| Nadal Eases Through; Arthurs Extends Farewell Performance | |
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© Getty Images Eschauer began the match by breaking Nadal in the second game, but that proved the Spaniard's only lapse. Nadal responded by winning the next six games, and again won six straight games to close out the victory. Nadal, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer last year, will continue his pursuit of the historic Roland Garros-Wimbledon double when he faces off against Swede Robin Soderling in the third round. He defeated Soderling in their only previous encounter, last year in the Roland Garros opener. The 33-year-old Eschauer was making just his second appearance at The Championships after making his debut seven years ago as a qualifier. He came into his fifth career Grand Slam tournament ranked a career-high No. 72, winning four titles at the Challenger-level through the first six months of the season to move up from his 2006 year-end ranking of No. 145. Australian Wayne Arthurs prolonged his farewell from professional tennis, turning in a second-round upset of World No. 7 Tommy Robredo.
The Australian veteran, the oldest man playing in this year's Championships at 36 years of age, announced that Wimbledon would be the final tournament of his 17-year career. His only other ATP-level appearance of the season, the Australian Open, was cut short when he retired with a right leg problem while trailing American Mardy Fish in their third-round match. He will try to match his best Wimbledon performance when he confronts 2006 semifinalist Jonas Bjorkman for a spot in the fourth round. The 35-year-old Swede, the second-oldest player in the men's draw, defeated qualifier Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-4. Bjorkman owns a 4-2 career edge over Arthurs, but the veterans have split their two grass court meetings. Another 2006 semifinalist, tenth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, earned 22 break chances and successfully converted on seven to close out the 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Frenchman Nicolas Devilder. He faces a tough third-round match with 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian, the No. 23 seed, who topped Canadian Frank Dancevic in four sets. Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round for his third straight Wimbledon appearance as he survived a challenging 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) encounter with Amer Delic, one of only three Americans (Andy Roddick, James Blake) to win their openers. The fourth-seeded Serb next meets German Nicolas Kiefer, who narrowed his career record against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro to 2-6 with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win. Seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych also bested a Frenchman, Michael Llodra, relying on strong performance in the tie-breaks to advance to the third round, 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4). The recent Halle titlist will confront Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, who reached the third round for the first time in his sixth Wimbledon appearance by ousting 30th-seeded Argentine Agustin Calleri.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny, the No. 14 seed, and 18th-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen advanced with five-set victories over Frenchman Gilles Simon and German Florian Mayer, respectively, to set up a third-round meeting. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko won back-to-back grass court matches for the first time in his career as he came back to defeat Australia's Chris Guccione 3-6, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1. He will try to make it three straight when he faces off against French youngster Gael Monfils. WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID Arthurs: "I came off the court, and there's a couple of Aussie guys in the locker room who manage the locker. I was standing out the front here and they had a wheelchair with my name on the back (laughter)." [On playing Bjorkman]: "I don't think we're allowed to play before Monday because the over 35s doesn't start until next week." Hewitt: " Today was a big step up. I felt confident out there today. I felt like every part of my game was working well today. In the first round, whether it's nerves, whether it's playing the first round of a Slam, it's one of those you sort of just sort of want to get through." Djokovic: "I'm really happy to get the two rounds, to pass the two rounds. I had a pretty good round in the first round and played pretty well. Today I was performing good and bad. You know, I had a lot of oscillation, ups and downs. It's normal." |


World No. 2 Rafael Nadal made it no contest in his first ATP-level encounter with Werner Eschaeur, rapidly dismissing the Austrian 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, Thursday at Wimbledon.
Arthurs succeeded in notching a dominant victory as he hit 14 aces and 46 winners to deny the No. 11 seed 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in just under two hours. Robredo, who was attempting to match his best career showing at Wimbledon by reaching the third round, became the first Top 10 player to bow out of the main draw.
Australian No. 16 seed Lleyton Hewitt turned in a quick day of work, recording his 80th career win on grass by dismissing Wimbledon newcomer Simone Bolelli of Italy, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Hewitt, who joins Roger Federer as the only former winners at the 2007 Championships, would surpass Brit Tim Henman atop the list of active match wins leaders on grass (83-34) by reaching the final.
29/6/2007 Neus Yerro



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