Americans shut out

WIMBLEDON, England – It hardly seemed fair.

The last chance for the United States to avoid getting shut out of the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals for the first time in nearly a century rested with a woman who’s ranked 62nd, never played in a Grand Slam’s fourth round until Monday and was facing a two-time runner-up at majors.

Shenay Perry knew all too well she was the last American standing – “Everyone told me,” she sighed – and that, plus the stage and opponent, overwhelmed her, adding up to a 6-2, 6-0 loss to No. 7 Elena Dementieva.

At least one U.S. player had reached the men’s or women’s quarterfinals at every Wimbledon since 1911, when zero women from the country and three men entered the tournament. This year, nine men and 14 women from the United States were in the singles draws, including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Venus Williams.

This is also the first time at any Grand Slam tournament since the 1976 Australian Open that no U.S. man or woman reached the quarterfinals.

Finland put a man into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time: Jarkko Nieminen, who beat Dmitry Tursunov 9-7 in the fifth set.

The women’s quarterfinals today are Dementieva vs. 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, Li Na vs. Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo vs. Anastasia Myskina, and Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Severine Bremond, the first qualifier to reach the final eight since 1999. Three are from Russia, two apiece from France and Belgium.

The most intriguing matchup in the men’s quarterfinals will be three-time champion Roger Federer against Mario Ancic, the last person to beat Federer on grass, in the first round here in 2002. The other quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal vs. Nieminen, 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt vs. Marcos Baghdatis, and Radek Stepanek vs. Jonas Bjorkman.