Grass juggernaut carries Federer into fourth round

By Bill Scott Jun 30, 2006, 17:32 GMT

London - Roger Federer stretched his winning run on grass to 44 as one of his most feared rivals was surprising bundled out in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships Friday.

The Swiss master, bidding for his fourth consecutive trophy at the All England club, turned in a competent, if workmanlike, performance to oust Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 for a fourth-round spot.

But Argentine fourth seed David Nalbandian was mugged by Spain's clay-courting Fernando Verdasco, who sprang a 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 surprise on the 2002 finalist.

Nalbandian's request to plays his match early so as to finish in time to watch Argentina face Germany in the World Cup may have backfired as the South American went down heavily.

'I didn't play good, I couldn't return any serve. I missed a lot of chances,' he complained .

Nalbandian won his first five matches against Federer and was one of the few men to have a career winning record against the Swiss. Federer squared that series at 6 apiece at Roland Garros in the semi-finals.

The Swiss top seed, who last was beaten on grass in the Wimbledon first round in 2002, will play the winner of a match between German Tommy Haas and Czech Tomas Berdych.

Federer spent just over two hours on court as he fired 50 winners to overwhelm the 77th-ranked Frenchman.

Mahut still earned a breakthrough of sorts this week after losing in the first round of all of his previous nine Grand Slam appearances.

Federer remained puzzled as to how he was broken while serving for the victory.

'I could have served better, it just happened,' said the perfectionist. 'Thank god I bounced back well and broke him straightaway.'

Federer called the contest 'a tricky match.'

'I had expected a big serve but not that big of a second serve. That was difficult for me. Some points were very quick and no one had many chances on serve. I had to wait for my chance, but I was relaxed all the way through. It was important not to get frustrated.'

In other third-round match-ups on a hot day, Max Mirnyi bundled out American eighth seed James Blake 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 while Serb Novak Djokovic took down Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

'He played well and my serve stopped going in,' confessed Blake. 'It was one of those things.

'He's one of the toughest guys to play with just a second serve. I wasn't making my first serves. Just went off for a little while. That hasn't happened to me in a long time. But it happened today against the worst guy,' said Blake.

2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt completed unfinished business form over night, winning the final set to eliminate Korean Lee Hyung-Taik 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 after failing to serve out the contest a set earlier the previous day.

Brit teenager Andy Murray did the same as he reached the third round over Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

On the women's side, Justine Henin-Hardenne won her 14th match in a row as she beat Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-3.

The Belgian claimed a third title this month at Roland Garros and then switched successfully to grass as she claimed the Eastbourne trophy.

Leading a set and 5-2, the third seed's concentration momentarily slipped, with her Russian opponent ranked 34th breaking as Henin-Hardenne served for her 18th Wimbledon victory.

But the Belgian regained quick control to close it out against the teenager playing in only her eighth Grand Slam.

'I'm in the fourth round here, so that's a good step,' said Henin-Hardenne. 'But next match is my next goal, and that's it.

'I don't want to look too far. That's the way I have to think in the next few days.'

China's growing status as a force in the women's game was further underlined as Na Li shocked fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, handing the Russian a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 defeat.