TENNIS/Wimbledon men:Three-time finalist Andy Roddick became the biggest men's singles casualty so far as he crashed to a 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 defeat by Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Centre Court.
It looked a tricky assignment for the American, who had a tough battle with Lopez at Queen’s Club earlier this month, but the comprehensive manner of the loss was still a shock for a player so at home on grass.
Unusually for a Spaniard, Lopez has a natural game for the surface and is a two-time former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, and he produced a superb performance to beat Roddick for the first time in eight attempts. He made 57 winners and just seven unforced errors.
Lopez looked like he had blown his chance in the first set when he broke Roddick to serve for the first set only for the eighth seed to break straight back.
However, the tie-break was a one-sided affair in favour of the world number 44, who was finding returning the Roddick serve surprisingly straightforward.
Lopez was mercilessly targeting his opponent’s backhand, and the strategy helped him create a set point to move two sets in front at 6-5 ahead against the Roddick serve. That was quickly snatched away but again the tie-break proved no problem for the Spaniard.
Roddick simply had no answer to Lopez, who was superior from the back of the court and at the net and also led the ace count with 28 compared to his opponent’s 23.
The 29-year-old took a real stranglehold on the match in the third game of the third set, breaking the Roddick serve for the second time.
And from that point there was no way back for the American, who looked a shadow of the player that two years ago beat Andy Murray and then pushed Roger Federer all the way in the final.
A delighted Lopez said: “It’s so important for me to win today. I hadn’t beaten him before and to win at Wimbledon is very special. I was a little bit nervous, it’s always difficult to close out the match, so I’m so happy.”
Andy Murray battled to a four-set victory over veteran Ivan Ljubicic under Wimbledon’s Centre Court roof to set up a fourth-round rematch with Richard Gasquet.
The pair were involved in one of Wimbledon’s most memorable encounters at the same stage two years ago when the British number one battled back from two sets and a break down to triumph.
It was a slightly patchy performance tonight from Murray, who played an unimpressive second set and was then broken when he served for victory before completing the job in the fourth-set tie break to the delight of a packed crowd, winning 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7/4).
Gasquet had earlier eased to a straight-sets victory over Simone Bolelli.
Gasquet needed just an hour and 45 minutes to demolish the Italian 6-3 6-2 6-4 on Court 14, and was rarely troubled during the match, firing 12 aces.
The 25-year-old from France, seeded 17th but ranked 13th in the world, has yet to drop a set as he seeks to match his best Wimbledon performance of a semi-final appearance in 2007.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal had taken the first set off Gilles Muller on Court One when the rain came.
Nadal was out of sorts and unable to deal with Muller’s serve he won 93 per cent of points on his first and suffered a fall during a tie-break which he won 8-6.
The Mallorcan had already left the court for a medical timeout when the delay came, but he was seen leaving the venue with no obvious discomfort. The game will resume on the same court at 1pm on Saturday.
There were differing fortunes for two of the brightest young things in men’s tennis, with Ryan Harrison of the US beaten 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 4-6 6-3 6-2 by seventh seed David Ferrer while Bernard Tomic fought back from two sets down to see off Igor Andreev 4-6 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-1.
Both matches were delayed second-round encounters, and for 18-year-old qualifier Tomic the victory represented a significant first.
The Australian said: “It’s the first time I’ve been down in my career two sets to love and a break, and potentially a double break down. I think I gave it a shot. I tested myself to win that match, to get back in that third set, and I did.”
Eleventh seed Jurgen Melzer completed the third-round line-up by seeing off Dmitry Tursunov 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/1).
Aside from Nadal, the other games to be carried over to tomorrow because of the weather are Juan Martin del Potro’s clash with Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils match with Lukasz Kubot and Mardy Fish against Robin Haase.
Del Potro was a set up but a break down against Simon, Monfils was locked at 1-1 and Fish was unable to get on court at all.