The Hindu : Sport : Belgians Clijsters, Henin to meet in fourth round

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Belgians Clijsters, Henin to meet in fourth round

Marathon man Isner bows out; Federer cruises

— PHOTO: AP

IN FORM:Justine Henin despatched Nadia Petrova in the third round

LONDON: Exhausted record-breaker John Isner was knocked out of Wimbledon in straight sets on Friday as Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin set up a fourth-round clash of the Belgian comeback queens.

Isner dragged his battered body back to the All England Club after his epic, record-shattering encounter with French qualifier Nicolas Mahut.

The American 23rd seed was clearly feeling the strain, losing his second round match 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 to Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands.

Drained Isner had rained down a world record 112 aces against Mahut but could not even muster one against De Bakker.

“I was just low on fuel out there. I didn't really have a chance,” Isner said.

“It was brutal. Things were looking pretty bleak right from the get-go. I have never been this exhausted before.”

Meanwhile Belgian duo Clijsters and Henin set up a fourth-round encounter after they both saw off Russian seeds in straight sets.

On Clijsters' last appearance at Wimbledon in 2006, she was beaten by Henin in the semifinals.

“Against someone like Justine... you have to bring your best if you want to have a chance to win,” Clijsters said.

Henin said: “It's a great opportunity for both of us. To play each other again in a Grand Slam, it's something we couldn't expect a year ago. It's going to be interesting, very exciting.

Eighth seed Clijsters brushed aside 27th seed Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3 on Court Two.

Henin, the 17th seed, defeated 12th seed Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-4.

Easy for Venus

Elsewhere, five-times Wimbledon champion Venus Williams saw off another Russian seed, Alisa Kleybanova, 6-4, 6-2.

“These players I'm playing against, I definitely feel I'm holding them at bay,” the world No.2 said.

She faces Australia's in-form Jarmila Groth in round four.

Serbian men's third seed Novak Djokovic saw off Spain's Albert Montanes, the 28th seed, in straight sets.

“It hasn't been the best four or five months for me but I'm still holding on,” Djokovic said.

He next faces Australia's 2002 Wimbledon winner Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Gael Monfils, also in straight sets.

Later, men's defending champion Roger Federer, who had lunch with Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday when she visited the All England Club, raced past Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 into the fourth round.

Fifth seed Andy Roddick, three times a beaten Wimbledon finalist, will take on Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Lu Yen-Hsun became the first man from Taiwan to make it through to a Grand Slam fourth round when his German opponent Florian Mayer pulled out at 6-4, 6-4, 2-1 down.

Russian 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny was beaten in five sets by Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in a delayed second round match.

In the women's draw, Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic beat Ukraine's 28th-seeded Alona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-3.

She has reached the Wimbledon fourth round three times before but has never made the quarterfinals. — AFP

(Prefix denotes seedings)

Men Third round: 3-Novak Djokovic bt 28-Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; 15-Lleyton Hewitt bt 21-Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-4; Lu Yen-Hsun bt Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-4, 2-1 retd; 16-Jurgen Melzer bt 22-Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; 1-Roger Federer bt Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

Second: round: Thiemo de Bakker bt 23-John Isner 6-0, 6-3, 6-2; Paul-Henri Mathieu bt 13-Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles: Second round: Mahesh Bhupati & Max Miryni bt Jamie Delgado & Joshua Goodal 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Lukas Lacko & Sergiy Stakhovskybt Lukas Dlouhy & Leander Paes 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 7-5; Philipp Marx & Igor Zelenay bt Rohan Bopanna & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6(6), 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 11-13.

Women: Third round: 8-Kim Clijsters bt 27-Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3; 11-Marion Bartoli bt Greta Arn 6-3, 6-4; 17-Justine Henin bt 12-Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-4; 4-Jelena Jankovic bt 28-Alona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Regina Kulikova 6-4, 2-0 retd; 21-Vera Zvonareva bt 15-Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-2; 2-Venus Williams bt 26-Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-2; Jarmila Groth bt Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-5.

Second round: 1-Serena Williams bt Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 6-1; Dominika Cibulkova bt Ayumi Morita 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 7-5 .

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