ESPN: Americans remain alive in all five draws

he Fourth of July is hardly a holiday in Great Britain, but in a sporting tribute the All England Club filled Centre Court with Americans on Wednesday. All four scheduled matches featured U.S. players.Andy Roddick displayed the independent American spirit as well as anyone, besting Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (6) in a fourth-round match continued from Tuesday. The 24-year-old American, down 1-4 in the third set and love-5 in the tiebreaker, rallied famously.

Roddick has now won 18 consecutive tiebreakers, a remarkable achievement.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams floored No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals. At the same time, both top-seeded doubles teams advanced. Bob and Mike Bryan, the pride of Camarillo, Calif., defeated the Great Britain duo of Richard Bloomfield and Jonathan Marray 6-2 6-2, 7-6 (4). American Lisa Raymond and Australian partner Samantha Stosur took out Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-1.

In the second round of mixed doubles, Bob Bryan and Stosur beat Martin Garcia and Paola Suarez in straight sets.

Roddick began the day with a one-set lead and promptly served out the second set. Jimmy Connors, Roddick’s coach, was quite pleased.

“I like what goes on in here now,” Connors said, tapping his head. “He’s being patient enough to wait for his chance to force the action. That’s what I like the most.”

Connors said Roddick was handling the frustrating rain delays with aplomb.

“I like his attitude and his eagerness to play,” Connors said. “Coming here under the radar is not a bad position. Everybody talks about Federer and Nadal. Now Andy’s in a quarterfinal and the ears begin to perk up.”

In recent days, Roddick has probably spent more time sharpening his vocabulary than his tennis game. He’s been playing a lot of Scrabble with Connors in the locker room during rain delays. Connors reports that, because he has failed to reach 100 points, Roddick has been winning.

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