LONDON (Reuters) - Jelena Jankovic`s challenge melted in soaring temperatures at Wimbledon on Saturday while Andy Murray scorched the Center Court turf as he blasted his way into the second week of the grasscourt championships.
Facing an opponent who is allergic to grass, Murray produced a rash of aces -- 17 to be exact -- to leave Serbia`s Viktor Troicki in agony during a 6-2 6-3 6-4 demolition job.
For much of the 96-minute third round match, played under stormy skies, it seemed as if the All England Club`s new retractable might finally make its debut but Murray appeared in a hurry to get off court as thunder rumbled in the distance.
"It would have been a nice bit of history, I guess, the first match to play under the roof. (But) once it was 5-3 in the third set, I obviously wanted to finish it before the rain came," said Murray, who is bidding to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon crown in 73 years.
While the Scot was lucky enough to charge his way into the last 16 of the tournament in the cool evening shade, Serbia`s Jankovic looking dazed and confused in searing afternoon heat as she repeatedly called for medical attention.
It was all too much for ex-world number one who was stifled 6-7 7-5 6-2 in the third round by 124th-ranked teenage American qualifier Melanie Oudin on a roasting Court Three.
Blaming her plight on "some woman problems," the sixth seed added: "I was like a ghost... I didn`t know where I was. I felt really dizzy and I thought that I was gonna end up in the hospital. I started to shake. I was losing my consciousness.
"It`s not easy being a woman sometimes," she said.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova joined Jankovic at the exit door. German Sabine Lisicki ruined the Russian`s 24th birthday celebrations with a 6-2 7-5 win over the fifth seed.
Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams faced no such problems.
However, the Serb wisely opted not to spend too much time topping up her tan on Court Two as she hurried past Australian Samantha Stosur 7-5 6-2 in 70 minutes to reach the last 16.
Next up for the 13th seed is world number three Williams.
FLORIDA HEAT
She cannot afford any lapses on Monday as American Williams chalked up her 17th successive win at the grasscourt major with a 6-0 6-4 walloping of Carla Suarez Navarro and then declared the weather was not hot enough for "a Florida girl."
"You don`t understand the heat in Florida. I needed a sweater out there," grinned the five-times champion. Continued...
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