LONDON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- American tennis legend
Andre Agassi had his final Wimbledon dream smashed and bade farewell to the All
England lawn tennis championships on Saturday after losing to a ruthless Rafael
Nadal in the third round.
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| American Andre Agassi waves the fans after losing against Rafael Nadal of Spain during the 3rd round of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. (Xinhua Photo) |
Agassi, 36, was joined by two other Americans,
women's champion Venus Williams and men's third seed Andy Roddick who also
suffered exit in Wimbledon.
Williams lost in three sets to Serbian Jelena
Jankovic and Roddick, the runner-up in 2004 and 2005, and Roddic was beaten in
three sets by unseeded British teenager Andy Murray in the two biggest shocks of
the tournament so far.
Double French Open champion Nadal made no allowance
for sentiment in a 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory on the Center Court where Agassi won
the first of his eight grand slam titles 14 years ago.
The Las Vegan retires from tennis after the U.S. Open
and he said, "To say goodbye, for me, this means as much as winning.
Jankovic, the 26th seed, reached the fourth round of
a grand slam for the first time with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory over three-times
champion Williams on court two.
Murray, the 19-year-old who is shouldering British
hopes of a first men's champion in 70 years, outplayed Roddick in a 7-6, 6-4,6-4
victory on Center Court.
Roddick's defeat meant there are no Americans left in
the fourth round of the men's singles for only the second time in the
professional era.
On a scorching day in southwest London men's fifth
seed Ivan Ljubicic and number 10 Fernando Gonzalez both suffered five-set
defeats.
Russian Dmitry Tursunov recovered to win from two
sets down for the first time in his career when he upset Ljubicic 5-7, 4-6,
6-1,7-6, 6-2. Tursunov, who reached the fourth round last year, also saved a
match point in the fourth set tiebreak.
Seventh seed Mario Ancic kept Croatian interest alive
when he completed a four-set win over Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in a
match that started on Center Court on Friday and finished on court one on
Saturday.
Spain's David Ferrer reached his first Wimbledon
fourth round when he too fought back from two sets down to beat Gonzalez 4-6,
2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Ferrer next faces Australian sixth seed Lleyton
Hewitt, the 2002 champion who swept through with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of
Belgian Olivier Rochus.
Women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo and Russia's Maria
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, are yet to drop a set after easy wins on Saturday.
France's Mauresmo demolished 33-year-old Australian
Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-2 and Sharapova was an assured 6-3, 6-2 winner over American
Amy Frazier.
Her compatriot, seventh seed Elena Dementieva,
equalled her best Wimbledon performance by reaching round four with a 7-5, 6-3
win over fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva.
Chinese player Peng Shuai lost to 16th seed Flavia
Pennetta of Italy 6-2, 6-3. Enditem