It was not a good day to be a seed at Wimbledon. Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova, David Nalbandian and American James Blake all were upset in their third round matches Friday at the All England Club.
The former 1997 champion Hingis fell to Ai Sugiyama in three sets 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Despite coming back to claim the second set and jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the 12th seeded 25 year-old Swiss couldn't hold off a late charge by the 18th seeded Sugiyama. After squaring the match at three all, the 30 year-old veteran held twice more to pull in front 5-4, putting the onus on Hingis to hold serve or go home.
It was too much for her to overcome when she sprayed a forehand wide to give an excited Sugiyama the victory, moving the 2004 quarterfinalist into the Round of 16 where she'll face Frenchwoman Severine Bremond, who eliminated Gisela Dulko (31) 7-6 (6), 5-7, 7-5.
Despite the setback, Hingis wasn't too discouraged.
"In the past, losses made me stronger. I knew what I had to work on to continue to progress," the five-time slam champion told reporters.
"There is less pressure on me now. I'm still not the favorite to win Grand Slams. Definitely I'm in that kind of circle to be able to, but not someone who has won it recently. The pressure's not as big on me as some of the other players."
Also falling was French Open runner up Kuznetsova. The fifth seeded Russian was sent packing by China's Na Li (27) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Using a solid forehand which produced some of her 30 winners to just 10 for her opponent, Li bounced back to pull the upset. With her comeback victory, the 24 year-old became the first Chinese woman to reach Round 4 at Wimbledon.
The road won't get any easier. Li will next face 10th seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova, who ousted Croat Karolina Sprem 7-5, 7-5.
Women's seeds who weren't victimized included Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine-Henin Hardenne. The No. 2 seed Clijsters advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jie Zheng. She'll next face Agnieszka Radwanska, who moved on with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Henin-Hardenne defeated Russian Anna Chakvetadze (30) 6-2, 6-3 to setup a Round of 16 match against 15th seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, who posted a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over Katarina Srebotnik (21).
While two big names on the women's side went home, the same thing happened to both Nalbandian and Blake in the men's field.
The fourth seeded Argentine Nalbandian fell to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (28) in straight sets 7-6 (9), 7-6 (9), 6-2.
The 22 year-old Verdasco captured a close first set tiebreak with a crosscourt forehand winner.
After ceasing early control of the second set with a break, he allowed the former 2002 runner up to break back and force another pivotal tiebreak. In it, Verdasco saved two set points before with some clutch serving before coming back to capture the tiebreak for a commanding two set lead.
It frustrated Nalbandian, who wasn't able to mount a comeback in the third set. He didn't get the better of the Spaniard from the baseline where Verdasco cracked most of his 48 winners to only 31 for the Argentine.
Despite requesting an earlier start so he could watch Argentina's World Cup match against Germany, the 24 year-old made no excuses.
"I didn't play good," Nalbandian told the AP. "I couldn't return any serve. I missed a lot of chances. That's part of the game."
He wasn't the only big seed to fall. Into the third round for the first time, the eighth seeded Blake couldn't finish off The Beast Max Mirnyi- falling in five sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 0-6.
During the seesaw battle, the 26 year-old 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinalist blew a two sets to one lead against the Belarussian.
After dropping a first set in which he failed to convert on four break chances, Blake responded by taking the second set to level the match. Suddenly with momentum and finding the range from the baseline for most of his 50 winners, he broke Mirnyi twice to easily claim the third set and pull within one of reaching the fourth round.
But that's when Mirnyi turned the tide breaking Blake for 2-0 in the fourth, coasting 6-1 to force a deciding set.
In it, a weary Blake never recovered getting bageled to fall.
"[Mirnyi] played well and my serve stopped going in," Blake lamented to reporters. "Max is one of the toughest guys to play against with just a second serve. A lot of guys I'll be able to play and get in the points off my second serve with rallies. But he doesn't give you time or chances to do that."
Mirnyi will next meet doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman, who was a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Daniele Bracciali. Verdasco will Radek Stepanek next after the 14th seeded Czech cameback from two sets down to beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero (24) 5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 11-9.
Top seeded Roger Federer moved into the Round of 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to extend his grass court record win streak to 44 straight.
The three-time defending champion was broken for the first time in the tournament while trying to serve out the match. But as he usually does, Federer rose to the occasion to break Mahut, finishing him off with a backhand winner.
"I could have served a bit better, but you know it just happened," Federer pointed out afterwards. "Yeah, I wonder why it happened. But look, thank God, I bounced back well and broke him straightaway. I think that was quite important, actually."
He'll meet 13th seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who setup a fourth round rematch from the French Open with a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 8-6 victory over German Tommy Haas (19).
Also a Round 3 victor was 19 year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic, who eliminated Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
He'll await the winner between seventh seeded Croatian Mario Ancic and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. They were level one set apiece before darkness halted play.
Murray and Hewitt Into Third Round: Both Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt moved into the third round Friday, completing their Round 2 matches.
The 19 year-old Murray from Great Britain finished off Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to setup an intriguing third round match against Andy Roddick.
"To play against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon is huge," Murray said. "He is a two-time runner-up and it is an honor to be on the same court as him. I do not think he was going through his best patch when I played him in San Jose, so I will have to play a great match to stay close to him."
Meanwhile, former 2002 winner Hewitt took the fifth set from Korean Hyung-Taik Lee to advance 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4. The sixth seeded Australian will play Belgian Olivier Rochus (26) later today for a spot in the Round of 16.
Also taking the court in the most anticipated third round match will be second seeded Rafael Nadal against eight-time slam winner and 1992 Wimbledon champ Andre Agassi.
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