Not Much Game Left in the U.S. Men

By LISA DILLMAN

June 29, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WIMBLEDON, England —

Age took the hit Wednesday. Youth had two more days of survival at Wimbledon, but, quite clearly, the U.S. men have been living on the grassy edge.

After 32-year-old Andre Agassi and 30-year-old Pete Sampras were eliminated from the tournament in the second round Wednesday, Taylor Dent, 21, and Andy Roddick, 19, followed them Friday.

Sampras was just awful. Agassi was outplayed. Dent was outserved by left-hander Wayne Arthurs of Australia in the third round, as was Roddick by left-hander Greg Rusedski of Britain.

Three rounds have not been completed and one unlikely U.S. male remains, lucky loser Jeff Morrison. Today, Morrison will play 18th-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands. It is already the worst performance for the United States at Wimbledon since the Open era started in 1968. There have been at least two men from the U.S. in every final 16 at Wimbledon in the Open era.

The Americans haven’t been the only upset victims. Friday, No. 5-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was eliminated by No. 27 Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-1. Only three of the top 16 seeded players remain: No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 4 Tim Henman and No. 16 Nicolas Escude.

Dent surely deserved a better fate. The Southern Californian lost to Arthurs without dropping his serve. The 31-year-old Arthurs served 32 aces and double-faulted twice, beating Dent, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), and has not lost his serve in 54 games. Dent saved a match point in the third set.

Three years ago, Arthurs drew attention here and earned the distinction--The Man Who Could Not Be Broken--when he emerged through qualifying and reached the final 16, winning 111 consecutive service games before Agassi ended his streak in the fourth round.

Dent had one break point through the first three sets, and three more in the fourth set in the fourth game, with Arthurs serving at 1-2. Here’s how Arthurs saved the three: 126-mph ace, 102-mph ace out wide and 123-mph ace.

In the third set, a frustrated Dent finally cracked one shot past Arthurs and thrust his arms in the air, and comically ran alongside of the court, slapping hands with the spectators. He put a finger in the air, signaling No. 1.

“It’s so tough to get points off his serve,” Dent said. “I feel like if I got my racket on the ball cleanly, I had a decent shot to just get the thing back. But 90% of the time, I was shanking them off into the crowd or getting aced. I think he had something like 35 aces for a match. That’s ridiculous.”

The match was played on the intimate Court 3, where Arthurs had a decided edge in support. There was one Frenchman, chattering nonstop, who sarcastically cheered for Dent in between expressing his desire to see Mary Pierce, who was to play next on that court against qualifier Laura Granville.

“It felt like Australia out there, so many bloody Aussies in the crowd,” Arthurs said. “It’s unbelievable. The people at the sides are very close. You can sort of hear everything that everyone says.”

But the way Arthurs was serving, nothing would have impaired his concentration.

The supporting voices were distinctly British during the Roddick-Rusedski match on Centre Court. Rusedski played flawlessly and dispatched the No. 11-seeded Roddick with ease, winning, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, in 1 hour 25 minutes. It is the first time Roddick has failed to win a set in a match in a Grand Slam event. (At the Australian Open this year, he retired in the second set of a second-round match because of an injury.)

Although Roddick has won two titles and reached the semifinals in Rome on clay, he has stumbled in the majors in 2002, losing in the first round at the French Open. Roddick appeared to lack a significant game plan against Rusedski and rarely came close with his backhand passing shot, smacking it in the middle of the net.

“I definitely didn’t hit it well enough,” Roddick said. “Seventy-five percent of the time, I wasn’t even making him play on it.”

Former player and TV analyst Jim Courier, who is also a U.S. Davis Cup coach, said he doesn’t think Roddick is stagnating or regressing.

“You have to take your knocks and have to learn,” he said. “That’s what this year is all about. He’s the marked man for the first time. There’s no sense of desperation to solidify his place. It’s definitely a question of when, not if, for him.”

The U.S. women fared better. No. 2 Serena Williams survived a couple of hard-looking spills on the grass and a spirited challenge from 31-year-old qualifier Els Callens of Belgium, winning, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2), in 1 hour 39 minutes. Three others advanced to the fourth round--No. 3 Capriati; Chanda Rubin, who won last week at Eastbourne; and Granville.

Granville, 21, was the surprise American in the fourth round. She beat Pierce, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and has won six matches here, three in qualifying and three more in the main draw. The 2000 and 2001 NCAA singles champion from Stanford remembered watching Pierce win the French Open in 2000 on television.

“I think she’s the hardest hitter I’ve ever played against,” said Granville, who is ranked No. 134. “So I probably should have hit against a guy yesterday. It was really hard to get a rhythm because she hits the ball so deep and hard. It took me a set and a half to really get used to it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Wimbledon at a Glance

A brief look at what happened Friday on the fifth day of the Wimbledon tennis championships:

Weather--A mix of sun and clouds; high temperature 66.

Attendance--41,595. Last year on the fifth day it was 40,834.

Seeded winners--Men: None. Women: No. 2 Serena Williams, No. 3 Jennifer Capriati, No. 7 Jelena Dokic, No. 9 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova.

Seeded losers--Men: No. 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov to No. 27 Xavier Malisse, No. 11 Andy Roddick to No. 23 Greg Rusedski, No. 15 Andrei Pavel to No. 22 Nicolas Lapentti; Women: None.

Statistic of the Day--Only two of the top 15 seeded men remain.

Quote of the Day--”If anything, I’d rather play Venus in the finals over anyone else.”--Serena Williams.

*--* SHOW COURT SCHEDULE

*--*

The highlights of today’s schedule at the All England Lawn, Tennis and Croquet Club (play begins at 5 a.m. PDT on Centre Court and Court 1; 4 a.m. PDT on all other courts):

CENTRE COURT

* Tim Henman (4), Britain, vs. Wayne Ferreira, South Africa

* Lleyton Hewitt (1), Australia, vs. Julian Knowle, Austria

COURT 1

* Monica Seles (4) vs. Ai Sugiyama (27), Japan

* Venus Williams (1) vs. Maureen Drake, Canada

COURT 2

* Feliciano Lopez, Spain, vs. Rainer Schuettler (17), Germany

* Elena Dementieva (12), Russia, vs. Iva Majoli (23), Croatia

15 Minutes of Fame

It didn’t last long for the three players who dispatched Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Marat Safin on Wednesday.

*--* PARADORN SRICHAPHAN