Hours after he was sure he had won, Rafael Nadal still had some work to do to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.
A point away from victory in the third set on Monday, Nadal hit a forehand he thought ended his match against Robin Soderling. Nadal raised both arms in celebration, then realised his shot had been called out.
The three-time French Open champion challenged the ruling, but the ”Hawk-Eye” replay technology confirmed the ball was out. Seconds later — and before another point was played — rain suspended play for nearly two hours.
When they resumed on Court One, Soderling won two straight points to win the third-set tiebreaker. Then, the number 28-seeded Swede stretched the match to a fifth set. But with the light fading and rain returning, play was called with Nadal leading 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 2-0, 30-all.
That match was one of three in the men’s draw suspended by rain on Monday; only four were completed. Three men’s matches never got started.
Jonas Bjorkman, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, reached the fourth round by beating Wayne Arthurs 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
The match featured the two oldest men in tournament — Bjorkman is 35; Arthurs is 36. It was the first Wimbledon match since 1974 between two men at least 35-years-old.
”Well, I don’t feel like 35,” Bjorkman said. ”I feel much younger, and I think I’m moving great.”
Bjorkman, playing at Wimbledon for the 14th straight year, next will face number seven Tomas Berdych. The 21-year-old Czech advanced by beating Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-4, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).
The 19th-seeded Bjorkman is trying to reach a Grand Slam semifinals for the third time in 55 appearances.
”This is my favourite tournament,” said Bjorkman, who also reached the semifinals at the 1997 US Open. ”Just got so much history here. The tradition, the atmosphere, got so many things that’s just so unique.”
Arthurs, who said before the tourney that this Wimbledon would be his last, twice has reached the fourth round at the All England Club.
”There was a very small possibility that I was going to go on, and that would have been the fairy tale,” Arthurs said. ”I had the dream to make it here, and it’s landed somewhere in between both of those, so I can’t complain.”
Also, number 10 Marcos Baghdatis defeated number 23 David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-2, 7-5, 6-0, and number 14 Mikhail Youzhny beat number 18 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
”He didn’t play really good,” said Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up. ”I know he’s a dangerous guy, especially through his career he came a lot back from two sets down, match points down.”
In the suspended matches, number four Novak Djokovic was leading Nicolas Kiefer, number six Nikolay Davydenko was ahead of Gael Monfils, and number 16 Lleyton Hewitt was leading number 22 Guillermo Canas.
The only man to reach the quarterfinals already? Four-time defending champion Federer, whose fourth-round opponent, Tommy Haas, withdrew with a stomach muscle injury on Sunday. It means Federer will go from Friday until Wednesday without playing.
”It’s a long break,” he said, ”but I just have to make sure I hit the ball a little bit and be ready for Wednesday.”
Sharapova faces Venus
Meanwile, on a day normally reserved for women’s quarterfinals, two former champions will contest a top-of-the-bill fourth round tie.
Second seed Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams last met here in the 2005 semifinals, with Williams winning on the way to her third Wimbledon crown
Weather permitting, 2004 champion Sharapova, seeded 21 places ahead of her opponent, will have her chance for revenge as the third match on Centre Court
Champion Amelie Mauresmo faces the sternest test of her defence yet when she opens on Centre Court against 2006 French Open semifinalist Nicole Vaidisova in the fourth round. – Sapa-AP, Reuters