Rusedski powers past Roddick

"Henman Hill'' showed signs of losing its exclusivity here yesterday, when the crowd gathered in that corner of Wimbledon chanted in unison for Greg Rusedski, the British No 2.

Rusedski, the 23rd seed who came into the Championships more in hope than with public expectancy, advanced to the fourth round with an emphatic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Andy Roddick, the 20-year-old described by Pete Sampras and others as the future of American tennis.

The immediate future belonged to Rusedski yesterday as he utilised his serving and volleying expertise to dismantle the Nebraskan. The 28-year-old now plays Xavier Malisse, from Belgium, another of the world's promising players, and one whose all-court skills may trouble Rusedski more than Roddick's big serving and pounding groundstrokes.

The result leaves Rusedski as the second-highest seed left in the lower half of the draw, Malisse having eliminated the fifth seed, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, yesterday. The highest is the 22nd seed, Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

Underlining the savage attack on the leading men here in the first week, only Lleyton Hewitt, the world No 1, and Henman, the fourth seed, remain of the world's top 20.

Rusedski, who hit 12 aces, never ceased in his bombardment of Roddick, who contributed six double-faults to his own downfall but was unable either to disrupt Rusedski or add any aesthetic moments to the power-dominated contest.

Rusedski won the first set after breaking for 5-3. Before Roddick could recover, Rusedski broke again in the opening game of the second set. That was the only opportunity he required. His face a picture of determination, Rusedski continued to push Roddick on to his back foot, breaking for 3-2 in the third set and the game for 5-2. All that remained was for Rusedski to stay calm and serve out the match.

He required two match points. Roddick passed him with a return at 40-30. Rusedski responded with a service winner, and then on the second match point, the weary looking American could do no more with the second serve than hit a backhand into the net.

Roddick had had a fairly easy time advancing to the third round. His first-round opponent, Bohdan Ulihrach, retired ill when trailing 6-1, 3-1. In the second round, Roddick breezed past Alberto Martin, a Spaniard whose game prospers more on slow clay courts, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick equalled Taylor Dent's fastest ever serve at Wimbledon (144mph) in defeating Martin, but that merely punctuated the ease of his victory.

Perhaps that was the American's problem. The 11th seed, playing his seventh Grand Slam tournament, needed to be rather more match-tougher when it came to facing Rusedski on his favourite surface.

Having said that, Rusedski, in common with Henman, beat two qualifiers to reach the third round, in his case Jurgen Melzer and Hyung-Taik Lee.

In a sense, however, that was just the preparation the Rusedski needed, having struggled for form and confidence most of the season before playing at Nottingham last week.

With all the home hype surrounding Henman, who had played in three Wimbledon semi-finals, Rusedski tried to be low key before arriving in SW19. He adopted the stance of an underdog, with little expected of him and nothing to prove. Having lost to Goran Ivanisevic in the fourth round last year, Rusedski took inspiration from the way the Croat ian wild card went all the way to lifting the trophy. Roddick was another of Ivanisevic's victims last year.

What impressed Rusedski most about Ivanisevic was his mind set. "He felt it was probably his destiny,'' Rusedski said. "And, at 125 in the world, everybody wrote him off.''

Going into his 10th Wimbledon, Rusedski believed that with a little bit of luck he could build his confidence at least to the point of 1997, when he reached the quarter-finals.

This was, Rusedski said over and over, the year of the sporting underdog. As evidence he pointed to the previous two Grand Slam winners, Thomas Johansson in the Australian Open, and Albert Costa, of Spain, in the French Open. Those two – plus the way so many leading nations were humbled in the World Cup – convinced Rusedski that he could make progress. "Mentally, I'm better than I have ever been for the Championships,'' he said.

After yesterday's win, Rusedski said: "Roddick is a great player but I just felt before the match that I had that little edge with experience today."

Roddick was quick to praise the Briton's performance. "He played very well. I didn't do much right. He came up with big points when he needed to."

Asked whether Rusedski can win the tournament, the American answered in the affirmative and added that mental strength will be as important as anything. "He's got the game to win it," he said. "I think it's more between the ears."

The Centre Court crowd had worked in Rusedski's favour, Roddick said: "They're rowdier than usual. It helped him but it didn't affect me."

There was an endorsement from John McEnroe, who said. "That's the best I've ever seen Rusedski play at Wimbledon – that was the teacher giving the pupil a lesson. Rarely have I ever seen anyone so dominating, not just with the serve but with the game plan. [Roddick] thought he was ready for a lefty but he had a surprise coming!"