Luxilon on Tour

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Feliciano Lopez’ run finally came to an end today as he came face-to-face with Marat Safin who, at the grand old age of 30, is having the best Wimbledon of his career having already beaten 3rd seed Novak Djokovic in the second round - who many had predicted would win this event. Feli won the first set with the big Russian looking disconsolate and reverting to the ‘bad Marat’ of old who went through more racquets in a match than the rest of the field in a tournament. But a rain delay - and, no doubt, a few words in his ear from coach Hernan (”The Bear”) Gumy - saw the ‘good Marat’ re-emerge to finish the match with a score of 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) 6-3.

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Feli did not totally disappoint his numerous young female fans by giving them a glimpse of what they had really come to see…

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Meanwhile, Roger Federer, kept his composure and didn’t let the fact that his opponent today was the last person to beat him at Wimbledon - Mario Ancic in 2002 - the year before Rogers 5-year winning streak began.

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If Roger had any doubts or nervousness about the outcome, he certainly did not show them out of the court and won the match comfortably in straight-sets 6-1 7-5 6-4.

Rafa Nadal also won his much anticipated match against local hope Andy Murray, taking us one more step closer to the the much-anticipated prospect of a Federer/Nadal final.

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Roger Federer (Alu Power 125 Rough and Wilson Natural Gut) carries a constant reminder of what this particular tournament means to him - 5 consecutive gold Wimbledon trophies under (or rather on) his belt and favorite to make that 6. No-one should doubt just how important that number 6 is to him and the world is watching each passing round with mounting anticipation - and hoping that a Federer/Nadal final will be the closing match of this great event (except for the locals, of course, who have a new hero and are rather hoping for a Federer/Murray final).

Roger took care of business in fine style today, beating former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 7-6(7) 6-2 6-4.

He will meet Mario Ancic in the quarterfinals.

© Manuela Davies - doubleXposure.com

Feliciano Lopez of Spain (Alu Power 125) and seeded 31 advanced further into the draw than his ranking or seeding had predicted with a tough 5-set upset of the 10th seeded Marco Baghdatis 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6(4) 8-6.

He will play the unseeded - but talented and on-form - big Russian Marat Safin in the quarterfinals.