44th-ranked Lopez stuns Roddick in third round

Wimbledon, England— Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick was eliminated 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 6-4 yesterday by Feliciano Lopez in the third round, the biggest upset of the men’s tournament so far.

The 44th-ranked Lopez served 28 aces and piled up 57 winners to defeat Roddick on Centre Court, the American’s first loss to the Spanish left-hander in eight matches.

“He played an outstanding match,” Roddick said. “I feel like he played as complete a match as he’s played against me. He served about as well as someone has.”

In a surprise on the women’s side, second-seeded and 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by 33rd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

The Russian converted only one of seven break points and had 18 unforced errors. Pironkova upset Venus Williams here last year en route to the semifinals.

Williams, a five-time champion, set up a fourth-round rematch against Pironkova by routing Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 6-2 in 1 hour on Court 1.

Play was suspended for the day shortly after 7 p.m. local time, except on Centre Court where fourth-seeded Andy Murray defeated Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) under the sliding roof to move into the fourth round in his bid to become the first British men’s champion in 75 years.

Murray served for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set but couldn’t convert, hitting an errant forehand on the second break point.

But, in the tiebreaker, Murray took advantage of errors by the Croatian and ended the match by following up a big serve with an forehand putaway.

Trickshot

In the seventh game of the fourth set, Murray pulled off a trick shot — hopping in the air near mid-court and flicking the ball between his legs for a cross-court winner. He made a similar shot against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of the Queen’s Club tournament June 13.

Among the unfinished matches was defending champion Rafael Nadal’s contest on Court 1 against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. The top-seeded Spaniard was leading 7-6 (6) when the rain came.

The eighth-seeded Roddick, who lost to Roger Federer in the finals in 2004, ’05 and ’09, served 23 aces but also had six double-faults. It’s the third time in four years Roddick has lost in the early rounds — he went out in the second round in 2008 and the fourth last year.

Sharapova advances

In another early women’s match, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova recovered from a slow start to beat 17-year-old British wild card Laura Robson 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Court 1. The Russian trailed 4-1 in the first set, and then 4-2 in the tiebreaker, before taking charge against the former Wimbledon junior champion.

Advancing to the round of 16 was fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who defeated No. 25 Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Azarenka was up 2-1 in the third set when play was suspended by rain. The match resumed after the roof was closed over Centre Court.

Elsewhere Friday, seventh-seeded David Ferrrer beat Ryan Harrison of the United States 6-7 (8), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The match had been suspended by darkness Thursday night in the fourth set.

In women’s play, 2007 runner-up and No. 9-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round. No. 11 Andrea Petkovic was ousted by Russia’s Ksenia Pervak, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Two-time Grand Slam titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 12th, was eliminated in the third round by No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Advancing to the fourth round was No. 8 Petra Kvitova, who beat Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3. /AP