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 Serena out with calf injury Venus, Davenport, Seles, Sampras advance at Wimbledon
Posted: Monday June 29, 1998 05:55 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- There won't be a Wimbledon showdown between the Williams sisters after all. Venus did her part by getting to the fourth round Monday, but Serena quit with an injury. Serena retired from her third-round match with unheralded Virginia Ruano-Pascual, hobbling with an injured left calf and trailing 7-5, 4-1. "I could have carried on if I wanted but I have to think about the future," she said. "I don't want to hurt myself over something silly and be out for maybe two months just because I didn't stop." Serena, 16, had easily won her first two matches and was heavily favored to beat the 75th-ranked Spaniard and set up a fourth-round encounter against 18-year-old sister Venus, who beat Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-4. In men's play, defending champion Pete Sampras advanced to the fourth round in straight sets over Thomas Enqvist, while Britain's Tim Henman ousted Patrick Rafter in four sets to become the first man to reach the quarterfinals. Women's No. 2 Lindsay Davenport crushed Magui Serna 6-1, 6-0 to make the quarters, while No. 6 Monica Seles reached the final eight by downing No. 14 Sandrine Testud, 6-3, 6-2. Also reaching the women's quarters were Nathalie Tauziat and Natasha Zvereva. A Williams meeting would have been their third this year and Wimbledon's first match between sisters since Gail and Carol Sherriff of Australia played in 1966. "We were going to be pretty excited about facing each other again," Serena said. "It was going to give something exciting for England for once." Serena, playing her first Wimbledon and third Grand Slam, declared that she had been on course to win the title. "I had all the expectations for this Wimbledon," she said. "I expected to go all the way. I guess I just won't be able to this year. ... In the future, I definitely see myself as one of the champions." Serena said Venus, who is seeded No. 7, could be a champion this year. "She might go a long way now that I'm out of the draw," she said. "I'll give her a couple of tips." Venus learned about her sister's exit during a rain break in her own match against Rubin. "I can't change what happened, so I have to go on and just make sure I do what Serena didn't do today," she said. Venus said she likes her own title chances now that Serena, "the toughest player out there," is out of her path. "I'm definitely at the point where I can do this," said Venus, a first-round loser in her Wimbledon debut last year. "Last year, I was not. This year, things are different." As the tournament began its second week with a fifth day of rain delays, Sampras moved into the fourth round with a straight-set win over Enqvist. In a match originally scheduled for last Friday, suspended by rain Saturday and delayed for nearly three hours Monday, the defending champion served 29 aces to beat the 17th-ranked Swede 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3). "I've never had a match last three days," Sampras said. "It's an emotional roller coaster. ... It's part of Wimbledon, part of the aura about this place. You're going to have a lot of rain delays." Sampras saved eight break points, including three set points at 5-6 in the third set. He broke Enqvist twice during the match. "I feel like my tennis is pretty good right now," said Sampras, chasing his fifth title in six years. "I'm serving well and that's the key on grass. This year has been up and down, but I'm finding consistency here and hopefully I can maintain that." Sampras next faces French qualifier Sebastian Grosjean, who downed 16th seeded Felix Mantilla of Spain, 6-0, 7-6 (10-8) 6-2. Grosjean, 20, a former world junior champion, is playing at his first Wimbledon. Mantilla was the 10th of the men's 16 seeds to go out. No. 12 Henman, seeking to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 36 years, made the quarters for the third year in a row by outplaying Rafter -- the U.S. Open champion and No. 6 seed -- 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2. Rafter was treated for a lower back injury at the start of the fourth set. A trainer massaged and stretched Rafter as he lay on a towel. Richard Krajicek, the 1996 champion and No. 9 seed, powered into the round of 16 with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) win over Nicolas Kiefer. Goran Ivanisevic, a two-time finalist and No. 14 seed, served 44 aces -- two short of his tournament record -- to beat Daniel Vacek in another third-round match, 6-7 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, 6-4. Todd Martin, the only American man left in the draw other than Sampras, completed a rain-delayed third round match against Todd Woodbridge, winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4. In women's matches, No. 16 Nathalie Tauziat was the first player to reach the quarterfinals. She downed Samantha Smith -- the first British woman to get to the fourth round since 1985 -- 6-3, 6-1. Natasha Zvereva, who ousted Steffi Graf last Friday, also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Miriam Oremans. In third-round matches, No. 3 Jana Novotna was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Corine Morariu, while French Open champion and No. 5 seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Sylvia Plischke. Serena Williams fell behind right away and never recovered against Ruano-Pascual. At 4-5 in the first set, Williams took a three-minute injury timeout while a trainer sprayed and strapped her left calf. Williams said she injured herself while slipping on the slick grass during the middle of the set. Williams broke in the next game for 5-5, but Ruano-Pascual won the next two games at love to take the set and ran off the first four games of the second. Williams was clearly slowed by the injury, favoring her left leg and failing to run after some shots. After winning the fifth game of the second set, Williams walked over to the chair umpire and announced she could not continue. She packed her bag quickly and left the court as her mother Oracene, sitting in a wheelchair with a broken ankle sustained two weeks ago, watched solemnly. "Early in the match, [the injury] wasn't getting any worse and I thought I can keep going," Williams said. "But when I saw it wasn't getting any better, I figured it was time to stop play." Serena Williams neglected to shake hands with her opponent, describing it as oversight because she had never retired during a match before. She paid little credit to Ruano-Pascual. "She had a pretty good today but if I was in better shape, it wouldn't have been happening at all," Williams said. Ruano-Pascual seemed stunned at her victory. As she sat in her chair, she shrugged and flashed an embarrassed grin. Williams also pulled out of the women's doubles, in which she was paired with her sister, but said she may still play in the mixed doubles.
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