LONDON, (Reuters) – Jelena Jankovic’s challenge melted in soaring temperatures at Wimbledon yesterday while Andy Murray scorched the Centre Court turf as he blasted his way into the second week of the grasscourt championships.
Facing an opponent who is allergic to grass, Murray produced a rash of aces — 17 to be exact — to leave Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in agony during a 6-2 6-3 6-4 demolition job.
For much of the 96-minute third round match, played under stormy skies, it seemed as if the All England Club’s new retractable might finally make its debut but Murray appeared in a hurry to get off court as thunder rumbled in the distance.
“It would have been a nice bit of history, I guess, the first match to play under the roof. (But) once it was 5-3 in the third set, I obviously wanted to finish it before the rain came,” said Murray, who is bidding to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon crown in 73 years.
While the Scot was lucky enough to charge his way into the last 16 of the tournament in the cool evening shade, Serbia’s Jankovic looking dazed and confused in searing afternoon heat as she repeatedly called for medical attention.
It was all too much for ex-world number one who was stifled 6-7 7-5 6-2 in the third round by 124th-ranked teenage American qualifier Melanie Oudin on a roasting Court Three.
Blaming her plight on “some woman problems”, the sixth seed added: “I was like a ghost… I didn’t know where I was. I felt really dizzy and I thought that I was gonna end up in the hospital. I started to shake. I was losing my consciousness.
“It’s not easy being a woman sometimes,” she said.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova joined Jankovic at the exit door. German Sabine Lisicki ruined the Russian’s 24th birthday celebrations with a 6-2 7-5 win over the fifth seed.
Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams faced no such problems.
However, the Serb wisely opted not to spend too much time topping up her tan on Court Two as she hurried past Australian Samantha Stosur 7-5 6-2 in 70 minutes to reach the last 16.
Next up for the 13th seed is world number three Williams.
FLORIDA HEAT
She cannot afford any lapses on Monday as American Williams chalked up her 17th successive win at the grasscourt major with a 6-0 6-4 walloping of Carla Suarez Navarro and then declared the weather was not hot enough for “a Florida girl”.
“You don’t understand the heat in Florida. I needed a sweater out there,” grinned the five-times champion.
Lleyton Hewitt might also have found the weather too cold to enjoy an ice cream as he is more used to the 40 degree temperatures in Australia. That did not stop him turning the heat on German Philipp Petzschner with a 7-5 7-6 6-3 victory.
He now stands one match away from a potential mouth-watering quarter-final against former finalist Andy Roddick.
The American sixth seed sent down 33 thunderbolt aces as he dispatched Austrian Juergen Melzer 7-6 7-6 4-6 6-3. Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 champion, overcame 15th seed Flavia Pennetta to set up a Centre Court showdown with top seed Dinara Safina, who reached the last 16 for the first time by easing past Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-1.
Germany’s Tommy Haas, stranded at 6-6 in the fifth set overnight, had to toil in the sun for another six games on Saturday before completing a 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7 10-8 win over Croatian 11th seed Marin Cilic.
Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez was also outfoxed in five sets by Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.
As the mid-afternoon temperature edged above 28 degrees Celsius many people struggled to cope with the stifling heat.
While players wrapped ice packs around their necks to stay cool, spectators used everything from tickets to programmes to fan themselves with some even fainting under the blazing sun.
With six days of mostly unbroken sunshine at this year’s championships, it was little surprise hats and visors were flying off the shelves at the official Wimbledon shop and the demand for umbrellas was almost non-existent.
RECORD CROWDS
While the rest of the world is counting pennies and struggling to find ways to beat the credit crunch, global political leaders could learn a lesson or two from those who run the grasscourt championships.
In this corner of England, the mantra seems to be “Recession, what recession?” as record crowds continue to turn up at this year’s tournament.
Over the first six days, 266,264 people attended the tournament, an increase of 24,002 from 2008.
Those who walk into the grounds are also splurging in the souvenir shops, with Wimbledon’s official jewellery range a surprise hit despite items being priced from $95 to $820.
“Despite the credit crunch, we’ve had a 35 percent increase in sales from 2008 and that has been a surprise,” a Wimbledon official told Reuters.
But business slowed down from 1702 GMT yesterday when Murray walked out on court to take on Troicki.
