London, June 28: Andy Roddick and Venus Williams had the stars and stripes flying proudly over Centre Court as the two Americans powered into the fourth round at Wimbledon yesterday.
Barely an hour after Roddick had qualified for the last 16 of the men's singles for the first time, Venus had joined him at the same stage of the women's with a 6-1 6-2 win over Russia's Nadia Petrova.
The fourth seed, champion here in 2000 and 2001 before being dethroned last year by sister Serena, will now get her chance to avenge her fourth round defeat at the French Open by Petrova's compatriot, Vera Zvonareva.
That loss, and her recent eclipse by younger sister Serena, had led some to question whether Venus's appetite for tennis was on the wane - a suggestion she dismissed both on the court and in the interview room. "I work a lot harder when I haven't had the results," she said. Roddick meanwhile was in bullish mood after his third straight sets victory of the tournament, a 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 6-3 dismissal of Spanish claycourter Tommy Robredo.



"I'm starting to believe myself and I'm definitely here to win this tournament," the 20-year-old Nebraskan declared.



Despite his current form and the fact that he had never lost to Robredo in four previous meetings, Roddick started the match tentatively. But after shading the first set tie-break 7/5, there was only ever going to be one winner and proceedings were brought to a halt after one hour and 54 minutes.


Bureau Report