Wimbledon, England – The last two American men in the Wimbledon draw played close to their current potential Monday, but only one of them advanced to the quarterfinals.
Andy Roddick, once again showing he is a mightily improved volleyer, darted past Guillermo Coria, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, while Taylor Dent was beaten by Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3.
Dent was predictably unhappy, but in a few days, perhaps even today when he’s less emotional, he will reflect on this fourth-round defeat and find he did a solid job so soon after recovering from a serious ankle injury.
He had beaten Hewitt at a warm-up tournament to the Australian Open in January and expected a win this time, too. But it took Dent a full set to find a rhythm with his 135-140 mph first serve, and he was making too many errors from the baseline.
His volleying, which is a major part of the strength of his game, was better than average, but not nearly good enough against one of the best service returners in the game and a swift runner who specializes in passing shots.
Roddick, the No. 2 seed, will play friend Sebastien Grosjean in the quarters, while Hewitt faces left-handed Feliciano Lopez, whose win over No. 10 Mario Ancic made him the first Spaniard in 33 years, since Manuel Orantes, to make the final eight at Wimbledon.
Also through the quarters: Top-seeded and defending champion Roger Federer, No. 12 Thomas Johansson, David Nalbandian and Fernando Gonzales. They help form a group that comprises eight nationalities.
In addition to Roddick, who splits time between Boca Raton, Fla., and Austin, Texas, there is Grosjean (France), Nalbandian (Argentina), Johansson (Sweden), Hewitt (Australia), Gonzalez (Chile), Federer (Switzerland) and Lopez.
For Roddick, this tournament has been a bit of a coming-out party for his net game, and he will need it to have a chance to beat Federer, if they reach the final for the second year in a row.
“The first set he was a little off,” Roddick said of Coria, a former French Open runner-up who has come a long way in mastering grass. “He was missing from the baseline, kind of spraying balls. So I stayed back a little bit more. Then, he got grooved and you have to try to put the pressure on a little more.”
Roddick did that by coming to net and forcing Coria to hit more precise groundstrokes.
The eight remaining men will have today off, then play Wednesday.
Grosjean beat Roddick the first time they played, on clay in 2002. Roddick has won the past six, including three on grass.
If he gets by Grosjean, he will face the winner of Nalbandian vs. Johansson.
Federer was in near cruise control in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero.
If he beats Gonzalez on Wednesday, he’ll catch the winner of Hewitt vs. Lopez.