WIMBLEDON, England — One day removed from the spellbinding match on Court 18 between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut that lasted a record 11 hours and 5 minutes and was twice suspended, Victor Hanescu muddied up the Wimbledon grounds Friday.
Hanescu, a Romanian seeded 31st and playing on Court 18, was charged with a code violation after spitting at the crowd amid boos and catcalls toward the end of his match with Daniel Brands of Germany. Minutes earlier, Hanescu had asked that play be halted because of darkness and when it wasn't, he began playing without purpose. He also appeared to aim his anger at certain people sitting in or near the right side of the front row.
The official score was 6-7 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-3, 3-0, retired and Hanescu left to even more boos.
Afterward, police were called in and Scotland Yard, in a statement, said four men were being questioned after a complaint from Hanescu. No other details were given.
The ugliness was in stark contrast to the good feelings that had been brought on by the intrepid will of Isner and Mahut.
Isner, seeded 23rd, had nothing left to offer in his second-round match. He lost to unseeded Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 and said, "I didn't really have a chance."
Fellow American and fifth-seeded Andy Roddick said it was no surprise what happened to Isner. "His toes were just torched," he said. "They looked like deli meat. Credit to him, he knew he didn't have his best stuff. He was finished."
Hanescu's bad behavior took place well after top-seeded Roger Federer had tidied up his game. After losing three sets in his first two rounds to players ranked 60th and 152nd in the world defending champion Federer regained his dominant gene with his 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over French veteran Arnaud Clement.
Court 1 was where second-seeded and five-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams outslugged 26th-seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova, winning 6-4, 6-2.
One intriguing fourth-round women's match was also determined. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, the former No. 1-ranked players from Belgium who are both back from retirement, each won easily. Clijsters, seeded eighth, beat 27th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-3 and Henin was equally dominant over 12th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, winning 6-1, 6-4.
Roddick, who lost to Federer in last year's five-set final, stumbled a bit. He lost the second set to hard-hitting German Philipp Kohlschreiber, then dominated the final two sets in a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 win.
dpucin@tribune.com