Pironkova stuns Venus Williams at Wimbledon

Five-time champion and second seed Venus Williams lost 2-6, 3-6 to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Williams, whose loss meant she failed to reach the final for the first time since 2006, was outplayed from the outset by the world number 82 on Court One at the All England Club.

Pironkova, the lowest ranked player left in the women's draw, will play either Belgium's Kim Clijsters or Russian Vera Zvonareva for a place in Saturday's final.

Mahut-Isner locked in longest match in tennis history

Locked at 59-59 in unfinished fifth set of round one, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner's 10-hour epic is longest-ever official tennis match recorded


Tennis history was rewritten at Wimbledon yesterday as Nicolas Mahut and John Isner shattered the record for the longest-ever match ” and still could not finish.

A string of tennis records were blown away as the players came off court at 59-59 in the final set, having slugged it out for around 10 hours when play was suspended as they ran out of daylight.

"Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever," said an exhausted Isner, the American 23rd seed.

Tennis fans packed out the 782-capacity Court 18, with people lining the roof of the Wimbledon broadcasting centre several deep, and straining to peer through any gaps they could to catch a glimpse of the epic match.

The unfinished fifth set itself was longer than the previous longest match ever played. That match took six hours and 33 minutes. The shattered record was set at the 2004 French Open, when Fabrice Santoro beat fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14.

Isner had match point at 59-58, but Mahut fired down an ace to take it back to deuce, before going on to win the game. At 59-59 and 9:10pm (2010 GMT) with the light fading fast, match officials tried to suspend play, though Isner wanted to carry on. Spectators yelled "We want more".

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to darkness, play is suspended," the umpire announced.

Federer is the greatest

Roger Federer made history on Sunday when he defeated brave Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 16-14 to win a sixth Wimbledon title and claim a record 15th Grand Slam crown in a classic final.

But the 27-year-old Swiss second seed was given a huge fright by the American sixth seed who led by a set, had four set points in the second and didn't drop serve until the final, heartbreaking game of the match.

In an extraordinary conclusion, the deciding set was, at 95 minutes, the longest ever played in a men's Wimbledon final and was longer than it took the Williams sisters to contest the women's final on Saturday.

Federer now has six Wimbledon titles, five US Opens, three Australian Opens and a French Open trophy, and has surpassed Pete Sampras's mark of 14 majors.

He will also reclaim his world number one spot from Rafael Nadal, who beat him in a five-set final here last year.

"Andy (Roddick) played an unbelievable tournament. He's a great guy but there has to be a winner sometimes," said Federer after the 4hr 16min final.

"I didn't hold the trophy last year. But it feels great after such a crazy match which could have gone on for a few more hours. My head is still spinning.

"Getting 15 Grand Slam titles is not something you dream about when you are a little boy, but I've had a great career.

"It's been quite a month winning the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back just like Bjorn Borg did.

"I don't play to break records but it's great to have them."

Roddick, who has now lost three Wimbledon finals to Federer, was in tears at the end of the match.

"Roger is a true champion and he deserves all he gets," said Roddick.

"I hope to come back one day and get my name up on that winners' board."

When asked later if he had just lost to the greatest player of all time, Roddick replied: "Yes."

Sampras, and fellow greats Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg were on hand to watch Federer's bid for history, as were Hollywood giants Woody Allen and Russell Crowe, such was the attraction of the Centre Court blockbuster.

Sampras had flown in from his California home and he agreed with Roddick.

"In my book, Roger is the greatest of all time. He has his critics and people point to Rafael Nadal beating him, but for me he's the greatest. He is a legend and an icon," said Sampras.

Federer, in a record seventh straight Wimbledon final and 20th Grand Slam title match, saw Roddick save four break points in the 11th game of the opening set and he immediately paid a heavy price.

The Swiss went wide with a crosscourt drive, which put him set point down, and then repeated the error to hand the American the opener 7-5.

Roddick, whose only Grand Slam title came at the 2003 US Open, lost the 2004 and 2005 finals here to Federer, just two of his 18 defeats in 20 previous career meetings with the world number two.

But on Sunday he wisely adopted the same game plan he employed in his semi-final win over Britain's Andy Murray, a powerful mix of trademark big groundstrokes punctuated by regular visits to the net.

Roddick then stretched to a 6/2 lead, and four set points, in the second set tiebreaker, but Federer fought back and levelled the final when the American unleashed a wild backhand.

Roddick was now under siege, saving a break point in the sixth game of the third set before another tiebreaker was required.

Federer went to three set points, two of which Roddick saved, but the Swiss opened up a two sets to one lead when a Roddick service return fell comfortably into his hitting zone and he despatched a fierce forehand winner.

But Roddick, playing in his first Grand Slam final since the 2006 US Open, refused to surrender and broke Federer to lead 3-1 in the fourth set on his way to levelling the final.

Federer again failed to convert a break point in the second game of the marathon decider before he was forced to fight off two on his own serve in the 17th game.

But eventually Roddick, always having to play catch-up, finally wilted in the 30th game of the decider when he ballooned a weary forehand long.

Serena captures third Wimbledon title

Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, on Saturday.
The victory added to her 2002 and 2003 wins at the All England Club and shattered Venus's hopes of a hat-trick of titles and sixth overall which would have taken her level with Billie Jean King.

Saturday's final was the fourth all-Williams title match-up at Wimbledon and eighth in all Grand Slams with the win giving Serena the edge in head-to-head meetings at 11-10.

Of the eight major finals the sisters have faced each other in, Serena has won six.

"It feels so amazing. I'm so blessed. I feel like I shouldn't really be holding the trophy, Venus should be holding it, she always wins," said Serena who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles.

"I can't believe I have won 11 majors. It's a real honour."

Venus, 29, admitted Serena had been the better player of the two.

"She was just too good today. She had an answer for everything and played the best tennis," said Venus after a final fittingly staged on US Independence Day.

"I don't think the loss has set in yet, that's why I'm still smiling. But I have had some great times here and I'm looking forward to coming back next year."

Serve dominated the first set with 27-year-old Serena fighting off the only two break points in the eighth game and it was the younger of the two sisters who seized control of the tiebreak.

Serena went to three set points by forcing Venus to scramble from side to side before putting away a powerful crosscourt forehand.

Venus saved the first set point but was powerless when a pinpoint lob from her sister left her stranded at the net.

It was the first set Venus had dropped at Wimbledon since the third round in 2007, a run of 34 consecutive winning sets.

Serena, who had saved match point in her marathon semi-final win over Elena Dementieva, carved out her first set point when Venus double-faulted to hand her a 4-2 lead and revenge for last year's final defeat to her sister looked likely.

Second seed Serena held to love, backed-up by her 12th ace of the match, to lead 5-2.

She then wasted three match points in the eighth game but clinched the title when Venus netted with a forehand.

Paes-Black in mixed doubles semis

Top seeds Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black breezed into the semi-finals of Wimbledon's mixed doubles event with a fac
ile straight set win over 11th seeded Andre Sa and Ai Sugiyama on Thursday.

The Indo-Zimbabwean duo needed a little over an hour to swamp the Sa-Sugiyama pair 6-3, 6-3 in the lop-sided quarterfinal match.

In the semi-finals, they will take on 12th seeded pair of Australian Stephen Huss and his Spaniard partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The Huss-Pascal duo defeated humbled fourth seeds Kevin Ullyett and Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in a hard-fought quarterfinal match.

Bhupathi, Prakash advances, Sania tumbles

Sania Mirza crashed out of Wimbledon in the second round, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday.

The first set on Court 12 was a tight contest but Romanian number one Cirstea held serve to go 5-3 up, leaving Mirza serving to stay in the set.

The Indian hit the net to give her opponent set point but brought it back to deuce with some gutsy shots and well-placed lobs under pressure.

Though she won the game, Cirstea had three set points in the next one and won it with a backhand winner down the line.

The Romanian broke in the first game of the second set with another backhand winner, but Mirza hit straight back in the next game, with Cirstea even running into the back wall in her bid to retain her serve.

World number 85 Mirza held serve for a 3-1 lead but Cirstea broke on deuce as the Indian lost her footing.

Mirza hit the net in frustration at a line call as Cirstea levelled it at 3-3.

The next two games went with serve but Cirstea broke to leave her serving for the match at 5-4. Mirza shot long to give her opponent victory in an hour and 12 minutes.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowels had to dig deep to move into the second round with a tough 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Somdev Devvarman and South African Kevin Anderson here on Wednesday.

Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, too, had to come through a gruelling encounter to beat Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins 6-4, 6-7 (12), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The match was stopped after two sets due to fading light on Tuesday.

Venus says Wimbledon is her only true love

Venus Williams is not willing to trade the part of her heart that belongs to Wimbledon, for the tennis ace admits it is the only true love in her life. The 29-year-old single champ, who presently reigns Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles, said that the Championship comes before anything else.

"It is my true love. When something is in your heart you always do your very best to cherish it," the Daily Express quoted her as saying. "For me, it is Wimbledon - the most hallowed ground in tennis. And I would rather win it than any other Grand Slam title. As long as I remain a great player, I won't let go of that feeling," she added. The elder sister of Serena Williams has won 56 titles, including 17 Grand Slam titles - seven in singles, eight in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. Venus also holds the record of winning more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player in history.