Rain, Rain, Go Away
Thunderstorms interrupted play for a third day in a row, with an almost five-hour delay on Wednesday afternoon and evening. How did Andy Roddick pass the time? "I looked out the window and watched the rain fall in the pool," Roddick joked. Roddick was surprised his match against Nicolas Mahut on Stadium Court was bumped up ahead of Michael Russell versus Kevin Anderson, who had already played two games before the rain delay, but he was happy he was able to finish the match on its scheduled day.

Rain Delay Entertainment
There were a few very vocal fans in the crowd Wednesday night who would sometimes shout right before the players served. Some of the fans might have taken advantage of the Corona tent on the grounds and the surrounding bars during the long delay. "I think you could tell what the rain delay activity was. People might have been indulging a little bit," Roddick said.

Taking Chances
Kevin Anderson only needed one break of serve in each set to defeat Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-4, in the Quarterfinals on Friday.  Anderson was two for two on break point chances while Lacko was not able to reach a break point on Anderson’s serve.  Lacko did not play a poor match, but he was not as sharp with his groundstrokes as he was in his upset of Lleyton Hewitt in the previous round. Anderson will play in his first semifinal since he made the Final in Las Vegas in 2008 as a qualifier.

Lost Opportunities
Jonathan Erlich and Janko Tipsarevic were up a set and a break in their doubles quarterfinal match against Rohan Bopanna and Kristof Vliegen before losing 3-6, 7-6(9), 10-8.  In the second set tiebreak, Erlich and Tipsarevic had two match points and Erlich double-faulted on one of them.  They also had a 4-1 lead in the supertiebreak but Bopanna and Vliegen went on to win eight of the next nine points.  Down 5-9, Erlich and Tipsarevic almost made a comeback, saving three match points. However, the opponents were able to take the match on their own serve, converting on the fourth match point.

Age Is Just a Number
The first match on Court 1 featured the two oldest players in the draw, 32-year-old Michael Russell and 34-year-old Rainer Schuettler.  Hot temper eruptions witnessed Tuesday continued on Wednesday with Schuettler becoming more frustrated as the match slipped away from him.  He carried on conversations with himself in German for the entire second set and the end of the third set. I do not think I have ever seen a player talk to themselves so much.  Russell played very consistently from the baseline and let Schuettler commit most of the errors. Schuettler served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but was broken and did not win another game.  Russell is in his second quarterfinal of the year.

Serve is Key
Taylor Dent’s serving woes continued as he made four double faults on his way to losing his opening service game to Horacio Zeballos.  Dent served a total of six double faults and only had a 21-percent first serve conversion in losing the first set, 4-6.  Storm clouds and strong winds picked up over the stadium during the second half of the match.  A few raindrops fell but the thunderstorm stayed away from the tournament grounds.  Dent handled the difficult conditions much better than his Argentinian opponent by serving better and went on to lose only two games in the last two sets, winning the match, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.