Federer, Hewitt advance

WIMBLEDON, England — It had to happen sometime, at some tournament. Their lives intersected under dire circumstances off the court, and Andy Roddick and Sjeng Schalken were bound to face each other on one, sooner or later.

Roddick helped about a dozen people, including fellow tennis players, escape a fatal hotel fire in May before the Italian Open. One, Schalken, will be his quarterfinal opponent at Wimbledon.

The second-seeded Roddick reached the final eight at the All England Club by beating Alexander Popp 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 Monday. No. 12 Schalken made it that far for the third straight year, ending No. 30 Vince Spadea's surprising run 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

"Any time you share a very traumatic situation, and kind of share that fear with someone, and get out of it — there's always something there," Roddick said. "I don't know what that is, but there is kind of something between us now. By the same token, we're both going to try to win a Wimbledon quarterfinal."

They and other pros were in Rome the weekend before the start of a clay-court tournament when their hotel caught fire, killing three guests. Schalken was on the seventh floor, Roddick on the sixth. So Roddick waited on his balcony, with outstretched arms, to catch Schalken when he jumped down. Both then were able to use firetruck ladders to reach the ground.

Three days after the fire, Roddick lost at the Italian Open, his only first-round defeat in 2004.

"Rome was probably the first time in my life I was out on the court and could care less if I won or lost," Roddick said. "I wanted to go home, and I wanted to see my family."

He and Schalken knew each other before, of course, and now they've grown closer, practicing together the day before the start of Wimbledon. But they haven't squared off in a match that counted since the fire; Roddick is 4-1 against Schalken, including three straight victories.

"I hope he's thinking about that a little bit, and taking it easy on me. He didn't do that the last three times," Schalken said. "Before and after, we'll be good friends, and on the court, we'll try to win."

If their match Wednesday is the most intriguing, the best quarterfinal on paper pits the Grand Slam tournament's last two champions: Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt.

The other men's quarterfinals are No. 5 Tim Henman — who eliminated 2003 runner-up Mark Philippoussis — against unseeded Mario Ancic, and No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean against unseeded Florian Mayer.