Sa and samba rule in battle of Brazilians

While all eyes will be on the three Rs in Yokohama today, Brazil's two Ss fought out an intriguing duel on Court Three. The man left standing after the fourth round was Andre Sa, who defeated his compatriot Flavio Saretta 2-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-1 in a minor classic.

Sampras has gone, Safin has gone, but Sa soldiers on and tomorrow he will play the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez for a place, as unlikely as it seems, in the quarter-finals.

While Sa was enjoying the best run of his career, Lopez was putting out the German seed Rainer Schuettler. Aged 25 from Belo Horizonte, Sa is making his fifth successive appearance at Wimbledon and had survived the first round only once previously, in 1999.

Prior to Wimbledon he had lost five consecutive first-round matches since appearing at a tournament in Casablanca in April. Clearly a case of play it again, Sa.

His head-to-head record with his friend Saretta stood at 4-4 and in only the third all-Brazilian clash in Grand Slam history, Sa emerged the conquistador in a tussle between two men for whom grass is a novel experience.

Reaching the last 16 here is another novel experience but Sa was more concerned about where to watch the World Cup final between Brazil and Germany today than on the prospects of his match with Lopez. Sa and his coach, Marcus Barbosa, have rented a flat in London during Wimbledon.

"The television reception isn't very good," Sa said.

"We might have to go to a bar. I think we will win the World Cup 2-0 and Ronaldinho is the player who will make the difference."

Saretta, who upset the No 8 seed Thomas Johansson 6-7 6-4 7-6 3-6 12-10 in the first round on his Wimbledon debut in a match that lasted four hours 21 minutes, took the first set yesterday, breaking Sa in games four and eight.

For the most part it was an even contest between two baseliners who possess double-fisted backhands, not to mention wispy beards. The difference is that Saretta, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last Friday, is an inveterate grunter.

Having drawn first blood, his new found sense of adventure let him down in the first game of the second set. Abandoning the baseline he attempted to play a series of drop shots and when they dropped into the net he dropped his serve.

When he missed an easy smash he was broken again in the seventh game and responded with a sequence of extravagant, uninhibited shots – cross-court forehand and backhand passes a speciality – to break his opponent to love. It wasn't enough to prevent Sa from taking the set 6-4 to level the match. If there was a turning point in the match it came in the third set. Saretta opened up a 2-0 lead, courtesy of some whipped cross-court forehand passes but then failed to consolidate.

During a spellbinding marathon rally at a crucial point in the third game – which reduced both men to grunting – Sa produced the killer thrust, a diving backhand volley.

With the crowd on its feet, both players were flat out on the court. Saretta, despite the fact that he was lying on his back, led the applause for his countryman.

Sa got another service break in the seventh game before taking the set 6-3 when Saretta conceded with a double fault.

It was Sa's turn to concede in the fourth set, when he lost his serve to love in the third game en route to losing it 6-1. While he decided to save his best shot for the deciding set, Saretta began to feel the effects of what had been a long, hard tournament.

Double faults began to appear with increasing regularity and he delivered two in the seventh game, the second on match point.

At the end of a match that was hugely appreciated by the spectators, the Brazilians did not confine themselves to a handshake. There were hugs all round and today they will be joined in a common cause, sporting the yellow and green.

Sa is no veteran of these Championships, but nevertheless he detected a change in the playing conditions. "We have not had one drop of rain," he said, "but I think the courts are slower than they have ever been. I think that's the reason for so many top seeds going out."