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Wild tremors rocked the normally staid and tradition bound corridors of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. While Roger Federer's exit from the tournament caused upheaval and disbelief; equally loud gasps were reserved for the shock exits of the Williams sisters and the Bryan brothers from the doubles competition. Meanwhile, Leander Paes became the only Indian left in the tournament when he made the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event alongside Cara Black of Zimbabwe.

The poignant run of the Indo-Pak pair - Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi came to a grinding halt when they were put out by Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner who seem to be getting better with each passing match. The Austrian and German lost their singles matches to Federer and Rafael Nadal respectively, but they kept their tournament alive with some lively tennis in the doubles competition. The two of them proved more than a handful to Bopanna and Qureshi who lost 4-6, 6-7(3), and 2-6.

Paes and Black had an easy outing, getting past Igor Zelenay and Alicja Rosolska in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. The second seeds finally had their serve going after struggling with consistency during the first two rounds. Leander and Cara Black will play Paul Hanley and Yung-Jan Chan in the quarter-finals.

The women's top seeds Venus and Serena Williams won the first set against their Russian opponents Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva. While it appeared that the crack pairing of sister will cruise into the semi-finals in straight sets, the unseeded Russians mounted a formidable challenge to register a three set victory to make the semi-finals. The Williams sisters were looking to achieve the calendar grand slam in doubles after winning the first two events this year. Those dreams lay in tatters after taking an unexpected 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 loss against the Russians.

Yet another marquee pair to loose was the Bryan brothers. Bob and Mike Bryan saw their hopes of winning a 63rd title to become the most successful doubles team in tennis history come unstuck at the hands of Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman. It was a tough battle but the Americans lost in four sets 6-7(4), 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-5.

Scores:

Gentlemen's Doubles - Quarter-finals
[7] W Moodie (RSA)/D Norman (BEL) d [2] B Bryan (USA)/M Bryan (USA) 76(4) 76(5) 67(3) 75
J Melzer (AUT)/P Petzschner (GER) d R Bopanna (IND)/A Qureshi (PAK) 64 76(3) 62

Ladies Doubles - Quarter-finals
Vesnina/Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) d. (1) Williams/Williams (USA/USA) 36 63 64
(4) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. Goerges/Szavay (GER/HUN) 62 62
(5) Huber/Mattek-Sands (USA/USA) d. (7) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) 64 63
King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. (6) Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) 36 75 63

File Photograph Copyright: Richard Thorpe

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