soggy fashion and the canopy was in place for Robson as she served up a tasty starter, duly rising to the occasion to beat Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-1.
Robson, who along with Murray was one of only two home players to reach the second round of the singles, had been upgraded to the main show court after her match was delayed the night before.
“It’s a big win for me, any match on Centre Court is a big one. It was a great atmosphere out there and the roof being closed just made it louder. It was very exciting,” Robson said.
Two days after Stakhovsky caused one of Wimbledon’s greatest upsets by taking out Federer in a ‘Wednesday Wipeout’ of seeds and former World No. 1s, he failed to hit the heights in a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 third-round defeat by Austrian Jurgen Melzer on a drizzly Court Three.
The shelf life of giant-slayers has proved a short one so far at the championships with Ukrainian Stakhovsky, the World No. 116, going the same way as Rafael Nadal’s conqueror Belgian Steve Darcis who withdrew injured from his next match.
World No. 4 David Ferrer though avoided any mishaps as he moved into the third round with a straight sets victory over fellow Spaniard Robert Bautista Agut. Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz, the 24th seed lurking dangerously in the bottom half of the draw, gave a vivid demonstration of his talent on Centre Court to reach round four for the first time, overpowering Spanish 15th seed Nicolas Almagro to set up a clash with Melzer.
Spain’s 19th seed Carla Suarez Navarro, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Belgian No. 20 seed Kirsten Flipkens all took advantage of some breaks in the cloud to reach the last 16.
However, the fall of the seeds continued as Germany’s Angelique Kerber, seeded seventh and who had been a potential fourth round opponent for Britain’s Robson, lost her delayed second round match against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
Dimitrov follows Sharapova
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov ended up on the second round scrapheap along with girlfriend Maria Sharapova after losing a rain-interrupted five-setter against Grega Zemlja.
The Bulgarian 29th seed joined the long list of big names to fall as Slovenian Zemlja held his nerve to claim a 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory on Court Three. Dimitrov, who twice led by a set, had trailed 8-9 in the decider when play was stopped by rain on Thursday.
Playing some of the best tennis of his career at age 35, Tommy Haas reached the third round for the first time since 2009, defeating 151st-ranked qualifier Jimmy Wang of Taiwan 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. The 13th-seeded Haas never faced a break point and needed little more than an hour to advance to a match against Feliciano Lopez on Saturday.
Paes-Stepanek advance
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek had to work hard to beat Daniele Bracciali and Jonathan Erlich in the men’s doubles first round even as Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniela Hantuchova bowed out of the mixed doubles event. Fourth seeds Paes and Stepanek won the match, stretched to second day after being suspended due to rain, with a 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4 win after battling hard with the Italian-Israeli pair for three hours and five minutes.
The Indo-Czech pair had secured the first set on Thursday before skies opened up, forcing suspension of play. They next face local guy Jamie Delgado and Australian Matthew Ebden. However, it was not a good day in office for Bhupathi and his Slovakian partner Hantuchova as they suffered a first round defeat in the mixed doubles. The Indo-Slovakian pair lost 7-6(2), 4-6, 4-6 to Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
Bhupathi’s challenge in men’s doubles is still alive as he has moved to the second round with Autrian partner Julian Knowle. They are up against Amercian Nicholas Monroe and Simon Stadler of Germany.
The Results:
Men: Third round: 24-Jerzy Janowicz bt 15-Nicolas Almagro 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4.
Jurgen Melzer bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
Second round: 4-David Ferrer bt Roberto Bautista Agur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.
Grega Zemlja bt 29-Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9; 26-Alexandr Dolgopolov bt Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
13-Tommy Haas bt Jimmy Wang 6-3, 6-2, 7-5; 28-Jeremy Chardy bt Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6.
Doubles: First round: 4-Radek Stepanek & Leander Paes bt Jonathan Erlich & Daniele Bracciali 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4.
Women: Third round: 20-Kirsten Flipkens bt Vesna Doloncs 6-4, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta bt 29-Alize Cornet 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-2; 19-Carla Suarez Navarro bt Eugenie Bouchard 7-5, 6-2.
Second round: Alison Riske bt Urszula Radwanska 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Laura Robson bt Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-1, Kaia Kanepi bt 7-Angelique Kerber 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3.
Mixed doubles: First round: Mark Knowles & Sabine Lisicki bt Daniela Hantuchova & Mahesh Bhupathi 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4.
