Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick (photo) was eliminated 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 6-4 yesterday by Feliciano Lopez in the third round, the biggest upset of the men’s tournament so far.
The 44th-ranked Lopez served 28 aces and piled up 57 winners to defeat Roddick on Centre Court, the American’s first loss to the Spanish left-hander in eight matches.
“He played an outstanding match,” Roddick said. “I feel like he played as complete a match as he’s played against me. He served about as well as someone has.”
In a surprise on the women’s side, second-seeded and 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by 33rd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. The Russian converted only one of seven break points and had 18 unforced errors. Pironkova upset Venus Williams here last year en route to the semifinals.
Williams, a five-time champion, set up a fourth-round rematch against Pironkova by routing Marcia Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 6-2 in one hour on Court 1.
Williams had 21 winners and only five unforced errors against Martinez Sanchez. It was a big change from her previous match, when Williams was stretched to three sets and three hours by 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.
The eighth-seeded Roddick, who lost to Roger Federer in the finals in 2004, 2005 and 2009, served 23 aces but also had six double-faults. It’s the third time in four years Roddick has lost in the early rounds — he went out in the second round in 2008 and the fourth last year.
“He played better than I did,” Roddick said. “He beat me. It’s easier for me to walk out of here with that and move forward with that than 2008 where I lost to Janko Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked or last year where I just kind of had a million opportunities and kind of gave it away. Those are tougher to take now.”
Lopez, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2005 and 2008, broke Roddick twice and had only seven unforced errors.
Earlier, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, pursuing another bid for her first Grand Slam title, made only one unforced error in defeating Virginie Razzano 6-1, 6-3 to move into the third round.
The 20-year-old Dane was at the top of her game, downing the 96th-ranked Frenchwoman in 66 minutes in sunny conditions on Court 2 at the All England Club.
Wozniacki, who extended her career record against Razzano to 5-0, took command of the match from the beginning and was never in trouble.
Wozniacki, who will face Jarmila Gajdosova, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon the past two years but has never made it to the quarter-finals. Despite her No. 1 ranking, she has never won a major title, losing at the 2009 US Open to Kim Clijsters in her only Grand Slam final.
In another early women’s match, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova recovered from a slow start to beat 17-year-old British wild card Laura Robson 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Court 1. The Russian trailed 4-1 in the first set, and then 4-2 in the tiebreaker, before taking charge against the former Wimbledon junior champion.
Elsewhere yesterday, seventh-seeded David Ferrrer beat Ryan Harrison of the United States 6-7 (8), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The match had been suspended by darkness on Thursday night in the fourth set.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal was leading Gilles Muller 7-6 (6) in his third-round match when rain stopped play for the day.
The match will resume today on Court 1.
In women’s play, 2007 runner-up and No. 9-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round. No. 11 Andrea Petkovic was ousted by Russia’s Ksenia Pervak, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Two-time Grand Slam titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 12th, was eliminated in the third round by No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Advancing to the fourth round was No. 8 Petra Kvitova, who beat Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3.