Well at least its likely tiebreak will be played in the Safin/Blake match!!

Heres the updated draw for the r16:

(1)James Blake (USA) vs Marat Safin (RUS)
Kenneth Carlsen (DEN) vs Wesley Moodie (RSA)

(3)Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Denis Gremelmayr (GER) (11)
Arnaud Clement vs (5)Dominik Hrbaty (SVK)

(8)Andy Murray (GBR) vs (12)Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
(16)Mardy Fish (USA) vs Andrea Stoppini (ITA)

(7)Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs Hyung Taik Lee (KOR)
(14)Tim Henman (GBR) vs or Jan-Michael Gambill (USA)

I think the quarter finals will look like:

Blake vs Moodie
Gremelmayr vs Hrbaty
Murray vs Stoppini
Tursunov vs Henman

lets see if im right.

VSandhi20 wrote:

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mkkreuk wrote:

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(3)Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Denis Gremelmayr (GER) (11)

QF: Gremelmayr vs Hrbaty

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Looks like an upset on the cards, but hewitt is playing poorly at the moment.

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Plus i rate the German baseliner. I saw him play against coria earlier this year and granted he was doublefaulting everywhere, gremelmayr played a good match. dunno how good he is on hard courts though....

Now watch him get douible bagelled by hewitt

VSandhi20 wrote:

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Hewitt managed to get a breastick! won 6-1 6-4

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of the three that have gotten through so far today - i never correctly predicted one. lets hope (for andy and tims sake) it changes now!

Big shocks in the last 24 hours with Safin outhitting Blake in two breakers, shows how unpredictable the Russian is, one week he's losing to guys like Wesley Whitehouse and next week he's beating the on-form player of the US hard court season so far.

Even bigger shock came earlier this evening with Hewitt losing to Clement 7-6, 6-4.
How on earth did that happen !! Hewitt's won 7/8 matches between these two in the past. I wish the ATP scoreboards would give winners and unforced error stats aswell as just serve stats, surely it can't be too hard to add that.

I reckon Safin will beat Moodie in 3 sets, he'll have his work cut out breaking the South African's serve though, Moodie hit 17 aces yesterday.

Interesting article from the Washington Post on Wednesday's action, all the players really struggled with the soaring temperatures that day:

Taken from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080201991.html

The Aussie tennis greats of old tucked a lettuce leaf under their cap to stay cool when soaring temperatures made playing unbearable. No one has tried this particular tactic yet at Washington's Legg Mason Tennis Classic, but all sorts of precautions against the sweltering conditions are on display this week.

Mardy Fish tries convincing himself during matches that he actually likes the heat and that his opponent hates it. Fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill is kicking his diet soda habit to purge caffeine from his system. Scotland's Andy Murray flew into town five days early to acclimate to Washington's sultry weather. And Australia's Lleyton Hewitt is chugging as much water as he can, starting the day before he competes.

All four were rewarded with victories yesterday, the most miserable day of the hard-court tournament yet, as searing temperatures and sweltering humidity conspired to turn the once-refined sport of tennis into a test of survival.

"It's some of the toughest conditions I've ever played in," said Gambill, a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victor over Janko Tipsarevic. "Coming out there on the court just drains you. It feels like the life is going out of your shoes and into the court."

Added Hewitt, who came within two points of losing to American Vince Spadea before rallying, 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4: "It's tough. The biggest thing is you're just sweating so much out there the whole time."

The tournament's third seed and 2004 champion, Hewitt had his hands full with the streaky Spadea, who alternated between clean winners and brain-numbing blunders throughout their Center Court tussle. The American's high-risk game makes for compelling entertainment but had never amounted to a victory over Hewitt in five previous meetings. He came as close as he ever has yesterday, winning the first set in a tiebreaker and taking a 5-3 lead in a second-set tiebreaker before spraying a backhand long and double-faulting to let the Aussie back in the match.

"He's a tough player to play sometimes because he's just so flashy," said Hewitt, 25, a former world No. 1. "It's awkward to play a guy like that."

Tournament officials, no doubt, rejoiced when Hewitt charged back into the match after getting off to an uncharacteristically subdued start. The tournament had already lost two former champions and major draws this week. Defending champion Andy Roddick withdrew at the outset, unable to compete because of a muscle strain suffered the previous week in Los Angeles, and sentimental favorite Andre Agassi was blown off the court by Italian qualifier Andrea Stoppini on Tuesday night.

Hewitt stroked the ball competently enough through the first set, but his customary fist-pumping brashness wasn't in evidence. Nor was his trademark shout -- "Come on !" And it wasn't clear, as Spadea bolted to a 4-1 lead, whether Hewitt was simply trying to conserve his energy or had lost his competitive fire.

With few histrionics, Hewitt leveled the set at four games each and held serve to force a tiebreaker. Spadea won it handily, thanks to a backhand winner down the line and two unforced errors on Hewitt's part.

The second set unfolded much as the first, resulting in a tiebreaker. After taking a 5-3 lead that put him within two points of the victory, Spadea stumbled badly and Hewitt pounced on the opportunity to level the match at a set apiece. Though the victory was 2 hours 32 minutes in the making, Hewitt was pleased with his night's work.

"Especially in these conditions, and especially on this surface, these are the kind of matches you want to get through," he said.

Without diminishing Spadea's effort, the most formidable foe anyone faced yesterday was the conditions. The heat seemed to lull the crowd to sleep at times, just as it dulled the edge on most players' games.

"It plays a big factor in all of the matches," said Murray, 19, who dispatched Ramon Delgado of Paraguay, 6-4, 6-3, in his first competitive outing since hiring Brad Gilbert as his coach. "You have to try to finish the points a little bit quicker than normal."

Gilbert was moderately pleased with his new charge's play, chiding his serve (six double faults and a 46 percent first-service percentage) but lauding his ability to close the match. Gilbert cut a curious figure in the stands, sitting alone in the blazing sun although shaded seats were available and clad head to toe in black. It was either the day's most ill-advised get-up or a clever psychological ploy designed to convince Murray, who looked up at his coach repeatedly for reassurance during the match, that it wasn't really hot after all.