Mauresmo crashes out to Vaidisova
The 18-year-old Czech will meet sixth seed Ana Ivanovic for a place in the last four after battling her way to a 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-1 win in a delayed fourth-round match on Centre Court which was interrupted three times by rain and finished in fast-falling drizzle.
Yesterday’s victory maintained the steady progress made by the German-born world number 10 but she is steadfastly refusing to look beyond her next match.
“I have not asked myself those questions and I’m not about to,” she said. “I really am taking it match by match.
“It’s the quarter-finals now so every match is amazingly tough. I’m going to just try to win each one of them and see how it goes.”
Mauresmo was in generous mood just two days before her 28th birthday, gifting her young opponent 37 unforced errors in a scrappy performance which matched the miserable weather.
“Everything went wrong today,” admitted Mauresmo, who produced 14 double faults. My serve was definitely not working really well today.
“I think I had some up and downs throughout the first week and it showed a little bit more today when you play a better opponent and when it’s a little tighter in terms of score.
“The interruptions didn’t help but it was the same for her. She was in a much better rhythm throughout the whole match than I was.”
Meanwhile Marion Bartoli caused a second shock after fighting back from a set down to oust third seed Jelena Jankovic.
The 18th seed booked a quarter-final date with Michaella Krajicek after defeating the Edgbaston champion 3-6 7-5 6-3.
The Court One crowd were left disappointed and delighted in equal measure such was each player’s inconsistency – understandable considering the stop-start nature of the game – with both players more comfortable returning than serving.
Jankovic has been the form player of 2007 but faltered in the final set, dropping serve three times.
Afterwards a delighted Bartoli said: “I think at the end I was a little physically stronger than her, she didn’t know really what tactic to play against me out there.
“It’s not a big surprise for me — I’m a top-20 player — but I haven’t won Wimbledon. It was a great match overall, I played great, I was happy but not over happy.
“That’s why I’m working these 16 years, to be on this big stage and win against big players.’’
Ana Ivanovic was another in-form seed in trouble as she battled through four rain breaks, the last of which came with her serving for the match against Nadia Petrova on Court Two.
The Serbian sixth seed eventually won 6-1 2-6 6-4 and will face Nicole Vaidisova in the last eight.
“We had to stop and when I came back I lost a bit of concentration,’’ said Ivanovic. “I felt a bit empty and lost my fighting spirit but in the third set I tried to fight through it.
“My shots weren’t working as well today but you have to win when you’re not playing so well, and that was the case today.
“Mentally it was very tough, with lots of stops and ups and down in my game. I had to fight for every point and I hope to have the chance to play better tomorrow.’’
Fifth seed Kuznetsova was the first player through on day eight with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over 16-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek.
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