Nadal’s conqueror Rosol makes quick exit
UNITED KINGDOM, Wimbledon : Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol reacts during his third round men's singles defeat to Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber on day six of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 30, 2012. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL
The man who beat Rafael Nadal stood courtside signing autographs, his sudden celebrity lasting longer than he did at Wimbledon.
Less than 48 hours after stunning Nadal, Lukas Rosol lost Saturday to No. 27-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Afterward, fans surrounded Rosol seeking his signature before he returned to the obscurity of the minor-league challenger circuit.
“I knew that this can happen,” he said of the loss.
His resume suggested as much. The 26-year-old Czech, ranked No. 100, was playing in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time after losing each of the past years in the opening round of qualifying.
Rosol not only beat Nadal, he overpowered him. There was no fluke about one of the biggest upsets ever at tennis’ biggest tournament.
“I thought, ‘Thank God I didn’t have to play that guy, because he definitely would have beat me 6-0, 6-0,'” Serena Williams said. “He was hitting so hard, and hitting winners on absolutely everything.”
In the wake of the win, Rosol heard plenty about how improbable it had been.
“All the people are like talking, ‘Maybe you will lose (third) round. You can’t play like this again,'” he said. “I was thinking only just to don’t sleep and open eyes again and play good tennis.”
His sequel came on cozy Court 12 instead of Centre Court, with a crowd of only about a thousand spectators and no live TV coverage. At one point he tried to challenge a call before realizing there’s no replay review on Wimbledon’s outside courts.
Windy conditions didn’t help the big-swinging Rosol, who whiffed on one forehand. He hit just seven aces after totaling 22 against Nadal.
Kohlschreiber, meanwhile, mixed his pace, hitting slice backhands and short shots that kept Rosol off balance and on the move.
“I have the right game plan against him,” the German said. “Everything I saw against Nadal, I figured out the perfect tactic.
“Of course I’m very happy that I’m not playing against Rafael Nadal, that’s for sure,” he said. “If I would go to the match against Nadal, the chances would be 90-10 to win or lose. Today was more 50-50.”
Following Wimbledon’s traditional day off on the middle Sunday, the entire fourth round is scheduled for Monday. No. 4-seeded Andy Murray raced the clock to complete his third-round match, beating Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and finishing under the Centre Court roof at 11:02 p.m. Wimbledon has an 11 o’clock curfew.
Murray will next play No. 16 Marin Cilic, coming off the second-longest match in Wimbledon history. He took 5½ hours Saturday to beat unseeded American Sam Querrey 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (3), 17-15.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will next face unseeded Viktor Troicki, and six-time champ Roger Federer will play unseeded Xavier Malisse.
On the women’s side, top-ranked Maria Sharapova will play No. 15-seeded Sabine Lisicki, and defending champion Petra Kvitova will face No. 24-seeded Francesca Schiavone.
Four-time champion Serena Williams will face unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova.
Williams hit a Wimbledon-record 23 aces to beat Zheng Jie 6-7 (5), 6-2, 9-7, while Shvedova won all 24 points in the first set — a so-called “golden set” — and beat French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4.
“I had no idea,” Shvedova said. “My manager came and she’s said like, ‘They checked the stats. They said it’s really true. You won 24 points in a row.'”
It was the first known golden set by a woman in the Open era.
Kohlschreiber advanced to Wimbledon’s fourth round for the first time, and his next opponent will be another surprise entry in the round of 16, qualifier Brian Baker. The American, mounting a comeback from health issues that sidelined him for several years, continued his surprising run by beating Benoit Paire 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
“For sure it’s a great chance for both of us,” Kohlschreiber said. “If you play in the last 16 and you’re not facing Federer, Nadal, Murray, whatever — the big guys — it’s a great chance to reach the quarterfinals, for sure.”
As for Rosol, he’ll play in a German challenger he won last year. He also hopes to watch his victory over Nadal.
“For sure I would like to see the video at home,” he said, “to see what happened that day.”
