Hitting Back :: A New York Sports Blog

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Their names both start with ‘M’ and it would be easy to point out how physically gifted each player was entering this year’s Wimbledon. What wasn’t known about either Croatian Mario Ancic or Russian veteran Marat Safin was how they would perform.

That’s been the case for the two-time former slam winner Safin for quite a while. Where you just never know what kind of game he’ll bring to the court. As he’s proven this first week at the All England Club, the always entertaining Marat has made plenty of noise thus far eliminating third seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic from the second round in straight sets.

So, how would he follow up such a big win? That answer was provided late in the day as he completed a hard fought four set win over Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to advance to the second week of a major for the first time in nearly two years. In fact, it was only the second time in the moody Russian’s career that he’s advanced to Week Two of Wimbledon with the previous one coming seven years ago when he got to the quarters on his least favorite surface.

Despite a pesky opponent who made him work for every point, the 28 year-old still had enough big shots to take the third and fourth sets after they split the opening two. The third set saw the server in control with a second tiebreaker needed to decide matters. In the opening one, Safin stepped up when he needed to for a mini break and then a service winner to close it out.

This time, he got off to a quick 4-0 two mini break lead before Seppi closed within 4-3. But the former 2005 Australian Open winner made a couple of tough shots and closed out the breaker by taking the last three points for a one set lead.

After trading early breaks in the fourth, Safin held and then broke again. It looked like he would not be threatened on serve. With a chance to close it out, he faced three break points. When he needed it most, his bigger ground strokes came through as did an underrated net game (26/35, 74 percent) to get him out of trouble and to the finish line in spite of darkness which he afterwards complained about despite pulling through.

“At the end of the match it was pretty tough because we both, I think, couldn’t see the ball anymore,” a relieved Safin expressed during a postmatch interview of the third round match which concluded at 9:17 PM London time. “I was a little bit worried … at the score 3-2, I just couldn’t see.”

In a competitive match where not much separated the two players, he saw well enough to play the bigger points better to advance to a Round of 16 meeting with 13th seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

While one happy comeback story unfolded, yet another took place with Ancic, who was given a wildcard into the tournament. The 24 year-old talented Croat had dealt with a rash of injuries and sickness over the last year which dropped his ranking but finally appears fully recovered ready to make a dent and possibly fulfill expectations.

The last man who defeated Roger Federer on grass at this very event six years prior continued his resurgence with an impressive four set triumph over gritty fifth seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3). Playing an all court game which included his huge serve which produced 18 more aces (Ancic-23, Ferrer-5) than his opponent, he jumped out to a two set lead against one of the ATP’s most consistent performers.

If Ancic thought it was going to be easy, forget it because the word quit isn’t in Ferrer’s vocabulary. Instead of wilting despite not being able to break his tough opponent’s serve (0-for-6 on break points), the 26 year-old baseliner upped his game a couple of notches to force a third set breaker.

In it, when push came to shove, the determined Ferrer made it happen by hitting penetrating groundstrokes including a huge forehand inside the baseline which drew an Ancic error for 6-5 setting up set point. A big first serve out wide wasn’t returned giving the emotional Spaniard the set and momentum.

Both players continued to play despite dark conditions past 9 as was the case in the other match. They each held serve throughout an ultra competitive fourth set which featured some of the best grasscourt tennis you’ll see. With each player very fit, there were plenty of crowd pleasing extended rallies along with winners and most notably, not many errors. They combined for just 45 unforced which is a very good number for the kind of high calibre tennis they played.

In the breaker, it was Ancic’s bigger serve and game which made the difference. He imposed his will and made the shots when he needed to including a very cool backhand stab volley winner on a net cord from a difficult position. It was that kind of play which allowed him to avoid having to go five against one of the game’s most fit players.

When it ended, an emotional Ancic kissed the grass at Centre Court.

“It was an incredible match from first point to last point. The crowd was going crazy,” he later admitted. “It was just a couple of points that went to my side. I was looking forward to playing on Centre Court. That was my dream. I’m so, so happy I’m back again.”

He’ll next get 22nd seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. If Ancic wins, there’s a very good chance he’ll meet Federer in the quarters. The rating five-time champ made quick work of Frenchman Marc Gicquel posting a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win to setup a Round of 16 Monday date with former 2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt, who has been rejuvenated under the world No.1′s former part/time coach Tony Roche. The Aussie eliminated Italy’s Simone Bolelli 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (2) and was very much looking forward to another meeting with Federer despite little recent success. He’s dropped the last 11 with the last win dating back to the 2004 Australian Open.

Ivanovic bows out: In a week which saw so many big names fall by the wayside including women’s No.1 Ana Ivanovic yesterday to comebacking China’s Jie Zheng 6-1, 6-4, it was refreshing to have a couple of good stories such as Ancic and Safin making the second week intriguing in spite of some of the game’s biggest stars who won’t have a shot at winning the trophy.

For the 20 year-old Ivanovic who captured her first major earlier this month at Roland Garros winning the French, she couldn’t avoid the upset bug like in the second round when she used a net cord to save match point against veteran Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy before rallying to pull out an epic three set marathon which went more than three hours. Perhaps it took something out of the Serb.

“It was a very emotional last couple of weeks for me and it took a bit of a toll,” a disappointed Ivanovic later said. “I didn’t have great preparation.”