Tennis: Dent falls in third round at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England - Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, who entered the

third round at Wimbledon as one of only three Americans remaining in the

gentlemen’s singles draw, was eliminated in a close match Friday as

Australia’s Wayne Arthurs won four tiebreakers in a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-7

(4), 7-6 (5) win at the All-England Club.

Dent, a former Corona del Mar High standout who won a CIF Southern

Section singles title as a freshman in 1996, two years before turning

pro, reached the third round for the first time at Wimbledon, defeating

Max Mirnyi in the first round and popular American Jan-Michael Gambill in

the second round.

Dent, who last year cranked out the fastest serve in Wimbledon history

at 144 mph, had 13 aces against Arthurs, a left-hander who served 32 aces

in the match.

With Dent and 11th-seeded Andy Roddick falling Friday, only one of the

14 U.S. men is left -- 98th-ranked Jeff Morrison. And if he loses to

Sjeng Schalken on Saturday, it will be the first time in 80 years that no

American made it to the fourth round.

It’s already the worst showing by U.S. men in the Open era, since

1968: Never before had fewer than two made the Round of 16.

--By Richard Dunn