Serbian star Tipsarevic turns Roddick exit into an odd spectacle

Tipsarevic, a strange sight in his dark-rimmed glasses, black beard and nose strip - the kind worn by Paula Radcliffe for maximum oxygen intake - defeated the No 6 seed 6-7, 5, 6-4, 7-6 in a little more than three hours of absorbing Centre Court action.

Fond farewell: Roddick bows out on Centre Court after his defeat

Tipsarevic, 24, dropped his racket the ground and fell to his knees at the moment of victory, the image of a Wii character winning a big match. But this was very much for real. It may sound a little big but this means the world to me,' he said. This is my favourite tournament. This is my favourite court. I would have loved it just as much even if I had lost in the fifth set.'

Not that the Serbian has a history that. He won three five-set matches here last year and only lost Roger Federer at the Australian Open in January 10-8 in the deciding set.

Roddick now knows what Federer went through. The twice beaten Wimbledon finalist (to Federer in 2004 and 2005) seemed agitated throughout, talking tactics to him-self, mumbling and complaining to umpire Carlos Ramos about the noises coming from across the net. Tipsarevic has the annoying habit of grunting after hitting the ball.

Roddick missed the French Open with a shoulder injury and arrived at the All England Club underdone, having unusually failed to win the Artois tournament at Queen's. The American had never previously failed to reach the third round here. But, despite serving 27 aces, he was always struggling to cope with the variety of the Serbian's game.

His last chance came in the fourth set tie-break when he opened up an early lead. But Tipsarevic turned round the advantage to secure a famous victory.

Removing his distinctive spectacles, he replaced them with a pair of sunglasses for the walk back to the dressing room. By then, the gathering gloom had nearly been replaced by darkness.

There was barely enough light to make out the tattoo on his arm. Dostoevsky's famous hope 'Beauty will save the world' is written in Japanese characters because he prefers it to Russian or English lettering. Pretentious, him? There was no saving Roddick, and Tipsarevic progresses to face Dmitry Tursunov, the conqueror of Chris Eaton.