Mow 'em down

Ancic, Saretta post stunning men's first-round upsets

Mario Ancic of Croatia "had nothing to lose" in his first-round match. AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- An 18-year-old qualifier from Croatia shook up Wimbledon on Tuesday with the first major upset.

Mario Ancic, ranked No. 154 and playing his first Grand Slam match, outplayed seventh-seed Roger Federer 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Centre Court.

Fifteen minutes later, there was another upset when 71st-ranked Flavio Saretta of Brazil marked his Wimbledon debut by outlasting Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, the eighth seed, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 12-10.

Ancic drew immediate comparisons with Goran Ivanisevic, last year's champion who is back home in Croatia recovering after shoulder surgery.

Both men are from the Adriatic coastal city of Split, and the 6-foot-4 Ancic is tall, skinny and lanky like Ivanisevic. While Ivanisevic is left-handed, the right-handed Ancic also has a booming serve and plays serve-and-volley on grass.

"I had nothing to lose," Ancic said. "I knew I can play, I'm young. I believe in myself, I just went out and tried to play."

Ancic said he spoke by phone with Ivanisevic on Monday to discuss tactics for the match.

"He's always been good to me, sometimes I felt he was my bigger brother," Ancic said.

Federer reached the quarterfinals last year, ousting seven-time champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round, and has won two titles this year. But he was dominated by Ancic, the second-youngest player in the draw and playing only his second tour-level match of 2002.

A finalist at the Wimbledon juniors in 2000, Ancic broke Federer three times and lost his serve only once, hitting serves at an average speed of 120 mph and a fastest delivery of 127 mph.

When Federer missed a passing shot to end the contest, Ancic pumped his fists and let out a scream. He then held up his arms to the crowd and belted a ball into the stands.

"I feel great," Ancic said. "I cannot feel better I think."

Asked whether he should be considered the new Ivanisevic, he said, "No, Goran is Goran. He's unique. I'm Mario."

Saretta, meanwhile, outdueled Johansson in 4 hours, 22 minutes on Court 18 in only the second grass-court match of his career. The fifth set alone lasted 97 minutes.

Saretta raised his arms in triumph and the crowd erupted giving both players a standing ovation as they left the court.

The Brazilian, who turns 22 on Friday, came in with a 2002 match record of 8-9. Johansson, who won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January, had twice reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.

"[Tuesday] I won a very good match for me," Saretta said afterwards. "Maybe the best match that I played in my life.

"I have only played on grass three times ... and last week I played against [Nicolas] Escude in the Netherlands and I only lost 7-6 7-6, [so] then I started to believe that I can play on grass."

Johansson, who complained earlier this month of a sore back and was a doubtful entry at Wimbledon, had run the 21-year-old around the court but Saretta refused to give up and chased down every shot.

Saretta earned four match points in the 14th game of the final set, but Johansson battled back from 40-0 down to hold serve and force the match to go on for another eight games.

Willed on by a capacity crowd on Court 18, Saretta raced to a 40-15 lead in the 22nd game. He thought he had won the match when his backhand down the line appeared to clip the line but it was called out.

He did not have to wait long for victory, however, wining on the next point when Johansson's shot sailed over the baseline.

"I fell a little bit tired," Saretta said. "We played like four hours, but [Tuesday] I can have a massage and tomorrow I can have massage, too. So I can play."

Reuters contributed to this report.

 

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