Wimbledon 2012 Update: Nadal Out and Djokovic Advances

Due to rain showers on Friday at Wimbledon, top-seeded Novak Djokovic played on Centre Court under the retractable roof, defeating Radek Stepanek, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the next round. Tournament officials decided to close the roof for Djokovic’s match. Once the roof was fully closed, the sun came out and outside courts resumed play. Djokovic slipped in the opening set and missed his chance to claim an early lead. He failed to convert the first five-break point chances then lost serve to love for Stepanek to take the set. From then on, Djokovic regained composure and broke in the first game of each of the next three sets.
Djokovic faces fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki in the fourth round, as Troicki advanced with a 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 win over Juan Monaco.

On Thursday, Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, currently ranked 100th in the world, scored what may be the biggest upset in the history of Wimbledon, a 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over world number two-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain. Nadal had just recently claimed the French Open title this month and previously reached the past five Grand Slam finals. For the past five Wimbledons, Nadal has appeared in the finals of each, taking the title in 2008 and 2010.

Rosol previously had lost in qualifying for Wimbledon in the past five years. This time he outplayed Nadal with his strong serving and powerful ground strokes. A backhand cross-court winner measured 99 mph. Towards the end, he was serving so well that Nadal did not even try to get them. He won the final 13 service points, seven being aces.

"Today I was somewhere else and I’m really happy for this,” said Rosol. “Still, I cannot find the words. I still can’t believe it. It’s like a dream for me. Before the last game, I was not sure if I will be shaking or not because it was the first time against Rafa and the first time also in Wimbledon Centre Court. You never know what to expect, so it was not easy, and I survived.”

Rosol will next face the number 27 seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.