NOTEBOOK Wimbledon

Lengthy doubles: Three days after starting the match, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France finally wrapped up a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (9), 14-12 win over Amer Delic and Bobby Reynolds of the United States in men’s doubles. Resuming Monday at 9-9, 30-all in the final set, the 10th-seeded pair of Clement and Llodra saved a match point before progressing to the third round. The match started Friday and continued Saturday, with rain holding it up both times. There was no play on the traditional middle Sunday off. “It’s fun to play a match that is that tight, if it was in one day and you can build up to that,” Delic said. “But it’s been so hard having the rain delay, stopping and coming back the next day, starting a little bit and the rain comes back.” Games went with serve until Clement, who lost to Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the singles, hit a lob into the corner to break Reynolds and make it 13-12. Llodra then served it out at love. With rain forcing more suspensions and postponements, Clement and Llodra said organizers should trim the doubles matches to three sets.

Getting better: A year after reaching the Wimbledon final, Justine Henin is even better on grass. The top-ranked Belgian, who lost to Amelie Mauresmo in last year’s championship match at the All England Club, reached the quarterfinals Monday by beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2. “I improved a lot in my game on grass from last year,” Henin said. “Everything started here for me in Wimbledon with [a] different kind of game, moving forward, go to the net a little bit more. My serve has been good in my first four matches now. And probably the other players don’t like it that much, so it’s good.” Henin reached all four Grand Slam finals last year, but won only the French Open. This year, she skipped the Australian Open for personal reasons and then won her fourth title — and third in a row — at Roland Garros. Through four rounds at Wimbledon this year, Henin has lost only 15 games. “I did my job perfectly until now,” said Henin, who meets Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

Associated Press