Rosset passes Wimbledon milestone

Rosset during his third round clash with Tommy Haas Keystone

Switzerland's number one male tennis player, Marc Rosset, has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.

Rosset survived an epic struggle against Germany’s Tommy Haas to win in five sets. The Swiss player twice went a set up, winning the first and third sets, but on each occasion was pegged back by Haas.

The two players were just as hard to separate in the final set, which at Wimbledon cannot be decided by a tie-break. It took Rosset sixteen games to finally snatch the set 9-7.

The Genevan player was making his fourth appearance in the third round, having lost at this stage in 1990, 1992 and 1996. Having now made it into the second week of the tournament, Rosset now has a realistic chance of progressing into the quarter finals – thanks to an upset earlier in the day.

Rosset had been expected to meet the number four seed, Gustavo Kuerten, but the Brazilian suffered a surprise defeat to Germany’s Alexander Popp, who is 114th in the world rankings.

Rosset is ranked 81 places higher and will be the favourite to beat the 23-year-old Wimbledon debutant. However, the Genevan giant will not have his normal height advantage. Popp, like Rosset, is two metres tall. A big encounter in more ways than one, the match will be the first time the two men have played each other.


swissinfo with agencies