LONDON, (Reuters) – Wimbledon’s usually reliable weather forecasters got it completely wrong yesterday although Roger Federer made all the right moves as he breezed into the second week of the grasscourt championships.
When the All England Club threw its gates open yesterday, the booming PA system welcomed spectators flocking into the grounds with the words “there is an increasing risk of heavy thundery showers as we move through the day”.
The news was greeted with glee by many of the 15,000 Centre Court ticket holders, who hoped to become the first to see a competitive match under the multi-million pound roof.
Federer was also keen to test conditions under the new translucent 1000-tonne concertina structure but had to make do with playing in glorious sunshine during his 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 third round victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Despite dropping his first set at this year’s tournament, the signs looked ominous for anyone harbouring hopes of preventing the five times former champion from reaching his seventh successive final in south-west London.
The French Open champion, who is just four wins from a landmark 15th grand slam title, said it was his “best match of the tournament so far. I’m excited about the second week.”
Those are not the words Robin Soderling was hoping to hear and the Swede is now likely to endure a few nightmares as he gears up for a rematch with the Swiss maestro just three weeks after their Roland Garros final showdown.
With a lopsided 10-0 losing run against the world number two, Soderling could use his two days off from Wimbledon to bargain hunt some cheap flights out of London as his challenge should end on Monday.
Asked if he could get close to Federer on grass, the Swede exclaimed: “No!” after beating Nicolas Almagro 7-6 6-4 6-4.
If Federer sees off Soderling, he could run into lanky Ivo Karlovic in the last eight. The Croat blasted 46 aces to squeeze past ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 6-7 7-5 7-6 in the third round.
Serena Williams also came prepared for a wet day as she walked out on Court Two wearing her customised white raincoat.
However, the American did not need it as she stormed into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
Slender Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova earned a date with the second-seeded Williams thanks to a 6-4 6-3 win over her best pal and doubles partner Japan’s Ai Sugiyama.
ANKLE SPRAIN
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva, a semi-finalist last year, blew away fellow Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-2.
But their compatriot, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, handed Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano a walkover after failing to recover from an ankle sprain.
Other winners on the day included eighth seed Victoria Azarenka and number 10 Nadia Petrova, who ousted Maria Sharapova’s conqueror Gisela Dulko 3-6 6-3 6-4.
While those on the outside courts were delighted that heavy thunder showers did not arrive, fans on Centre Court had hoped the unpredictable British weather would be true to form.
“It would have been very nice to see it (close). It’s a wonderful design and a marvellous idea,” said Dianne Isler, who had travelled from Switzerland to visit Wimbledon.
“It (the roof closing) is one of the reasons I came down today,” said 22-year-old Nick Reid, who queued for six hours with his girlfriend to get into the hallowed arena.
“I would have liked to see it shut,” added Reid, as he clutched a newspaper announcing the death of singer Michael Jackson on its front page.
Like the rest of the world, Wimbledon was rocked by the unexpected death of Jackson at the age of 50 on Thursday.
“The things that he did was beyond iconic. Words can’t express my shock and horror… it’s just terrible, terrible, terrible thing,” said Williams.
Men’s sixth seed Andy Roddick added on his Twitter page: “Oh my lord… Michael Jackson died… RIP sad and surreal. Regardless of what you think of him he was completely revolutionary and will be missed.”