The bottom half of the ladies draw lost two former Wimbledon champions as day 4 finished. Maria Sharapova met her fate when she crashed out to fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in straight sets, 62 64. Lindsay Davenport didn't have to play a point. She just retired with a right knee injury she suffered from in Eastbourne, and gave an easy win to Gisela Dulko.
Alla Kudryavtseva is currently ranked No. 154, reached a high rank of No. 59 last year, and certainly will rise in rankings from the win to the No. 3 in the world. Alla was aggressive from the very start, demolishing her countrywomen in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
"Maybe it will sound a little too much for me, but I did expect to win; I didn't just think about going and playing," Kudryavtseva said. "I realized Maria wasn't playing that great when she double faulted three times - I don't know what score that was - but it was the first time I broke her. She picked it up towards the end of the match and started playing some really good, aggressive tennis, putting more balls in the court, not overplaying the shots. I did a good job dealing with that. I knew she'd pick it up at some point. She always does. Thank God that last forehand went in!"
"I guess it wasn't my day," Sharapova said. "She just did everything better than I did. She hit the ball harder, served and returned better... On grass, those are two important elements. When you don't have a lot on the ball, your opponent can take advantage of that. Obviously she had nothing to lose. She went for her shots. I wasn't playing my game. I let her take control of the majority of points."
"For sure my first match with Maria helped, but I think what helped more was last year's match with Venus," Kudryavtseva said. "I was so close to winning, and then I played a little too passive in the end. So today I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to do the same mistake again.' So I went for my shots."
"I'm experienced enough to know that life goes on and that there are a lot worse things in life than losing a tennis match, even if it's at Wimbledon and even if it means a lot to me."Maria said. "I still have the desire, even 30 minutes after the match, to get better. That's the only thing that's gonna get me to hold that plate again."
Davenport suffers injury, retires
Alla Kudryavtseva is currently ranked No. 154, reached a high rank of No. 59 last year, and certainly will rise in rankings from the win to the No. 3 in the world. Alla was aggressive from the very start, demolishing her countrywomen in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
"Maybe it will sound a little too much for me, but I did expect to win; I didn't just think about going and playing," Kudryavtseva said. "I realized Maria wasn't playing that great when she double faulted three times - I don't know what score that was - but it was the first time I broke her. She picked it up towards the end of the match and started playing some really good, aggressive tennis, putting more balls in the court, not overplaying the shots. I did a good job dealing with that. I knew she'd pick it up at some point. She always does. Thank God that last forehand went in!"
"I guess it wasn't my day," Sharapova said. "She just did everything better than I did. She hit the ball harder, served and returned better... On grass, those are two important elements. When you don't have a lot on the ball, your opponent can take advantage of that. Obviously she had nothing to lose. She went for her shots. I wasn't playing my game. I let her take control of the majority of points."
"For sure my first match with Maria helped, but I think what helped more was last year's match with Venus," Kudryavtseva said. "I was so close to winning, and then I played a little too passive in the end. So today I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to do the same mistake again.' So I went for my shots."
"I'm experienced enough to know that life goes on and that there are a lot worse things in life than losing a tennis match, even if it's at Wimbledon and even if it means a lot to me."Maria said. "I still have the desire, even 30 minutes after the match, to get better. That's the only thing that's gonna get me to hold that plate again."
Davenport suffers injury, retires
Davenport won here at Wimbledon in 1999, was a finalist here in 2000 and 2005, and a semifinalist in 2001 and 2004.
"After my first match I went to the hospital and had an MRI," said Davenport, the champion here in 1999. "It came out looking good. The cartilage looks good, the structure, the ligaments, the tendons all look fine. It just showed I had some inflammation and some fluid behind the kneecap. My first thought was major relief - it had nothing to do with the previous surgery on my knee. No immediate danger, it was just really inflamed and painful. I wanted to give it a rest all day yesterday. I had treatment twice and wanted to see how it felt today in warm-up, and I felt about 25, 30 percent. It's just not good enough. It's not going to get better the more I play. So, prescribed rest."
Sharapova and Davenport weren't the only seeds out on Thursday. No.10 seed Daniela Hantuchova was ousted by Alisa Kleybanova, 63 46 61; No.13 seed Vera Zvonareva lost to last week's 's-Hertogenbosch champion Tamarine Tanasugarn, 76(10) 46 63; No.22 seed Flavia Pennetta lost to Ai Sugiyama, 76(5) 26 62; No.26 seed Sybille Bammer lost to Peng Shuai, 76(7) 46 63; and No.32 seed Sania Mirza fell to qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez in a nail-biter, 60 46 97.
Jelena, Venus continue dream run
No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic and No. 7 seed Venus Williams both moved safely through to the next round. Venus, Wimbledon champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2007. Jankovic, trying to win the first major of her career, crushed breakthrough story Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets, 61 63. Next she is going to play Caroline Wozniacki, who beat a player with a similar last name, Aleksandra Wozniak. Wozniacki has three top ten wins this year already.
"She's a nice girl," said Jankovic of Wozniacki. "I'll go out there and try to do what I do best. I don't know how far she'll go in her career - I can't predict the future - but she's a great player and has lots of talent and potential."
Williams, who had a tough first set in her first match of the tournament, had a tough first set in this match, but anyway won the match in straight sets to British wildcard Anne Keothavong, 75 62.
"I played two really great girls in the first two rounds," said Williams, who beat Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday, 76(5) 61. "They were very challenging. I think it will be great for Wimbledon and great for British tennis if they would continue playing as they did here. The future looks really bright for British women's tennis."
If they keep winning, Jankovic and Williams could meet in the quarterfinals. Only one seed is standing in Jankovic's way, Wozniacki, and she is the only seed in Jankovic's quarter.
"After my first match I went to the hospital and had an MRI," said Davenport, the champion here in 1999. "It came out looking good. The cartilage looks good, the structure, the ligaments, the tendons all look fine. It just showed I had some inflammation and some fluid behind the kneecap. My first thought was major relief - it had nothing to do with the previous surgery on my knee. No immediate danger, it was just really inflamed and painful. I wanted to give it a rest all day yesterday. I had treatment twice and wanted to see how it felt today in warm-up, and I felt about 25, 30 percent. It's just not good enough. It's not going to get better the more I play. So, prescribed rest."
Sharapova and Davenport weren't the only seeds out on Thursday. No.10 seed Daniela Hantuchova was ousted by Alisa Kleybanova, 63 46 61; No.13 seed Vera Zvonareva lost to last week's 's-Hertogenbosch champion Tamarine Tanasugarn, 76(10) 46 63; No.22 seed Flavia Pennetta lost to Ai Sugiyama, 76(5) 26 62; No.26 seed Sybille Bammer lost to Peng Shuai, 76(7) 46 63; and No.32 seed Sania Mirza fell to qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez in a nail-biter, 60 46 97.
Jelena, Venus continue dream run
No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic and No. 7 seed Venus Williams both moved safely through to the next round. Venus, Wimbledon champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2007. Jankovic, trying to win the first major of her career, crushed breakthrough story Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets, 61 63. Next she is going to play Caroline Wozniacki, who beat a player with a similar last name, Aleksandra Wozniak. Wozniacki has three top ten wins this year already.
"She's a nice girl," said Jankovic of Wozniacki. "I'll go out there and try to do what I do best. I don't know how far she'll go in her career - I can't predict the future - but she's a great player and has lots of talent and potential."
Williams, who had a tough first set in her first match of the tournament, had a tough first set in this match, but anyway won the match in straight sets to British wildcard Anne Keothavong, 75 62.
"I played two really great girls in the first two rounds," said Williams, who beat Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday, 76(5) 61. "They were very challenging. I think it will be great for Wimbledon and great for British tennis if they would continue playing as they did here. The future looks really bright for British women's tennis."
If they keep winning, Jankovic and Williams could meet in the quarterfinals. Only one seed is standing in Jankovic's way, Wozniacki, and she is the only seed in Jankovic's quarter.
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