By STEPHEN WILSON, AP
Posted: 3:52 am
June 27, 2008
WIMBLEDON, England - Two-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick is gone.
Roddick didn't survive in a day of stunning second-round upsets at Wimbledon, including former champion Maria Sharapova.
The women's field also lost 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew because of an injured right knee before her second-round match against Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
Roddick, who lost in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals to Roger Federer, went out 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to 40th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who has never gone past the fourth round at a major.
The sixth-seeded Roddick went 0-8 on break points, while Tipsarevic converted both of his break chances. Roddick had three set points in the fourth set but couldn't capitalize, and Tipsarevic finished him off in the tiebreaker, falling to his hands and knees in celebration on Centre Court.
"I pretty much choked it," Roddick said. "You want something so bad, you squeeze too tight. I didn't make anything happen tonight. Zero, zero, zero. I played horrific shots on break points. At big moments, I blinked."
Defending champion Venus Williams, meanwhile, overcame another erratic performance and pulled away to beat Britain's Anne Keothavong 7-5, 6-2 and reach the third round. In men's play, second-seeded Rafael Nadal rallied to beat 19-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
For the second straight match, four-time champion Williams faced a modest British opponent in the opening contest on Centre Court and was tested to the limit in the first set. The pattern and result were almost identical to her 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday.
The first set lasted 69 minutes as Williams struggled to take command against her 92nd-ranked opponent.
"I lost a little bit of focus but got it back thankfully," the American said.
Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic advanced by beating Spanish wild card entry Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-3.
In other men's play, No. 9 James Blake - who has never gone past the third round at Wimbledon - lost to Germany's Rainer Schuettler, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and No. 12 Andy Murray advanced 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 over Belgium's Xavier Malisse.
