WIMBLEDON (England), Jul 4 (AP): Rafael Nadal celebrated like he won the Wimbledon title Wednesday, falling to his knees in relief after finally beating Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 7-5 in a rain-interrupted third-round match that finished four days after they first stepped on court.
The second-seeded Spaniard finally won on his sixth match point, the final five coming two days after the first.
The match was scheduled to begin Saturday, but the players were pulled off the court during the warmup because of rain. After the traditional middle Sunday off at the All England Club, the match started Monday.
That's when Nadal held a match point in the third-set tiebreaker, but he eventually lost that set and the next one. Play was suspended for the day with Nadal leading 2-0 in the fifth set.
On Tuesday, they returned to the court but played for only 20 minutes until the rain again halted play for the day.
Resuming at 4-4 in the fifth set Wednesday, Nadal held serve in the 11th game -- saving one break point -- and then sat down during the changeover as it began to drizzle. While the chair umpire waited to see if the rain would stop, Nadal sat nervously shaking his left leg.
Play continued moments later, and Soderling was able to save four more match points before he sent a backhand long.
The Swede challenged the call as Nadal ran to the net, but the "Hawk-Eye" replay technology showed the ball was out.
Nadal then dropped to his knees and later threw his wristbands into the crowd.
No. 2 Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were to resume their fourth-round match after playing only three points Tuesday, and No. 3 Andy Roddick was to finish his fourth-round match against Paul-Henri Mathieu. No. 4 Novak Djokovic was also to finish his suspended third-round match against Nicolas Kiefer.
Serena Williams, who overcame a calf strain to reach the quarterfinals, was scheduled to play top-ranked Justine Henin.
Even by Wimbledon standards, there's been a lot of rain this year at the All England Club.
The fickle English weather caused stoppages and postponements on seven of the tournament's first eight days.
And the constant starting and stopping didn't do much to help defending champion Amelie Mauresmo -- she lost in the fourth round Tuesday to 18-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1.
"She was in a much better rhythm throughout the whole match than I was," the two-time major champion said. "Definitely those interruptions don't help."
Play on Centre Court and Court No. 1 started two hours earlier than usual Tuesday -- because of the backlog of matches. Only seven singles matches were completed in between six rain delays.
Besides Mauresmo, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic was upset, playing through four rain delays and losing to No. 18 Marion Bartoli of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
"There is no reason for me to lose this match," Jankovic said. "But in these circumstances anything can happen."
Bartoli will next face No. 31 Michaella Krajicek in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal for both players.
Nadal finally wins 3-day Wimbledon match
FE Team | Published: July 05, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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