Thousands remained transfixed to the giant screen on Henman Hill to join the 15,000 fans inside the stunning arena cheering for Andy Murray to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3,5-7, 6-3 victory against Stanislas Wawrinka.
Dubbed as Prince of Darkness, Murray survived the five-set sweat-fest against the Swiss no.2 under Centre Court’s new roof.
Earlier of the day, Federer outserved Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals—three weeks after downing the Swede in three sets in Paris for his first French Open title.
Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Haas also produced vintage displays at Round 4 at the Wimbledon.
Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt fought back from two sets down on Monday to defeat Radek Stepanek 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 and take his place in the quarterfinals.
Juan Carlos Ferrero swept through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second time in three years on Monday, downing French eighth seed Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The Spaniard wildcard will face Murray for a place in the semifinals.
Tommy Haas reached the “elite eight club” at Wimbledon for the first time in his long career after beating Russian Igor Andreev 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Next he will face off with Novak Djokovic whom he beat in Halle.
Joining Djokovic at the quarterfinals are big servers Ivo Karlovic and Andy Roddick.
In the women's singles, a tearful Ana Ivanovic retired 1-6, 1-0 after a leg injury in her fourth-round match against Venus Williams.
Ivanovic took a 10-minute break during the first game of the second set to have her left thigh taped by a trainer.
She returned for two more points, but after hitting a service winner to take the game, she began crying as she walked to her chair and told the umpire she was retiring.
The new retractable roof over Centre Court was closed for the first time Monday after a light sprinkle halted play during the second set of a match between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo.
The world no.1 Safina defeated Frenchwoman Mauresmo 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Unseeded German Sabine Lisicki continues her great run at the Wimbledon after defeated Caroline Wozniacki with a 6-4 6-4 victory in the fourth round.
Others who also made it to the quarterfinals are Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone, Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska.
Former world no.1 player Lindsay Davenport has given birth to her second child.
Davenport and husband Jon Leach have named their baby girl Lauren Andrus Davenport Leach on Saturday morning.
The husband and wife team already have a 2-year-old son, Jagger.
Davenport’s agent Tony Godsick said, “Lindsay and Lauren are doing great, and Jonny and the other man of the family, Jagger, Lauren’s brother, are ecstatic.”
On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a media launch organised by IMG at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
I did not know it was the launch of an ATP 250 event as the invitation only stated 'a major annual sports and entertainment event for Malaysia'.
But I sort of know that it was a tennis event - or else why would they want to invite me.
As soon as I registered myself as a tennis blogger (the Media Director was a bit surprised), I took my 'goodie bag' (still not knowing it was the launch of the Malaysian Open) and searched for a place to check out the 'freebies' in the bag.
In the 'goodie bag' - An official guide to pro tennis 2009, ATP World Tour 2009 season book and a ATP 250 Malaysian Open notebook.
Now I bet you can imagine how happy I was when I finally saw the ATP 250 and Malaysian Open logos on the bag!
Then I met up with loose cannon who introduced to me the reporters and people from the press like the Malay Mail and NST.
Being kiasu, I quickly went into the conference room and grabbed the front seat so that I can get a good view to record some footage.
While most people from the media were still outside, I wassitting inside enjoying the slide show - I couldn't believe my eyes that Kei Nishikori, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Nikolay Davydenko were some of the players who will be here in September!
With a James Blunt's song in the background, I got goosebumps and a chill running down my spine. I can't remember how many tweets and text messages I've sent out sharing the great news.
So, Kuala Lumpur won the right to host the prestigious ATP World Tour 250 for a period of five years from this year until 2013.
The Malaysian Open, to be organised by IMG, a world leader in sports and lifestyle marketing, will carry a total prize money of USD947,750, more than the amount offered at Thailand Open which is to be held on the same week.
This event will be held at the 16,000-capacity indoor Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Sept 26 till Oct 4. Very, very near to my house indeed!
The Malaysian Open joins the Thailand Open, China Open, Japan Open and Shanghai Masters as Asian events on the ATP Tour schedule.
"There is great demand for cities to host ATP World Tour events and in particular within the Asian region," said Brad Drewett, CEO of ATP International.
"Kuala Lumpur presented a very strong application to become part of the ATP World Tour."
Here's the launch video which I want to share with you.
Tournament director Nick Freyer, who is also IMG Senior Vice-President and Head of Tennis for Asia, confirmed the participation of the 6 players mentioned earlier in this post.
If you haven't watch the welcome messages in my previous blog post, here we go again:
Freyer who received a 'special phone call' in the middle of his speech, later invited the Prime Minister to announce the participation of another player, who turned out to be 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Soderling.
Initially I thought that gimmick 'phone call' came from Roger Federer!
Now during the Q&A session, I managed to ask a question. I was glad when the tournament director assured that wildcards will be given based on merits. I'll be disappointed if wildcards will be given to local players whom I believe not ready to play at this level yet.
The event ended on high note when the Prime Minister officially launched the event and the official website (www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com).
Right after the event, I quickly dashed to the registration counter, got myself the press kit and an extra 'goodie bag' for Esther.
Before I end this post, let me share with you some information which I've got regarding the Malaysian Open. I bet you want to know things like the schedule of event, ticket price, venue and facilities, etc.
American Melanie Oudin pulled the biggest upset on Day 6 by beating the struggling former world no.1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2.
When the 124th ranked Oudin (pronounced Oo-dan') concluded the match of her life she had to ask where to find the exit from the court.Still finding her way around the All England Club, Oudin has made her way into the fourth round.
French Open champion and birthday girl Svetlana Kuznetsova did not get the birthday present she hoped for when she was also knocked out of Wimbledon by unseeded teenager Sabine Lisicki.
The Russian was outclassed 6-2, 7-5 in just one hour and 26 minutes.
Thousands remained transfixed to the giant screen on Henman Hill to join the 15,000 fans inside the stunning arena cheering for Andy Murray to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3,5-7, 6-3 victory against Stanislas Wawrinka.
