Serena Williams, seeking a third Wimbledon tennis title, and
two-time runner-up Andy Roddick advanced to the third round of the
grass court Grand Slam with straight-set wins on Wednesday.
Seventh seed Serena overcame a lackluster start to defeat
big-hitting Australian Alicia Molik 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 while
third-seeded Roddick hammered Thailand's Danai Udomchoke 6-3, 6-4,
7-6 (7-3) after a short rain delay.
Former top 10 player Molik is one of the few players on the
women's circuit who can trade power with Williams, but the
26-year-old is still on the comeback from a potentially
career-wrecking ear infection and remains something of an unknown
quantity.?
Two-time Wimbledon champion Williams is a serious title contender
but also of uncertain form as she came back from a breakdown in
each set before clinching the hard-fought victory.
"I'm excited to get through today because I knew it wasn't going
to be really easy at all," said Williams.
In the first set, Molik charged the net to secure a break for
3-1, but a resurgent Williams broke back in the seventh game and
then held her won serve to level the score 4-4.
At 5-5 a loose game from the Australian saw Williams break for
6-5. Molik called on another big forehand to set up the tie-break
before Williams held her nerve to serve out the set at the first
opportunity with an ace.
Roddick's victory over Thailand's Danai Udomchoke on Centre
Court was hammered out in an hour and 44 minutes, but at times the
American was clearly frustrated by an inability to crush the
opposition even more emphatically.
"It was kind of an up-and-down match, even the way I played,"
said the 24-year-old, "Mentally I was a little bit up and
down."
The conditions were again wretched, with a cold wind swirling
around the roofless stadium, making it an ordeal for players and
spectators alike. Although Roddick ran up 15 aces, by his standards
too many serves were off target or were routinely dealt with by an
opponent ranked 114 in the world.
Danai's defeat completed a bad day for the Asian players. Japan'
s Aiko Nakamura were thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by ninth seed Martina Hingis
and China's Yan Zi, Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei and Ayumi Morita
of Japan all bowed out in the first round of the women's draw.
Roddick was followed onto Centre Court by women's top seed
Justine Henin. The Belgian, seeking a first Wimbledon title and
seventh Grand Slam, eased into round three after a quick 6-0, 6-4
victory over Russia's Vera Dushevina, who's ranked 83rd and has
already surpassed her best performance at Wimbledon by reaching the
second round.
Also on Wednesday, sixth seed Jelena Ivanovic surged past
Melinda Czink 6-0, 7-6 in a delayed first-round encounter.
But men's champion Roger Federer will have to complete
unfinished business on Thursday after his second round match
against Argentine Juan Martin del Potro was suspended following a
torrential downpour.
The Swiss world number one was leading 6-2, 7-5, 2-0 when the
players had to scurry back into the locker room in the late
afternoon.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2007)