Wimbledon Tennis Tournament 2009

Ana Ivanovic retires Due to Injury

Ana Ivanovic retires from her 4th round match against Venus Williams because of injury.

Overview: Andy Murray- Hero of Day 7

It was the most anticipated first sight of a ceiling since Michelangelo pulled back the covers on the Sistine Chapel. And as far as roofs go, the one over Centre Court that was used for the first time on Wimbledon Day 7 worked very well thank you. It kept the rain out.

It was not a torrential downpour that caused the roof to be closed, in fact by the time play had recommenced on Centre Court they were also playing on all the other, roofless, courts. But that’s beside the point.

The point is that at 5.19pm on Monday 29 June 2009, the roof over Centre Court was used for the first time at Wimbledon. Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo had the honour of playing the first match under it and Safina the honour of recording the first victory.

The roof proved its value for the final match of the day, as British No.1 Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka battled each other to a standstill over five sets. They were going till 10.38pm – the latest finish in Wimbledon history – with the fans watching on the largescreen TV on 'Henman Hill' in total darkness when Murray fell to his knees after winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

By that stage Roger Federer should have been tucked up in bed. He repeated his French Open final victory over Robin Soderling in straight sets, however, a bigger banana skin looms in the quarter-finals. In fact, at 6’10”, Ivo Karlovic is the biggest banana skin in professional tennis. The Croat beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) thanks largely to his serve; the only player to construct a break point opportunity against him this tournament was his first round opponent Lukas Lacko.

Joining them in the last eight are three players with nearly 2,000 professional tennis matches between them: Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Hewitt, who has fallen to No.56 in the world, came from two sets down to beat Radek Stepanek, while Ferrero beat eighth seed Gilles Simon to become the first wild card in the quarter-finals since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Tommy Haas and Novak Djokovic round out the last eight.

In the ladies’ draw Ana Ivanovic was left in tears after a thigh injury forced her to withdraw from her match against defending champion Venus Williams. Ivanovic had already lost the first set 6-1 when she retired after one game in the second set.

The second and third seeds, Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva, caused the minimum of fuss with convincing wins. At the other end of the spectrum, Francesca Schiavone and Sabine Lisicki, ranked 43 and 41 in the world respectively, were also victorious. American teen Melanie Oudin said she was proud as her Wimbledon challenge was ended by 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, while Victoria Azarenka beat Nadia Petrova in the remaining fourth round match.

Dinara Safina made Wimbledon History

Top seed Dinara Safina made Wimbledon history by winning the first match to be played under the new Centre Court roof, overcoming former champion Amelie Mauresmo in a three set battle.

In time, it is inevitable that this match will be best remembered for the rain break halfway through the second set, which prompted the decision to call the roof into action for the first time. But even without that, it was an absorbing contest that swung one way then another.

Safina had the best of it early on, racing into a 3-0 lead thanks to a couple of off-target forehands from the 2006 champion. But the French player settled herself, claiming the next service game on four second serves, and then breaking the Russian.

When Safina threw in two double faults with the score at 3-3, Mauresmo pounced to take another break and soon enough the set was hers.The 17th seed maintained her momentum with another break at the start of the second before being pegged back from a 40-15 lead on her own serve in the next game. Safina broke back and quickly broke again as she moved 4-1 ahead before rain started to disrupt proceedings.

The rain was only light at that point but the decision to cover the court was made quickly and then the crowd waited to see if the roof would be employed. Sure enough, within a few minutes it was cranked into action and Wimbledon was set for its first "indoor" match.

For the record, 45 minutes later, it was Mauresmo who hit the first ball but Safina who claimed the first point under the roof. The Frenchwoman then quickly hit three aces - it was clear that the change in conditions seemed to suit her. But Safina remained solid in her resolve and only dropped one more point on serve as she sealed the second set.

By now the Centre Court crowd were making a fair old noise under the roof and it was exacerbated in a marathon second game. After four deuces, Mauresmo seized a break.As Safina slipped 3-0 behind, she became more visibly and noisily frustrated with herself but, despite that, she managed to show why she is ranked in the world's top women with some strong backhands that helped her serve to love and then break back.

Mauresmo pulled off a delicate drop shot to go 4-3 ahead and Safina fought hard to save two break points in the next game.

Amelie Mauresmo defeated Flavia penetta

Amelie Mauresmo of France, Wimbledon champion two years ago, beat Italy’s Flavia Penetta 7-5 6-3 to reach the fourth round after a fiercely contested match that reflected their close rivalry.

Mauresmo was warned by the umpire after firing a ball into the crowd in the last game when the Italian was trying desperately to stay in the match. The warning came at 15-all after Mauresmo had double faulted but the French girl regained her composure to win the next two points to set up two match points.

She double faulted on the first, her eighth. But a service winner saw her through to the last 16 in one hour and 30 minutes.On paper, Mauresmo, the 17th seed, and Pennetta, the 15th, were closely matched, each having won two of their previous matches. But they had never played on grass where Mauresmo was certain to feel more at home.

Pennetta gave Mauresmo plenty to think about from the start. The French girl had to save five break points in her first service game, before winning what was a six-deuce game. Pennetta certainly looked up for the challenge, hitting back immediately afer losing her serve in the fourth game.But after the Italian failed to convert two break points against Mauresmo’s serve at 5-5 she disastrously lost her serve to love in the following game to lose the set 7-5 in 57 minutes.

The hard hitting continued but Mauresmo began to look more in charge midway through the second set and the pressure began to swing on to the Italian. When Mauresmo saved a break point in the seventh game with a service winner, it was a crucial blow and she went on to close out the set 6-3.

This was Pennetta’s seventh Wimbledon and the first time she has been in the third round. Mauresmo showed her it was a match too far.

Venus Williams Vs Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic has got her head up just at the moment, and she’s feeling increasingly confident, despite making heavy going of her first match against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. She reckons she has got a fair chance in her fourth round match against defending champion and third seed, Venus Williams.

And if appearances were to be believed, 13th seed Ana could be forgiven. Venus has had her left leg taped up for most of the week. But she has been teasing the press about it, batting away any thought of injury, insisting that it’s just comfortable and supportive.

She joked: “I was thinking maybe I could get a permanent one. So maybe you'll see me with one that's neoprene and Velcro and all that good stuff. You never know.”Maybe it is a new fashion item, because it certainly has not hampered her performance as she has swept cleanly through her first three rounds without dropping a set.

Their head-to-head record is 5-1 in 29-year-old Venus’s favour, but their only meeting on grass was here at Wimbledon in the 2007 semi-finals, which Venus won in straight sets, before going on to win The Championships. What Venus remembers of her encounter with the Serb is that “we had a lot of great exchanges. I just remember playing aggressively”.

And Ana has been watching Roger Federer to pick up tips playing on grass, and feels it suits her game. The 21- year-old has already said she is playing better tennis than ever before, even compared to when she was ranked number one in the world, 12 months ago.

She’s now playing ranked at No. 12, and is relishing the encounter with Venus. That last time, Ana said, “was the only time we played on the grass, and it's so different. She likes to go for her first shot. She likes to dominate the points. I just think I have to try to make a lot of returns. And ,obviously, it's going to be important for me to serve well in that match because she has great first serves. So if I can hold on to my serve and then put pressure on her, that would be a key.”

Ana continued: “She's very dangerous opponent, but I think I have a great chance, and I feel very comfortable going in that match. I'm so excited to have opportunity for that challenge."It would be good for Venus to have some stiff opposition, so let’s hope Ana is playing as her recently mature and newly-focused self.