Andy Roddick was forced to withdraw, still being troubled by the side strain he suffered in Los Angeles.
5-time Washington champion, Andre Agassi hoped to make a major impact in his 17th and final appearance at the tournament but instead he crashed out in rd1, losing 6-4, 6-2 to world no 246, Italian qualifier Andrea Stoppini [who had a tight 3 setter with Jamie Baker in Cardiff in April]. Agassi had no answer to Stoppini's strong serve and crisp groundstrokes. He said: "I was very frustrated. I wanted really bad to get out there and be comfortable and hit my shots.
"But I felt with every point the court got smaller and smaller. I had a harder time keeping the ball in the court. I never found my rhythm."
The pick of the 3rd round matches is by far and away James Blake v Marat Safin which would make a good final match. Safin smashed 10 aces in a rd1 6-3, 7-6 win over Igor Kunitsyn but both he and Blake were seriously tested in rd2. Marat beat the hard-serving, French serve-volleyer Nicholas Mahut [who reached Wimby rd3] 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in rd2 and James Blake had a hard time coping with the court speed of Kevin Kim. The Asian-American's fantastic retrieving ability consistently forced Blake to hit more shot but in the end the no 1 seed's extra power prevailed and he won 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
Their head-to-head record is 1-1. Blake won 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the 2004 Hopman Cup and Safin won 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in rd4 of the 2004 Aussie Open.
(3)Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Denis Gremelmayr (GER) (11)
QF: Gremelmayr vs Hrbaty
Looks like an upset on the cards, but hewitt is playing poorly at the moment.
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....
VSandhi20 wrote: Hewitt managed to get a breastick! won 6-1 6-4
I'm surprised Hewitt won so easily as he's been off-colour lately and as you say Gremelmayr has been doing well, reaching an ATP quarter-final on clay last week and winning through to rd3 this week without dropping a set. He's also a leftie which can be tricky.
I didn't think he'd lose but I thought it'd be another 3 setter.
As predicted Fish thrashed Stoppini, he'll be a big threat to Murray if they play in the quarters. The American was on-song with his serve today and Stoppini was never really able to get anywhere near it.
The Blake-Safin match is on serve at the moment with Blake holding a bp at 3-3 on the Safin serve just as the rain started to come down. Not sure really who that favours, maybe Safin as Blake will have to get used to reading the Safin serve again and find his rhythm when they come back out and so Blake may not play a great first point. I'm predicting James to win in 3.
Tursunov-Lee is an interesting one, I'm going for Lee to win as Dmitry really struggled in his rd2 match against Massa
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.
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.
Safin eventually beat Moodie last night 7-6[5], 7-6[9].
Washington post report: Safin had his hands full yesterday with Moodie, a booming server of comparable height (6-5) but contrasting style. They met on Center Court on the first beautiful night of the tournament, with temperatures dipping into the mid-80s and a sunset that brought cotton-candy pink streaks to the sky. While Moodie looked for every chance to charge the net, the brooding Safin stalked the baseline for his opportunities.
The match lasted just under two hours, and neither managed to break serve. So it came down to tiebreakers. The decisive one was more entertaining than some of the day's matches. Moodie double-faulted and over-hit a backhand approach shot to hand Safin double match point, but the Russian responded with two blunders of his own to let Moodie back into contention. Moodie blasted an ace up the center line to reach set point, but failed to convert that by over-hitting a service return. Neither player built in much margin for error on his shots, and the instant-replay board was put to good use before Safin finally closed the match.
Reading the reports on Hewitt's match, he missed several chances in the 1st set. He was 4-1 down, recovered to lead 5-4 and serve for the set but played a sloppy game to be broken back and then played a sloppy breaker.
According to the Washington Post: "I sort of gave him a little bit of extra wind out there," said Hewitt, who converted only 2 of 14 break points. "The best players take those chances when they get them."
Clement was still beaming over the achievement an hour afterward, ducking into a hallway to receive congratulatory calls on his cellphone. "He was better than me at important moments [in the past]," Clement said. "Today, it was just different. I am very happy." Tactically, it's hard to tell the two apart. Both Clement and Hewitt are small for tennis pros, and neither has one dominant weapon apart from tenacity and a knack for not beating themselves. Until yesterday, Hewitt had simply been better at the same game, beating Clement in all seven of their previous meetings.
Apparently it's the first time that there have been no Americans in the semis here since 1981.