WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andy Roddick's mood was subdued, his words curt.
Once again, he's leaving Wimbledon without the champion's trophy. Only this time, Roddick heads home much earlier than a year ago -- and after being beaten by a far-less-accomplished opponent.
The No. 5-seeded American erased an early deficit to even his fourth-round match against 82nd-ranked Yen-hsu Lu of Taiwan, then got broken for the only time all day in the very last game and lost 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-7 despite hitting 38 aces Monday.
"It never gets easier," said Roddick, a three-time runner-up at Wimbledon. "Of course I'm going to be (ticked) off when I wake up tomorrow. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn't wake up the next day in a great mood."
This one sure looked like a mismatch going in, and not only because Roddick won all three previous meetings in straight sets.
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Roddick, after all, is a former No. 1 who won the 2003 U.S. Open and played in four other major finals, losing each to Roger Federer, including 16-14 in the fifth set at the All England Club in 2009.
Serena Williams followed Roddick and pounded 19 aces in her 7-6 (9), 6-4 victory over 2004 champion Maria Sharapova.
In a matchup between former No. 1s and Grand Slam champions from Belgium who recently came out of retirement, No. 8 Kim Clijsters beat No. 17 Justine Henin 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Henin slid and tumbled to the grass in the match's third game, jarring her right elbow, and wasn't the same the rest of the way.
Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 winner at the All England Club, lost to 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, while two-time major finalist Andy Murray -- Britain's hope for its first homegrown male champion since 1936 -- defeated No. 18 Sam Querrey of Santa Monica, Calif., 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 and is the only man yet to drop a set.
