Roddick stunned by Lu defeat

TENNIS/Wimbledon men’s round-up: Last year's runner-up Andy Roddick will not be returning to the Wimbledon final in 2010 after…

TENNIS/Wimbledon men's round-up:Last year's runner-up Andy Roddick will not be returning to the Wimbledon final in 2010 after he was stunned 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4) 6-7 (5/7) 9-7 by Yen-Hsun Lu in the fourth round in SW19.  The little-known Chinese Taipei player, ranked just 82nd in the world, served superbly against the fifth seed.

There was just a single break in the first four sets, Roddick grabbing it in the opening set.

Three tie-breaks followed as the match went into a decider and it was the American who cracked first. Serving at 7-8, Roddick fell down 30-40 - it was just Lu's second break point of the contest - and was then outmanoeuvred in the match-point rally, leaving Lu celebrating the most famous victory of his career.

He shocked even himself with his achievement.

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"Even now I'm thinking it's a dream,'' Lu said. "I couldn't imagine this moment now.

"I probably need time to clear my mind and calm down to see what's happened.

"From the beginning I just told myself to fight. When I lost the fourth set I thought it was a better chance for him so I told myself to stay in the match, and finally I got the chance.''

Fifth seed Roddick was clearly upset by the result, but gave his opponent credit.

"I thought he served better than he has against me before,'' Roddick said. "But I had chances and I didn't take advantage of them.

"Through three sets I was playing horrendously. Really, really badly, to the point where I was thinking how to put balls on the court.

"I think the fifth set was the best I played in terms of hitting the ball.

"But when you dig yourself a hole it's tough to get out when you've given someone confidence and when they have their feet under them a little bit more.''

Lu will next face Novak Djokovic, who fended off stomach pain as well as a former champion as he ended Lleyton Hewitt's Wimbledon campaign in the last 16.

The pair met at the same stage in the 2007 Championships and Djokovic came out a winner over four sets, and that was repeated on this occasion as the third seed triumphed 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-4 on Court One.

Djokovic called for medical assistance during the third set when he was clearly struggling. He was given medication and later revealed it was a stomach problem that had been troubling him.

Australian Hewitt looked like taking advantage when he took the set to narrow Djokovic's lead, but the Serbian stepped up his performance to sweep to victory.

"I was just struggling a little bit with my stomach, and there was some discomfort there but I managed to overcome that," the Serb explained afterwards. "The third set I was feeling more about that than the game and Lleyton just got back into great rhythm.

"It could have gone either way but I played the right shots at the right time and I'm just very happy to get through this one.''

There were no fourth-round problems for title favourites Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Federer enjoyed an easy afternoon's work in the sunshine as he swatted aside the weak challenge of Jurgen Melzer to reach the quarter-finals.

After struggling through his opening two matches at this year's Championships, the defending champion posted his second straight-sets win in succession as he outclassed Melzer 6-3 6-2 6-3.

The one-sided victory in just one hour and 24 minutes secures Federer his 25th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.

The top seed said afterwards: "I feel great.

"It was always going to be a tough match against Jurgen.

"We've known each other for 14 years but never played on tour so I knew it could be a tricky match.''

"If you're going to win the tournament you have to progress and that's what I've been able to do.

"My form's good now, and that's what I care about.''

Later in the day, Nadal proved way too good for Paul-Henri Mathieu as he posted a 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory.

The world number one returned to form following successive five-set struggles and crucially did not seem too bothered by the knee problems which resurfaced during his last-32 win on Saturday.

He'll now meet Robin Soderling in a rematch of their French Open final earlier this month, a match won in straight-sets by the Spaniard.

Sixth seed Soderling survived a scare as he beat David Ferrer 6-2 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-5.

The Swede needed treatment during the five-set contest and that could play into Nadal's hands on Wednesday.

Looking ahead to that clash, Soderling said: "It's going to be tough for sure. But I think it's definitely easier to play him on any other surface than clay.''

Next up for Federer will be a clash with 12th seed Tomas Berdych.

The Czech, who made the semi-finals of the French Open, beat Daniel Brands 4-6 7-6 (7/1) 7-5 6-3.

Berdych beat Federer in Miami earlier this season.

Andy Murray reeled off his fourth consecutive straight-sets win. The fourth seed did not play quite as well as he had in his opening three matches but it was still good enough for a 7-5 6-3 6-4 victory over Sam Querrey in a little over two hours.

Murray began superbly but wobbled when serving for the opening set and in the end was fortunate to come through it. One break proved enough in the second and he saved his best form for 4-4 in the decider, when some brilliant shot-making helped him clinch the decisive break.

The 23-year-old, who is the only man in the last eight not to have dropped a set, said: "It was a very good match. I had my chances at the end of the first set. That was a huge point in the match because he had the momentum and I managed to nick it away from him and I played better after that."

The Scot will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after he won his all-French battle with Julien Benneteau.

Tsonga won his all-French battle with Julien Benneteau. The 25-year-old from Le Mans reached the last eight for the first time with a 6-1 6-4 3-6 6-1 victory on Court 12 over his occasional doubles partner.

Tsonga famously beat Murray in the first round of the 2008 Australian Open and the Frenchman went on to reach the final.

However, Murray now leads their head-to-head series 2-1, winning the last match between the pair in Montreal last summer.

RESULTS

Men’s singles fourth round

(1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (16) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 6-3 6-2 6-3.

(10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (32) Julien Benneteau (Fra) 6-1 6-4 3-5 6-1.

(12) Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Daniel Brands (Ger) 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 6-3

(6) Robin Soderling (Sweden) beat (9) David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-5

(4) Andy Murray (Britain) beat (18) Sam Querrey (U.S.) 7-5 6-3 6-4

(2) Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-4 6-2 6-2

Lu Yen-hsun (Taiwan) beat (5) Andy Roddick (U.S.) 4-6 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 9-7