1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Federer in fine form

Jefferson ChaseJuly 4, 2015

Australia's Sam Groth owns the record for the world's hardest serve. But he had no answer for the overall game of former world number-one Roger Federer, whose quest for an eighth Wimbledon title continues.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Fsku
Großbritannien Wimbledon Tennis Championships - Roger Federer
Image: Reuters/H. Browne

263 kilometers an hour was the pace of the serve that put Sam Groth in the record books, and on Saturday against Roger Federer he bashed the second-fastest one ever recorded in Wimbledon history at 237 kmh. To no avail.

The velocity of the hulking Austrialian - whose last name tellingly rhymes with behemoth - couldn't compensate for his inability to break Federer, who was never in danger of dropping his own serve and won the first two sets 6-4, 6-4.

There were no breaks in third set, and Groth showed surprising agility at the net to squeak by in a tie-breaker. But with Federer's own sliced serve finding its mark, Groth's hopes of an unlikely upset were quickly ended in the fourth set. The final score: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.

"It has been a hot week the first week but thankfully I have had easy matches going through without too many long four or five setters," Federer told BBC after the contest. "Now we are looking ahead and there are only big matches."

The Swiss is seeking to better his own record of seven Wimbledon titles.

In Saturday's late match on Centre Court, Andy Murray clamped down on an Andreas Seppi comback to win 6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1. As the only player from Britain left in the tournament, Murray can count on the undivided support of the crowds at the All-England Club.

Defending women's champion out

Großbritannien Wimbledon Tennis Championships - Caroline Wozniacki
Wozniacki won her match, but not all the women's favorites were so luckyImage: Reuters/S. Wermuth

In the early women's action, number five Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark had few problems with Italy's Camila Giorgi winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. But there was a trio of surprises later on.

In the biggest upset, defending champion Petra Kvitova threw away a lead and crashed out of the tournament. The Czech won the first set and had a break advanatge in the second against Jelena Jankovic, but the Serbian veteran mounted a stunning comeback to force a decider. The two players stayed on serve until the decisive tenth game, when Jankovic broke Kvitova to seal an improbable 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

It was a bad day for German players. Angelique Kerber's Wimbledon dreams came to an end after she lost an unusual three-setter to Garbine Muguruza. The Spaniard, seeded number 20, took the first set in an epic 14-12 tie-breaker that saw her fend off nine set points.

The tenth-seeded Kerber stormed back to win the second set, only dropping a single game. But Muguruza recovered to take the decider and the match 7-6, 1-6, 6-2.

Things went no better for Kerber's compatriot Sabine Lisicki. The 2013 Wimbledon runner-up is headed home after being convincingly beaten by Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2.

England Tennis Wimbledon Dustin Brown
A remarkable week for Brown screeched to a halt against TroickiImage: Reuters/T. Melville

Brown's fairy tale comes to an end

Another player who won't be competing in the round of 16 is Dustin Brown. The 30-year-old journeyman German, who travels around on the circuit in a camper van, created a sensation early this week when he dumped former champion Rafael Nadal out of the tournament.

But Brown was no match for the world number 24, Viktor Troicki of Serbia. The Serb prevailed in the first set by a single service break and claimed the second in a tiebreaker. Brown got himself back in the match by winning the third set 6-4.

But he fell behind in the fourth after conceding an early break and double-faulted on match point to hand Troicki a 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

"The schedule is to go to the airport and take the earliest flight because tomorrow morning, I have club matches in Cologne, Germany," said Brown after his defeat.

All in all, it was a deserved win for Troicki, who has beaten two top 10 players this year and will be seeking to move into the latter rounds at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.