Six of the 17 Russian women tennis players who started at Wimbledon have made it to the fourth round in the first week of the tournament. That success is noteworthy, but the presence of Marat Safin among the men’s 1/8-final is more newsworthy. While Safrin’s performance this season before the tournament was lackluster, he beat 13th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka today 6:4, 6:3, 5:7, 6:1 in his best showing at the prestigious tournament since he made it to the quarterfinals there in 2001. That was the only other time he has advanced so far at Wimble
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don. Safin handled himself well against Wawrinka, despite slipping slightly in the third set.
Safin has repeatedly complained that, because of his current low rating (75th), he is forced to play very strong opponents at the beginning of tournaments, which does not allow him to develop his rhythm. This time, the vicious circle was broken when he defeated third-rated Serbian player Novak Djokovic in the second round. That was the third match in a row that he won, a string of successes, the likes of which he had not seen since February of last year. After that victory, Safin gained confidence. He faces 31st-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez next, after Lopez’s win against 10th-ranked Cypriote Marcos Baghdatis in a five-set match. Lopez is weak on the grass.
Mikhail Youzhny also advanced to the fourth round, after a victory over Czech Radek Stepanek. His chances nonetheless look not completely rosy. He will play Rafael Nadal today. Youzhny played Nadal in the fourth round at last year’s Wimbledon as well, when he lost in a five-set match. In general, Youzhny does not badly against the Spaniard (4:6) and beat him this year once in Chennai.
On the women’s side, the top two players have been eliminated. Ana Ivanovic followed Maria Sharapova out when the Serb lost to Chinese player Zheng Jie. Ivanovic’s elimination may make Anna Chakvetadze’s life a little easier, though, since she will not have to face her in the quarterfinal now, if she beats Czech Nicole Vaidisova. The Russian women would be in excellent shape, were it not for the threat of the American sisters Serena and Venus Williams.
