LONDON, (Reuters) – Sweat seeping from his baseball cap after four hours scratching for his game on a dusty baseline, Andy Roddick became Wimbledon’s biggest casualty yesterday when he lost to the son of a Taiwanese chicken farmer.
Just as it seemed the serious contenders for the titles had survived the most hectic day on the grand slam calendar, last year’s runner-up was cut down by Lu Yen-hsun whose previous four Wimbledon appearances ended in first-round defeats.
Lu thoroughly deserved his 4-6 7-6 7-6 6-7 9-7 fourth-round victory to become the first Asian man to reach a grand slam quarter-final since Japan’s Shuzo Matsuoka’s run at the All England Club in 1995.
“I’m really proud of myself to share this victory with my dad who is in the sky,” Lu, whose father died 10 years ago, told reporters. “I hope he saw this match. When I won I just sat there and said I did this for my father.”
While Roddick’s tournament came to an abrupt end on a day of withering heat, defending men’s champion Roger Federer was the epitome of cool as the Swiss glided past old pal Juergen Melzer into the quarter-finals.
ROCKY RIDE
“This is not hot,” Federer shrugged after treating a slowly roasting Centre Court crowd to an 84-minute masterclass as temperatures shot into the high 80s. “This was a one shirt-change kind of match.”
Top seed Rafael Nadal, who like Federer has endured a rocky ride so far, also conserved some energy for his impending battle with Robin Soderling with an easy victory against Paul-Henri Mathieu while Andy Murray gave British sports fans a lift as he outclassed dangerous American Sam Querrey.
Murray, bidding to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936, will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight after he beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Nadal will be wary of Soderling’s explosive game in the quarter-finals and may have hoped to be playing compatriot David Ferrer in the last eight instead. Ferrer pushed Soderling to the limit before losing in five sets.
Novak Djokovic beat Lleyton Hewitt in four sets to set up a meeting with Lu while Tomas Berdych is Federer’s quarter-final obstacle after beating Germany’s Daniel Brands.
Second Monday at Wimbledon is traditionally the day that the big guns move into position.
