Wimbledon Day 9: Gasquet wins 'Battle of Backhands'

Richard Gasquet practices his outstanding one-handed backhand
during last year's BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   Match and upset of the day -- In the "Battle of the Backhands," No. 21 seed Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet of France nipped No. 4 Stan "Ice Skating" Wawrinka 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 in 3 hours, 28 minutes to reach his third Grand Slam semifinal.
   Gasquet, 29, and Wawrinka, 30, possess sensational one-handed backhands.
   Gasquet prevailed today despite failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth set and facing a break point at 9-9. He will attempt to gain his first major final when he meets top-seeded Novak "It's No" Djokovic on Friday. Wawrinka won his second Grand Slam title last month in the French Open.
   Notable -- The top three men's seeds -- Djokovic, No. 2 Roger Federer "Express" and No. 3 Andy "Bill" Murray -- advanced in straight sets. Djokovic topped No. 9 "Cheech" Marin Cilic, the reigning U.S. Open champion rebounding from shoulder trouble, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Federer outclassed No. 12 Gilles Simon "de Beauvoir" 6-3, 7-5, 6-2. And Murray eliminated Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
   Men's semifinal matchups -- Djokovic vs. Gasquet. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 11-1 with a nine-match winning streak. In their last meeting, Djokovic crushed Gasquet 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the recent French Open.
   Federer (2) vs. Murray (3). Federer leads 12-11 with a three-match winning streak. However, those three matches came last year, when Murray was bouncing back from "minor" back surgery and the hoopla surrounding his 2013 Wimbledon title, which ended a 77-year drought for British men.
   Federer and Murray have split their two grass-court matches, which came within one month in 2012 in finals on Wimbledon's Centre Court. Federer won 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 for the last of his record 17 Grand Slam singles titles. Murray won 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 for the Olympic gold medal.   
   Women's semifinal matchups -- Serena "Vanessa" Williams (1) vs. "Ave" Maria Sharapova (4). Williams is 17-2 against Sharapova with 16 straight victories. Williams won the last meeting 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Australian Open final in January.
   Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska (13) vs. Garbine Muguruza "Gai Pan" (20). The series is tied 2-2, all on hardcourts. Muguruza has won the last two meetings, both this year.
   Stars and stripes -- Half of the boys singles quarterfinalists are American: No. 1 seed Taylor "On The" Fritz, No. 7 Tommy "Ron" Paul, No. 10 William "Michael" Blumberg and unseeded Reilly "Auto Parts" Opelka (6-foot-10 or 2.08 meters). Paul defeated Fritz last month in the first all-American singles final in the 68-year history of the French Open boys event.
   Fast fact -- Djokovic reached his 27th Grand Slam semifinal to take sole ownership of fourth place in the Open era (since 1968) behind Federer (38), Jimmy "Carter" Connors (31) and Ivan Lendl "Soup" (28).
   Northern California connection -- Fifth-seeded Raquel "Welch" Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident and former Cal star, and Abigail "Britney" Spears ended the bid by third-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands "Of Time" and "I Love" Lucie Safarova for a calendar-year Grand Slam in women's doubles with a 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal victory. Kops-Jones, 32, and Spears, who will turn 34 on Sunday, also equaled their best result in a Grand Slam tournament. They advanced to the semifinals of last year's Australian Open.   
   Anabel Medina Garrigues and "Cookie" Jarmila Gajdosova, the two women on the Sacramento-based California Dream in World TeamTennis, met in the third round of mixed doubles. Garrigues, a 32-year-old Spaniard, and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden defeated Gajdosova, a 28-year-old Australian citizen from Slovakia, and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6 (6) to reach the quarterfinals.
   Top-seeded Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan, who will play part-time for the Dream with twin brother Bob, also gained the quarters in mixed doubles.
   The Dream is scheduled to begin its inaugural season on Sunday night at San Diego and play its home opener on Monday at 7:30 p.m. against Springfield (Mo.) at Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights.
   In girls singles, 15-year-old Michaela Gordon of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area topped Olesya Pervushina of Russia 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to join American Tornado Alicia Black in the quarters.       
   Quote -- Gasquet: "I'm proud because there are big players in the semis. I'm the worst when you see Federer, Djokovic and Murray and me."
   Thursday on TV (beginning at 5 a.m. California time, ESPN): Radwanska (13) vs. Muguruza (20), Williams (1) vs. Sharapova (4).

Wimbledon Day 8 recap: Serena rallies again

Serena Williams defeated CoCo Vandeweghe to win
the 2012 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. Will-
iams reached the Wimbledon semifinals, but Vande-
weghe lost to Maria Sharapova. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- Serena Williams pulled off yet another comeback to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since winning the last of her five titles at the All England Club in 2012. The top-ranked Williams defeated former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23rd as she rebounds from injuries last year, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Williams, facing a break point at 2-2 in the second set,  Williams reeled off seven straight games to lead 3-0 in the third set.  
   Notable -- No. 20 seed Garbine Muguruza "Bader Ginsburg," 21, of Spain advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over No. 15 Timea "Ted" Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
   No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, the defending and two-time champion, beat No. 14 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-7 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. The match had been suspended by darkness on Monday at two sets apiece. In the fifth set, Djokovic saved two break points at 1-2, broke Anderson at 5-5 with the help of two straight double faults and held serve from 0-30 for the win.  
   Women's semifinal matchups -- Williams (1) vs. "Ave" Maria Sharapova (4). Williams leads the head-to-head series 17-2 with 16 straight victories. Williams won the last meeting 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the Australian Open final in January.
   Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska (13) vs. Muguruza (20). The head-to-head series is tied 2-2, all on hardcourts. Muguruza has won the last two meetings, both this year.
   Men's quarterfinal matchups -- Djokovic (1) vs. "Cheech" Marin Cilic (9), Stan "The Man" Wawrinka (4) vs. Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet (21), Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil, Roger Federer "Express" (2) vs. Gilles Simon "de Beauvoir" (12).
   Stars and stripes -- Two Americans lost in the women's quarterfinals. No. 21 Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys fell to Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up to Williams, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3. And unseeded CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe succumbed to Sharapova, the 2004 champion, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
   No. 1 seeds and three-time men's doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan lost to No. 9 Rohan Bopanna of India and Florin Mergea of Romania 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals.
   The Bryans are 0-3 against Mergea this year, falling to the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) veteran and Dominic Inglot of Great Britain in the round of 16 at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals in Dubai.
   Fast fact --The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson blasted 40 aces in his loss to Djokovic.
   Northern California connection -- The Bryan twins played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, leading the Cardinal to the NCAA team title both years. They are scheduled to play in three of the Sacramento-based California Dream's 14 regular-season matches in World TeamTennis late this month.
   In the second round of girls singles, Michaela Gordon of Saratoga dismissed 15th-seeded Pranjala Yadlapalli of India 6-2, 6-3.
   Quote -- Azarenka: "We just saw today why Serena is No. 1. I haven't seen her play like this, honestly, even the last matches before that."
   Wednesday on TV -- Centre Court (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN): Murray (3) vs. Pospisil, Djokovic (1) vs. Cilic (9).
   Court 1 (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN2): Federer (2) vs. Simon (12), Warwrinka (4) vs. Gasquet (21).

Wimbledon Day 7 recap: Serena flies past Venus

Serena, above, and Venus Williams, below,
met in a Grand Slam tournament for the first
time in six years. 2014 photos by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- Serena "Vanessa" Williams didn't mess around this time. She wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
   Either that, or Venus "And Mars" Williams didn't want to ruin her older sister's chance to earn the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi "Para" Graf in 1988.
   Top-seeded Serena Williams dispatched No. 16 Venus 6-4, 6-3 in 68 minutes in a matchup of five-time Wimbledon singles champions in the round of 16.
   Serena, 33, improved to 15-11 against Venus, 35, with her sixth victory in their last seven matches. They met in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Serena won the 2009 Wimbledon final.
   Venus won the last of her seven major singles titles at Wimbledon in 2008. She was diagnosed with a chronic, enervating auto-immune disease in 2011.
   Upsets of the day -- Tomas "Larry" Berdych and "I Love" Lucie Safarova have a lot in common. Both are from the Czech Republic. They dated for eight years until breaking up in 2011. Both lost their only Grand Slam singles final. And both exited on Monday as sixth seeds.
   Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, lost meekly to No. 12 Gilles "Paul" Simon of France 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Safarova, a French Open finalist last month, fell to unseeded CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4).
   No. 5 "Sweet" Caroline Wozniacki was the highest seed to lose -- 6-4, 6-4 to No. 20 Garbine Muguruza "Bader Ginsburg" -- but the 24-year-old Dane has never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
   Notable -- The match between top-seeded Novak "It's No" Djokovic, the defending and two-time champion, and No. 14 Kevin Anderson was suspended by darkness at two sets apiece. Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African, won the first two sets 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) before Djokovic took the next two 6-1, 6-4.
   Third-seeded Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil and Jack Sock "It To Me," the defending champions in men's doubles, lost to No. 13 Jamie "Farr" Murray, Andy's older brother, and John Peers 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 3-6, 8-6 in the third round.
   Men's quarterfinal matchups -- "Cheech" Marin Cilic (9) vs. Djokovic (1) or Anderson (14), Stan "The Man" Wawrinka (4) vs. Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet (21), Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Pospisil, Roger Federer "Express" (2) vs. Simon (12).  
   Women's quarterfinal matchups -- Williams (1) vs. Victoria "Station" Azarenka (23), Maria "Shriver" Sharapova (4) vs. CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe, Timea "Ted" Bacsinszky (15) vs. Muguruza (20), Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska (13) vs. Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys (21). 
   Stars and stripes -- The United States has three women in the quarterfinals, the nation's most at Wimbledon since 2004. The last remaining U.S. man, Denis Kudla, lost to Cilic, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in four sets.
   Fast facts -- Serena Williams improved to 36-1 this season, losing only to Petra Kvitova on clay in the Madrid semifinals in May, and extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 25 matches.
   Northern California connection -- Top seeds and former Stanford stars Bob and Mike Bryan, seeking their fourth Wimbledon men's doubles title, reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mate Pavic of Croatia and Michael Venus of New Zealand.
   Fifth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident and ex-Cal standout, and Abigail Spears equaled their best Wimbledon result in women's doubles by advancing to the quarters. They beat Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-2, 6-4.
   Meanwhile, the women's doubles teams of Anabel Medina Garrigues (California Dream of World TeamTennis)-Arantxa Parra Santonja and Jarmila Gajdosova (Dream)-Ajla Tomljanovic had tough matchups.
   Medina Garrigues and Parra Santonja lost to top-seeded Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-3. Gajdosova and Tomljanovic fell to third-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Safarova, who are continuing their quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam, 7-5, 6-2.
   In the second round of mixed doubles, Medina Garrigues and Robert Lindstedt toppled 13th-seeded Michaella Krajicek and Florin Mergea 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Krajicek's brother, Richard, won the Wimbledon men's singles title in 1996.
   Quote -- No. 26 seed Nick "I'm Just" Kyrgios, who, during his four-set loss to Gasquet, went over to embrace a ballboy: "I just felt like a hug, I guess. Everyone, now and then, wants a hug."
   Today's top matches -- Centre Court (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN) : Sharapova (4) vs. Vandeweghe, Williams (1) vs. Azarenka (23).
   Court 1 (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN2): Djokovic (1) vs. Anderson (14) in completion of suspended match, Bacsinszky (15) vs. Muguruza (20), Radwanska (13) vs. Keys (21). 

Wimbledon Day 6 recap: Jankovic stuns Kvitova

Jelena Jankovic rallied to beat defending champion
Petra Kvitova. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- No. 28 seed Jelena "Weird Al" Jankovic of Serbia rallied to beat No. 2 Petra "Fied Forest" Kvitova, the defending champion from the Czech Republic, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round. Kvitova, who also won the title in 2011, led 4-2 in the second set. She had lost only three games in her previous two matches after withdrawing from Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon with an undisclosed illness. The 30-year-old Jankovic, who reached No. 1 in the world in 2008, has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon. She had won only one match at the All England Club in the last four years. See my story on this year's Indian Wells finals, in which Jankovic lost to Simona Halep.
   Match of the day -- Canada's Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil, the reigning men's doubles champion with American Jack Sock, topped James "Montgomery" Ward of Great Britain 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 8-6.
   Notable -- "Cheech" Marin Cilic, the ninth seed and reigning U.S. Open champion, outlasted No. 17 John "Wayne" Isner 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-7 (4), 12-10 in the completion of a match suspended by darkness.
   Dustin "Hoffman" Brown, who upset "San" Rafael Nadal in the second round, lost to No. 22 Victor "Leon" Troicki 6-4, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3. It's the fourth straight year in which a man ranked No. 100 or worse has beaten Nadal at Wimbledon and fallen in the next round. 
   No. 15 Timea "Ted" Bacsinszky, a French Open semifinalist last month, dismissed No. 18 Sabine Lisicki "Day," the Wimbledon runner-up two years ago, 6-3, 6-2. 
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer "Express," No. 3 Andy "Bill" Murray, No. 6 Tomas "Free As A" Berdych, No. 9 Cilic, No. 12 Gilles "Paul" Simon, No. 20 Roberto "Clemente" Bautista Agut, No. 22 Victory "Leon" Troicki, No. 23 Ivo "Longoria" Karlovic.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 13 Jo-Wilfried "Sing A" Tsonga, No. 17 Isner, No. 18 Gael "Sayers" Monfils, No. 25 Andreas Seppi "Blatter."
   Women's seeded winners -- No. 5 "Sweet" Caroline Wozniacki, No. 13 Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska, No. 15 Bacsinszky, No. 20 Garbine Muguruza "Bader Ginsburg," No. 21 Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 2 Kvitova, No. 10 Angelique "Jolie" Kerber, No. 18 Lisicki, No. 31 Camila Giorgi "Girl."
   Stars and stripes -- The United States has four women -- Serena "Vanessa" Williams, Venus "And Mars" Williams, Keys and CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe -- and one man -- wild card Denis "The Menace" Kudla -- in the round of 16. The Williams sisters will meet in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2009 on Monday at 5 a.m. PDT (ESPN). Kudla figures to lose to Cilic.
   Fast facts -- Sam "Adams" Groth of Australia hammered a 147-mph (237-kph) serve, the second-fastest in Wimbledon history, in his 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 loss to Federer. The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter), 215-pound (97-kilogram) Groth holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve with a  163.4-mph (263-kph) rocket in a 2012 Challenger in Busan, South Korea.
   You might say the women's draw is a little top-heavy. Remaining players in the top half have combined for 34 Grand Slam singles titles (Serena Williams 20, Venus Williams seven, Maria "Shriver" Sharapova five and Victoria "Station" Azarenka two). Remaining players in the bottom half have won none. 
   Northern California connection -- Anabel Medina Garrigues and Jarmila Gajdosova, both of whom are scheduled to play for the Sacramento-based California Dream in World TeamTennis after Wimbledon, reached the third round of women's doubles with different partners. Medina Garrigues is seeded 16th with fellow Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja.
   Another member of the Dream, Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan, lost in men's doubles.
   In the second round of mixed doubles, top-seeded Mike Bryan and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won, but fourth-seeded Bob Bryan and Caroline Garcia fell to Nenad Zimonjic and Gajdosova 3-6, 6-3, 9-7. The 37-year-old Bryan twins are scheduled to play three of the Dream's 14 regular-season matches.
   Also in mixed doubles, 10th-seeded Raven Klaasen and Raquel Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident and former Cal standout, advanced by walkover.
   Michaela Gordon, 15, of Saratoga beat Rebeka Masarova of Russia 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the first round of junior girls singles. 
   Quote -- Jankovic: "I cannot stop smiling. ... I was very brave at the end. You know, here I am. Unbelievable."
   Monday's top matches (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN) -- Centre Court: Serena Williams (1) vs. Venus Williams (16), Murray (3) vs. Karlovic (23), Federer (2) vs. Bautista Agut (20).
   Court 1: Sharapova (4) vs. Zarina "Williams" Diyas, Stan "The Man" Wawrinka (4) vs. David "Gerry" Goffin (16), Novak "It's No" Djokovic (1) vs. Kevin Anderson "Cooper" (14).

Wimbledon Day 5 recap: Serena survives thriller

Serena Williams twice came within two points
of losing to Heather Watson. 2014 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- The Queen of Comebacks did it again. Top-ranked Serena "Vanessa" Williams, who twice was two points from losing, held off No. 59 Heather "Elementary My Dear" Watson of Great Britain, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the third round. Watson led 3-0 (two service breaks) in the third set and later served for the match at 5-4. Serena will play older sister Venus "And Mars" Williams on Monday in a matchup of five-time Wimbledon singles champions. It will be their first meeting in a major since Serena won the 2009 Wimbledon final. Serena leads the head-to-head series 14-11.
   Upset of the day -- No. 26 seed Nick "I'm Just" Kyrgios, 20, avenged a loss to Milos "Kunis" Raonic in last year's quarterfinals, beating the seventh-seeded Canadian 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Raonic still hasn't recovered from surgery for a pinched nerve in his right foot on May 13, which caused him to miss the French Open.
   Notable -- The match between No. 9 "Cheech" Marin Cilic, the reigning U.S. Open champion, and No. 17 John "Wayne" Isner was suspended by darkness at 10-10 in the fifth set. Five years ago at Wimbledon, Isner topped Nicolas "I Don't Give A" Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set in the first round. Spread over three days, it's the longest match in tennis history. 
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 1 Novak "It's No" Djokovic, No. 4 Stan "The Man" Wawrinka, No. 14 Kevin Anderson "Cooper," No. 16 David "Gerry" Goffin, No. 21 Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet, No. 26 Kyrgios.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 7 Raonic, No. 11 Grigor "Mortis" Dimitrov, No. 24 Leonardo "Da Vinci" Mayer, No. 27 Bernard "A." Tomic. 

   Women's seeded winners -- No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Maria "Shriver" Sharapova, No. 6 "I Love" Lucie Safarova, No. 16 Venus Williams, No. 23 Victoria "Station" Azarenka, No. 30 Belinda "Johnny" Bencic.
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 14 Andrea Petkovic "Park," No. 22 Samantha "Stephens" Stosur, No. 29 Irina-Camelia "Ain't Too Proud To" Begu.
   Stars and stripes -- Unseeded CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe and wild card Denis "The Menace" Kudla reached the fourth round of a major for the first time. Vandeweghe, the 23-year-old niece of former NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe, whipped 22nd-seeded Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, 6-2, 6-0. Kudla, 22, outlasted Santiago Giraldo "Rivera" of Colombia 6-2, 6-7 (3), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. See my 2012 story on Vandeweghe here and 2013 article on Kudla and U.S. men's tennis here.
   Fast fact -- Serena Williams, who's trying to win the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi "Para" Graf in 1988, has won 24 consecutive matches in majors.
   Northern California connection -- Top-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan beat Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the second round of men's doubles. The 37-year-old Bryan twins starred at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, and are scheduled to play part-time this month for the Sacramento-based California Dream of World TeamTennis.
   Three full-time members of the Dream played in the first round of mixed doubles. Jarmila Gajdosova and Anabel Medina Garrigues won, but Aisam Qureshi lost. Also falling was former Stanford standout Scott Lipsky. 
   Quote -- Serena Williams: "I honestly didn't think I was going to win. How I pulled through, I really don't know."
   Today's top matches (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN) -- Centre Court: Roger Federer "Express" (2) vs. Sam "Adams" Groth, Petra "Fied Forest" Kvitova (2) vs. Jelena "Weird Al" Jankovic (28), Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Andreas Seppi "Blatter" (25).
   Court 1: "Sweet" Caroline Wozniacki (5) vs. Camila Giorgi "Girl" (31), Cilic (9) vs. Isner (17), James "Montgomery" Ward vs. Vasek "Anything Is" Pospisil, Gilles "Paul" Simon (12) vs. Gael "Sayers" Monfils (18).

Day 4 recap: Nadal's Wimbledon skid continues

Rafael Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion,
lost to qualifier Dustin Brown of Germany in the
second round. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Upset of the day -- For the fourth straight year, "San" Rafael Nadal was upset early at Wimbledon by a player ranked No. 100 or lower. This time, 102nd-ranked qualifier Dustin "Hoffman" Brown of Germany dismissed the 10th seed and two-time Wimbledon champion 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. Since reaching the final in his five appearances from 2006 through 2011, Nadal has lost to No. 100 Lukas "Oil Stadium" Rosol in the second round, No. 135 Steve "Martin" Darcis in the first round, No. 144 Nick "I'm Just" Kyrgios in the fourth round and Brown. 
   Match of the day -- Ivo "Longoria" Karlovic, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Croatian, pounced 53 aces in his 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 13-11 victory over Alexandr "The Great" Dolgopolov of Ukraine. Aside from John "Wayne" Isner's 113 and Nicolas "I Don't Give A" Mahut's 103 in their 2010 epic at Wimbledon, which Isner won 70-68 in the fifth set, Karlovic's total ranks third in history. He blasted  78 aces in the 2009 Davis Cup semifinals and 55 during the 2009 French Open. See my 2011 story on Karlovic.
   Notable -- Magdalena Rybarikova "Obama" of Slovakia eliminated eighth-seeded Ekaterina "Do The" Makarova of Russia 6-2, 7-5.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 2 Roger Federer "Express," No. 3 Andy "Bill" Murray, No. 6 Tomas "Free As A" Berdych, No. 12 Gilles "Paul" Simon, No. 13 Jo-Wilfried "Sing A" Tsonga, No. 18 Gael "Sayers" Monfils, No. 20 Roberto "Clemente" Bautista Agut, No. 22 Viktor "Leon" Troicki, No. 23 Karlovic, No. 25 Andreas Seppi "Blatter."
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 10 Nadal, No. 15 "Jose" Feliciano Lopez, No. 30 Fabio "Cell" Fognini. 

   Women's seeded winners -- No. 2 Petra "Fied Forest" Kvitova, No. 5 "Sweet" Caroline Wozniacki, No. 10 Angelique "Jolie" Kerber, No. 13 Agnieszka "Moorehead" Radwanska, No. 15 Timea "Ted" Bacsinszky, No. 18 Sabine Lisicki "Day," No. 20 Garbine Muguruza "Bader Ginsburg," No. 21 Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys, No. 28 Jelena "Weird Al" Jankovic, No. 31 Camila Giorgi "Girl."
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 8 Makarova, No. 17 Elina "Horne" Svitolina, No. 25 Alize "Doolittle" Cornet, No. 26 Svetlana "Turner" Kuznetsova.
   Stars and stripes -- "Yosemite" Sam Querrey lost to Federer, who shares the post-1900 record of seven Wimbledon singles titles with "Pistol" Pete Sampras, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Christina McHale "Navy" fell to Lisicki, the Wimbledon runner-up to Marion "Barry" Bartoli two years ago, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. After two rounds of singles, the United States has six women and two men remaining. 
   Fast fact -- Kvitova, the defending and two-time champion, has lost only three games in two matches.
   Northern California connection -- Querrey was born in San Francisco and played part-time for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis.
   Winning in men's doubles were top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford) and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Sacramento-based California Dream of WTT), and losing was Scott Lipsky (Stanford). Fifth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones (San Jose resident, Cal) and Abigail Spears advanced in women's doubles, but Maria Sanchez (Modesto product) lost.  
   Quote -- Nadal, on his past success at Wimbledon: "I don't know if I will be back to (that) level."
   Today's top matches (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN) -- Centre Court: Grigor "Mortis" Dimitrov (11) vs. Richard "Don't Blow A." Gasquet (21), Novak "It's No" Djokovic (1) vs. Bernard "A." Tomic (27), Serena "Vanessa" Williams (1) vs. Heather "Elementary My Dear" Watson.
   Court 1: Stan "The Man" Wawrinka (4) vs. Fernando Verdasco "Sauce," Maria "Shriver" Sharapova (4) vs. Irina-Camelia "Ain't Too Proud To" Begu (29), "Cheech" Marin Cilic (9) vs. Isner (17).

Wimbledon Day 3 recap: No. 5 Nishikori withdraws

Kei Nishikori pulled out of his second-round match against Santiago
Giraldo because of a left calf injury. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   "Upset" of the day -- Fifth-seeded "Special" Kei Nishikori, last year's U.S. Open runner-up to "Cheech" Marin Cilic, withdrew from his second-round match against Santiago Giraldo "Rivera" of Colombia because of a left calf injury. In Nishikori's six previous Wimbledon appearances, he had progressed from three straight first-round losses to two third-round setbacks to a fourth-round showing.
   Match of the day -- The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Cilic, from Croatia, outlasted 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Ricardas "Ben" Berankis of Lithuania 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5 in 3 hours, 34 minutes.
   Men's seeded winners -- No. 1 Novak "It's No" Djokovic, No. 4 Stan "The Man" Wawrinka, No. 7 Milos "Kunis" Raonic, No. 9 Cilic, No. 11 Grigor "Mortis" Dimitrov, No. 14 Kevin "Costner" Anderson, No. 16 David "Gerry" Goffin, No. 17 John "Wayne" Isner, No. 21 Richard "Don't Blow A" Gasquet, No. 24 Leonardo "Da Vinci" Mayer, No. 26 Nick "I'm Just" Kyrgios, Bernard "A." Tomic.
   Men's seeded losers -- No. 5 Nishikori, No. 32 Dominic "Home" Thiem.

   Women's seeded winners -- No. 1 Serena "Vanessa" Williams, No. 4 Maria "Shriver" Sharapova, No. 6 "I Love" Lucie Safarova, No. 14 Andrea Petkovic "Park," No. 16 Venus "And Mars" Williams, No. 22 Samantha "Stephens" Stosur, No. 23 Victoria "Station" Azarenka, No. 29 Irina-Camelia "Ain't Too Proud To" Begu, No. 30 Belinda "Johnny" Bencic. 
   Women's seeded losers -- No. 7 Ana "Karenina" Ivanovic, No. 11 "North" Karolina Pliskova, No. 19 Sara "No Runs, No Hits, No" Errani.
   Stars and stripes -- U.S. men and women had an excellent day. The Williams sisters moved within one victory each of meeting in the fourth round, two women ousted seeds, and two men reached the third round.
   Qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands "Of Time" dismissed Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4, and CoCo "Chanel" Vandeweghe took out Pliskova 7-6 (5), 6-4. Also advancing were Madison "Where The Hell Are My" Keys and Sloane "Ranger" Stephens.
   On the men's side, Isner and wild card Denis "The Menace" Kudla won. Isner will face Cilic, and Kudla will meet Giraldo.
   Fast fact -- It was the hottest day in Wimbledon history as the temperature topped 95 degrees (35 Celsius).
   Northern California connection -- All players in action won in the first round of doubles.
   Triumphing in women's doubles were fifth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones (San Jose resident, ex-Cal star)-Abigail Spears, 16th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues (Sacramento-based California Dream in World TeamTennis)-Arantxa Parra Santonja, Jarmila Gajdosova (Dream)-Ajla Tomljanovic and Johanna Konta-Maria Sanchez (Modesto product).
   Prevailing in men's doubles were Treat Huey-Scott Lipsky (ex-Stanford star) and Steve Johnson-Sam Querrey (San Francisco native). Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Lipsky, an Irvine resident, upset 12th-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and David Marrero of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-4.  
   Quote -- Serena Williams on possibly playing Venus: "She poses a big threat for me."
   Thursday's top matches (beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on ESPN) -- Centre Court: Sabine Lisicki "To My Stomach" (18) vs. Christina McHale "Navy," Roger Federer "Express" (2) vs. "Yosemite" Sam Querrey, "San" Rafael Nadal (10) vs. Dustin "Hoffman" Brown.
   Court 1: Andy "Bill" Murray (3) vs. Robin "Hood" Haase, Petra "Fied Forest" Kvitova (2) vs. Kurumi "Weather" Nara, Jo-Wilfried "Sing A" Tsonga (13) vs. "Prince" Albert Ramos-Vinolas.