Mardy Fish says Rafael Nadal looks pretty healthy

Mardy Fish was like most everybody else when Rafael Nadal hurt his left foot in a fourth-round match. The top-seeded and top-ranked Nadal needed an injury timeout and had spoken about feeling, for a moment, as if he had broken his left foot.

Nadal, however, moved without hindrance Wednesday while beating the 10th-seeded Fish 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Fish was asked after the loss if he felt Nadal was hindered at all by the sore foot.

"You tell me," Fish said. "I mean, you know, he seemed fine. He moved fine. I don't know."

Fish said he paid attention, as did most tennis fans, to reports about Nadal's injury and that he wouldn't have been human if he hadn't hoped, just a little bit, that Nadal might have been unable to play his quarterfinal.

"Yeah, the first few hours, I guess Monday night, I mean, you're a human being, so those things creep into your head," Fish said. "You know, they blew it up pretty good. He went to the hospital, this and that.

"So, yeah, I mean, that's not the way that I want to go through. Would I take it? Sure, I mean, I'd take it.  But, you know, I'm glad he's not injured. And clearly he's not."

Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal easily move to Wimbledon semifinals

Rafael Nadal might have been afraid he broke his foot during his Wimbledon fourth-round match, but the defending champion and No. 1 seed moved smoothly Wednesday in his quarterfinal match and beat 10th-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

In Friday's semifinals, Nadal will play fourth-seeded Andy Murray. Murray, the great hope of Great Britain, beat unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Murray appeared to be wincing through much of the third set, at least between points, but whatever was hurting him didn't appear to slow Murray down.

Nadal, who is now 6-0 in his career against Fish, could only leave Fish smiling with some of his shots, especially a lunging forehand hit by Nadal that curved around the net post, past a flailing Fish. The ball landed resolutely in the corner in the eighth game of the final set and Fish could only tug on his baseball cap, shake his head and grin.

Wimbledon: Roger Federer overtaken by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets

Roger Federer, seeded third and aiming for his seventh Wimbledon title, was a stunned loser on Wednesday to 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga on Centre Court in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

For the first time in 179 major tournament matches, Federer lost a two-set lead and fell to the Frenchman, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Tsonga danced and twirled his way off the court.

Tsonga showed no hint of nerves when he served out the final game of the match and finished with two big service winners.

"It was just amazing today," said Tsonga, who will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. "I played unbelievable. Everything was in. To come back from two sets down was just amazing. I am so happy. It's crazy.

"He's the biggest champion in my sport, he has achieved a lot of things. He is just the best player in the world, I'm so happy to win against him, especially on grass."

Federer never got a break point against Tsonga's serve in the final three sets and Tsonga's punishing power kept Federer off balance. Federer, 29, has now lost in the quarterfinals on his most dominant surface two years in a row. Last year Tomas Berdych upset the six-time champion. Federer was aiming to tie Pete Sampras with seven Wimbledon singles titles, most among the men. He has also failed to win a major title since the 2010 Australian Open.

This will be Tsonga's first Wimbledon semifinal appearance. He was in the 2008 Australian Open finals but his progress has been repeatedly slowed by a variety of injuries.

Wednesday, though, Tsonga won not only with big groundstrokes that were often punctuated with loud "oomphs," but he was also willing to play dainty drop shots and sneaky volleys. Tsonga had beaten Federer only once in five previous meetings, on a hard court in Montreal in 2009.

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Novak Djokovic slips into Wimbledon semifinals

Rafael Nadal's foot is not broken, so it's on with Mardy Fish

-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England

Top photo: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France celebrates after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in their quarterfinal match at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Credit: Toby Melville / Reuters

Bottom photo: Roger Federer reacts during his match against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday. Credit: Alastair Grant / Associated Press

Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic slips past 18-year-old and into semifinals

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic trailed several times and took a hard tumble that seemed to leave him hurting, but he gathered his powerful baseline game and beat 18-year-old qualifier Bernard Tomic of Australia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, on Wednesday to become the first Wimbledon men's semifinalist.

Djokovic trailed in the third set when Tomic, an Australian who won three matches to come through qualifying, kept moving Djokovic from side to side. But in the final set, Djokovic's constant depth of groundstrokes tired out the clever Tomic.

Tomic was the youngest man in the main draw and Djokovic has now made his fifth consecutive major tournament semifinal.

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Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal's foot is not broken, so it's on with Mardy Fish

Maria Sharapova looks like the Sharapova of old as she storms into Wimbledon semifinals

-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England

Photo: Serbia's Novak Djokovic falls onto the court during his match against Australia's Bernard Tomic on Wednesday. Credit: Anja Niedringhaus / Associated Press

Petra Kvitova returns to Wimbledon semifinals

Petra Kvitova cracked an ace on match point and the 21-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic  reached her second straight Wimbledon semifinal Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win over 23-year-old Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

Kvitova, seeded eighth and also was a quarterfinalist at this year's Australian Open, is trying to become the first left-handed Wimbledon winner since Martina Navratilova. Kvitova said the key game of the match was the first one of the third set when she broke the serve of the 32nd-seeded Pironkova, who had beaten Venus Williams on Monday for the second straight year here.

"I'm very happy to be through," Kvitova said. "It was a nervous match for my side. I served great at the beginning but I don't know what was in my mind in the second."

In Thursday's semifinals Kvitova will play the winner of the final women's quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek. Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova will play unseeded wild card Sabine Lisicki in the other semifinal.

"It will be better for me that I was in the semifinal last year," Kvitova said. "Last year I had the experience of standing on Centre Court in a semifinal."

Kvitova said she grew up idolizing Navratilova, who was also from the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia). "I try my best to be like her," Kvitova said.

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Maria Sharapova advances to Wimbledon semifinals

Rafael Nadal's foot is not broken, so it's on with Mardy Fish

-- Diane Pucin in Wimbledon, England

Photo: Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic returns a shot during her quarterfinal round match against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Credit: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Wimbledon: Maria Sharapova advances to semifinals

Maria Sharapova has made it to the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 2006, beating Dominika Cibulkova on Tuesday with a dominant performance of both baseline power and serving perseverance.

Sharapova took one hour exactly to overpower Slovakia's Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1. The 5-foot-3 Cibulkova had upset top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki on Monday. Sharapova will meet German wild card Sabine Lisicki in one women’s semifinal.

“It’s an honor,” Sharapova said afterward. “It’s been a few years since I got past the fourth round, and now I’m in the semifinals with a chance to take it a step further.”

Sharapova, of Russia, won the first of her three major titles here in 2004 when she was a surprise winner, at age 17, over Serena Williams. Since then, Sharapova has won the U.S. Open and Australian Open but has won no majors since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2008.

It took Sharapova only 27 minutes to win the first set, and her set point came when Cibulkova wildly knocked a forehand long. Sharapova’s fiancée, former Los Angeles Laker Sasha Vujacic, waved one finger in understated celebration. He was more obviously clapping when Sharapova saved a break point in the final game and then, with some big serving, finally forced Cibulkova into a harmless forehand well off the court.

“Come on,” Sharapova shouted as Vujacic, now a member of the New Jersey Nets, stood and cheered.

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Sabine Lisicki advances to Wimbledon semifinals

Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish to play for U.S. in Davis Cup against Spain

-- Diane Pucin, in London

Photo: Maria Sharapova returns to Dominika Cibulkova  during their quarterfinal match Tuesday. Credit: Kerim Okten / EPA

Wimbledon: Sabine Lisicki upsets Marion Bartoli to advance to semifinals

Sabine Lisicki, a 21-year-old from Germany who needed a wild-card invitation to get into the Wimbledon draw, served nine big aces and recovered from losing three match points in the second set to upset ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1  in a women’s Wimbledon quarterfinal match Tuesday that lasted 2 hours, 21 minutes.

Lisicki had missed much of the 2010 season with an ankle injury and saw her ranking plummet to near 200 in the world.

“I cannot believe it yet,” she said after a weary Bartoli, who had played three hours more of tennis overall than Lisicki to reach the fourth round, was unable to muster any more responses in the final set.

Lisicki, who had to be taken off the French Open court on a stretcher when she suffered cramps, was clutching at her calves late in the third set, but her big serving (one registered 124 mph) and her constant pressure on the 26-year-old Bartoli finally paid off.

“I was very disappointed with myself how I played at 5-4 [in the second set] where I missed easily,” Lisicki said. “I wasn’t really deciding to take things and just go for it. I felt that I was the better player today and I knew I just had to fight and focus in the third set and win it.”

Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal's foot is not broken, so it's on with Mardy Fish

Rafael Nadal, defending Wimbledon champion and No. 1 seed, feared he had broken his foot Monday in a fourth-round win over Juan Martin del Potro.

Nadal had an MRI on Monday night after his win and posted the results on his Facebook page:

"Good morning everybody. Yesterday after the match I went to take an MRI at a London hospital. During the match I thought I had something serious but as the match went through the pain got better and thankfully the tests don't show an injury. Today I will practice at 4.30 pm and I'll play tomorrow. Thanks all for the support," Nadal said.

Nadal is scheduled for a quarterfinal against the lone American left in singles, 10th-seeded Mardy Fish. But if Nadal is going to practice Tuesday, he'd better be looking at some indoor courts because there are thunder and lightning going on right now, and rain too.

Luckily, with the roof available on Centre Court, German wild card Sabine Lisicki has taken the first set from Marion Bartoli, who beat Serena Williams on Monday.

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Rafael Nadal hurting, Roger Federer cruising

William and Kate drop in on Wimbledon, do the wave in the Royal Box

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Wimbledon

Photo: Rafael Nadal believed he had seriously injured his foot in his Monday match but an MRI shows all is well for Nadal to play Tuesday.  Credit: Felipe Trueba / EPA

Rafael Nadal hurting, Roger Federer cruising

Rafael Nadal is scared.

The defending champion and No. 1-seed player at Wimbledon landed awkwardly in the first set of his fourth-round match Monday against Juan Martin del Potro, causing the Spaniard to yelp and grab his foot.

"I felt terrible," Nadal said of the moment when he landed in the 12th game of the first set.

"I felt that I broke my foot at that moment. I asked for the trainer at that moment. . . . I seriously didn't know, at that moment in the match, I didn't know if I will have the chance to continue playing."

Nadal did continue playing and he beat the 24th-seeded del Potro, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. But afterward Nadal didn't sound confident about his prospects of playing his quarterfinal match against 10th-seeded American Mardy Fish.

"The pain stayed with me for the next points for sure," Nadal said, "and for all the match."

Nadal described the feeling as intense when the injury occurred. "I pushed hard with the forehand . . . I felt something that like crushed there in the back of the foot. So I didn't know what was going on."

He also said at that moment he didn't expect to still be in the draw. "I thought that I'm never going to win the match when it happened," he said. "I am very happy to be through, winning against one of the best players in the world. I think it was a fantastic match. But I'm worried for sure. I'm going to do an MRI. We'll see what's going on. I cannot predict the future."

Federer didn't have the physical test faced by Nadal but he dropped a set for the first time in the tournament to Mikhail Youzhny before defeating the Russian, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

"I thought even though I lost the first set, it was very good tennis," said Federer who is aiming for his seventh Wimbledon title.

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Serena and Venus Williams -- as well as Caroline Wozniacki -- upset at Wimbledon

Tuesday's featured matches at Wimbledon

Photos: 2011 Wimbledon

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Wimbledon

Photo: Top-seeded Rafael Nadal tries to regain his composure after injuring a foot during the first set of his fourth-round match against Juan Martin del Potro on Monday at Wimbledon. Credit: Felipe Trueba / EPA

William and Kate drop in on Wimbledon, do the wave in the Royal Box

Prince William and bride Kate surprised fourth-seeded Andy Murray as they made their first appearance as a married couple in Wimbledon's Royal Box on Monday.

British player Murray cooperated by winning his fourth-round match over Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2, and afterward Murray apologized because he had a scruffy little beard. He did, however, manage a courtly bow to the couple after his victory.

"If I'd known they were coming, I would have shaved," Murray said. "I was thinking to myself as I came off that I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them, 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit sweaty.' "

The couple stood and applauded Murray after his win and stayed through Venus Williams' loss to Tsvetana Pironkova and most of defending champion Rafael Nadal's win over Juan Martin del Potro.

Kate wore a summery, off-white dress, suitable for the warmest day yet of the tournament. The royal couple walked into the box with former champion Billie Jean King, a six-time singles champion here.

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Wimbledon

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Photos: Wimbledon 2011

Mardy Fish tries to carry the torch for U.S. men at Wimbledon

Photo: Kate, with Billie Jean King, left, and husband Prince William, participates in doing the wave during the fourth round of Wimbledon, June 27, 2011. Credit: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

 

Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer survive on day of upsets

On a day that featured numerous upsets among the women competing at Wimbledon, there was also a momentary scare for the men’s defending champion, top-seeded Rafael Nadal.

Nadal needed a timeout to treat what appeared to be an injured foot before coming back to beat 24th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (6) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Next up for Nadal is the only remaining American singles player, 10th-seeded Mardy Fish.

Fish, who lives in Beverly Hills, upset sixth-seed and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 and moved to the quarterfinals of this tournament for the first time.

Six-time champion and third-seeded Roger Federer also dropped a set before beating 18th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 while third-seeded Novak Djokovic enjoyed a quick and nerves-free 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Michael Llodra of France.

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Photos: Wimbledon 2011

Wimbledon is the one place where they do like Mondays -- particularly the second one

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from Wimbledon

Photo: Rafael Nadal reacts after breaking the serve of Juan Martin del Potro. Credit: Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters