Greg Rusedski's hopes of joining Tim Henman in the fourth round were dashed this afternoon when Belgium's Xavier Malisse beat the home favourite 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 with an impressive display on Wimbledon's Centre Court. The match was poised at 2-2 yesterday when play was delayed at 9.00pm because of bad light, and this morning's persistent rain kept both players waiting anxiously before they finally emerged at around 3.00pm.
Malisse, seeded 27, matched the 23 seeded Rusedski throughout and deservedly triumphed in 32 minutes in the deciding set to the disappointment of the partisan home crowd. The Belgian seemed the more relaxed of the two and will now face either Mark Philippoussis of Australia or 1996 champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
4th Round scores:X Malisse (Bel x27) bt G Rusedski (Gbr x23) 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4Mark Philippoussis n/f Richard Krajicek 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-7
Filed by Shane Murray
