and records Roger Federer owns, it was his warrior heart that rescued him from the brink of defeat against Julien Benneteau and put the tennis world back on its axis following an incredible 24 hours at Wimbledon late on Friday.
After great rival Rafael Nadal was bundled out of the tournament by unknown Czech Lukas Rosol the previous evening, Wimbledon king Federer was two points away from following him through the exit door.
French journeyman Benneteau, a 30-year-old without a singles title to his name compared to Federer’s 74, played astonishing tennis to lead by two sets under the Centre Court roof before the Swiss maestro fought back to win 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-1.
“It was a tough match, it was brutal,” said 16-time major winner Federer, who has not lost before the fourth round of his last 33 grand slam tournaments.
“He was hurt in the fifth but I tried in the third, fourth and fifth sets to stay alive and come back.”
Kim Clijsters also made the last 16, through the retirement of her opponent, Vera Zvonareva, as she hunts a first Wimbledon crown on her farewell appearance while in the men’s draw Federer and Djokovic were joined in round four by 18th seed Richard Gasquet, 26th seed Mikhail Youzhny and unseeded Belgian Xavier Malisse, who won a five-setter against Fernando Verdasco. Malisse will be Federer’s next opponent.
Benneteau’s backhand was devastating at times, he smacked down 15 aces and the way he mixed up his game clearly flummoxed Federer.
Federer had three set points in the 12th game of the second set but Benneteau saved them all in style before surging through the tiebreak to take a two-set lead.
Third seed Federer dug in, rattled off the third set, then leveled the match after clinching a tie break.
With his legs cramping Benneteau finally cracked in the decider which Federer rolled though in 26 minutes to record his eighth career win from two sets down.
“Mentally he’s a rock, he’s two sets down and he doesn’t show anything,” a weary Benneteau, who was given a standing ovation by an enthralled Centre court crowd, said.
Exhausted Rosol out
Meanwhile, on Saturday, giant-killer Lukas Rosol fell to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6.
Compared to Rosol’s heroics on Thursday evening, this was tame by comparison, the Czech probably still exhausted after his five-set match against Nadal, which was followed by a five-set doubles match the very next day.
Serena’s 23 aces
Serena Williams hit a Wimbledon record 23 aces, held every service game and barely escaped an upset bid by Zheng Jie, winning 6-7 (5), 6-2, 9-7 Saturday in the third round.
Williams, who erased all six break points she faced, served three times to stay in the match and held each time at love. She was pushed to deuce serving in the final game but closed out the victory with a volley winner, then hopped in glee on the Centre Court grass.
Zheng had only one ace. She played with little flash but plenty of consistency, committing just 17 unforced errors. But that wasn’t enough to stop Williams, who rocketed a return to break for an 8-7 lead in the final set, then showed how much she wanted to win, throwing back her head and letting out a long scream.
Shvedova in ‘golden set’
Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova left French Open runner-up Sara Errani red-faced at Wimbledon on Saturday by becoming the first player to win a set in a grand slam tournament without conceding a point.
The first set disappeared in a 15-minute blur as Shvedova won 24 consecutive points – known as a golden set – in the third-round match on court three.
Tenth seed Errani fought back in the second but was powerless to stop Shvedova wrapping up a 6-0 6-4 victory. (Agencies)