School Days: Levine joins fellow Boca Prep products Levine, Fish in Wimbledon’s 3rd round

Levine joins Roddick, Fish in 3rd round

WIMBLEDON, England — This might just be a record: Boca Prep International School put three players in the third round at Wimbledon.

They’re the only three American men left in the Grand Slam tournament.

Qualifier Jesse Levine and No. 6-seeded Andy Roddick won Thursday, joining No. 28 Mardy Fish in the round of 32. All three attended the same small school in Boca Raton, Fla., where Levine still lives.

Levine’s run at the All England Club is by far the biggest surprise. Ranked 133rd, he had to win three qualifying matches just to get into the main draw. He upset former No. 1 Marat Safin in the first round, then beat lucky loser Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 on Thursday.

It’s Levine’s first trip to the third round at a major championship, and he’s the last male qualifier still around.

“I could have played a little bit longer,” the 21-year-old Levine said. “But I’m glad I didn’t have to.”

He never had won a five-set match before Thursday, and a five-set loss at Wimbledon a year ago stuck in his craw. So Levine has been working out with former Marine Keith Williams, who has helped other players through the U.S. Tennis Association the past few years.

“Well, I definitely had a funny experience. We were running in the streets here in London — just one morning jogging — and he’s singing Marine songs while we’re running. And everybody is staring at us. And I’m like, ‘Oh, man, what is he doing?’ But it was fun, and people were smiling,” Levine said.

“And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, we’re doing jumping jacks and push ups in the middle of the streets.”

Levine was born in Canada — a big Ottawa Senators fan, he’s friends with center Jason Spezza — but moved to Florida when he was 13. He attended Boca Prep for 1½ years before switching to an online program because he wanted more time on a tennis court than a traditional high school allowed.

He wasn’t at Boca Prep at the same time as Roddick and Fish, but knows about the connection.

“There’s something special over there. And you know what’s funny is we all played different sports for the school as well, but I was there at a different time. They left right before I got there,” Levine said. “We all played basketball and soccer and different sports for the high school, so I guess we all are pretty athletic guys. Shows on the grass a little bit.”

Roddick, a two-time runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon, lost serve only once Thursday and defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Fish will try to get to the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time when he meets No. 4 Novak Djokovic on Centre Court on Friday.

Roddick’s happy to have two fellow Boca Prep alums in the third round. He’s long accustomed to being the last American in the men’s draw at major events.

“I’d love nothing more than for some young 17-, 18-year-old to pop out and get in there in the top 15 or the top 10,” Roddick said. “But, you know, you can’t really deal in hypotheticals.”

ANOTHER QUALIFIER: The light was fading, and American qualifier Melanie Oudin’s lead at Wimbledon was disappearing, too.

The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., held on, though, and beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round in her Wimbledon debut.

“I think I handled the pressure better than she did,” the 124th-ranked Oudin said. “It was starting to get dark and we both didn’t want the match to be held over.”

Oudin led 4-1 in the third set, before the 74th-ranked Shvedova won three games in a row to even the match. But Oudin took the last two games.

She is one of three U.S. women remaining in the tournament. The others? Venus and Serena Williams, who own a total of 17 Grand Slam singles titles.

Oudin, meanwhile, never had won a Grand Slam match until this week.

“It’s amazing,” she said.

Next up: a match Saturday against No. 6 Jelena Jankovic, last year’s U.S. Open runner-up.

“I’ve watched her on TV, and she was a No. 1 in the world. I’m going to have absolutely nothing to lose,” Oudin said. “She has all the pressure on her.”

ROSY OUTLOOK: Outgoing WTA Tour chairman Larry Scott said women’s tennis enjoys its strongest financial position ever, and the global reach of the women’s game will help it ride out the rough economy.

“No one has their head in the sand,” Scott said Thursday at Wimbledon. “Everyone is realistic that these are tough times. No one is immune to it, but I feel very confident that the base for women’s tennis is very strong because of the multiple major revenue streams we have, and the fact that our revenues aren’t just coming from one country or region.”

Scott announced his resignation in March and will become Pac-10 Conference commissioner July 1 after six years leading the WTA Tour.

Scott said he’s proud that the men’s and women’s tours have equal purses at the Grand Slam tournaments and six other events.

Scott singled out Venus Williams for her leadership in the sport.

“She has been a very selfless leader on key occasions,” Scott said. “She’s certainly the most effective modern player leader we’ve had.”

Scott said Williams has been particularly involved in working for gender equality around the world.

Williams, seeking her sixth Wimbledon title, said the tour will miss Scott’s leadership and downplayed her own contribution.

“I don’t feel like I played this huge role,” Williams said. “I definitely feel like a team player. … When you look at the people before me, like obviously Billie Jean King, she started this whole thing, so who could do more than her?”