Rafael Nadal yesterday overcame both an ankle injury and a truly formidable opponent to extend his Wimbledon winning streak to 18 matches and reach the quarter-finals, where he will meet the tenth seed, American Mardy Fish. The defending champion beat the towering Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in an enthralling and incident-packed contest, the ominous skies overhead matched by the mood on Centre Court, especially when it seemed as if Nadal might be unable to continue.After a lengthy medical time-out in the first set, however, the Majorcan seemed confident that he could rely on his heavily-strapped left foot – on which he will have an MRI scan today – and clinched the tiebreaker having trailed 0-3. But his opponent, angry both to have been made to wait for so long and to have conceded the tiebreaker with a double-fault, played thunderously in the second set, becoming the first man all tournament to take a set off Nadal.He is also the first, and only, man to defeat both Nadal and Roger Federer in the same Grand Slam, which he did en route to winning the US Open in 2009. Del Potro has suffered grievous injury problems since then, requiring surgery on damaged right wrist tendons and missing almost the whole of last year, but nevertheless entered this contest with the swagger of a former Grand Slam champion. From the first exchanges there was plainly no sense of inferiority in the No 24 seed, who after all has climbed as high as world No 4, and in eight previous encounters with the world No 1 lagged only 3-5.
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World No.1 Rafael Nadal and British hope Andy Murray stayed on course for a Wimbledon showdown on Wednesday as Venus Williams came from a set down to reach the third round of the women's draw.Spanish reigning champion Nadal swept into the last 32 with a brisk demolition of American journeyman Ryan Sweeting, winning 6-3 6-2 6-4 under a closed Centre Court roof as rain disrupted play early on.Nadal, aiming for his third Wimbledon title in four years, will face Luxembourg's Gilles Muller in the third round, who beat him here in 2005"I played well. I had the match under control at 2-1, 40-0 in the third set but then made a few mistakes," said Nadal, who added he preferred to play without the roof covering the action."That's something strange. They told me they were going to open the roof. But at the last minute, they told me they predicted a shower. Never comes."It's a new experience for me, a good experience. But the tournament is outdoor, not indoor and I prefer to play outdoors. I prefer to play with no roof, that's for sure."Nadal is on course to meet Murray in the semi-finals, with the Scottish fourth seed aiming to become the first British man to win at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.Murray was stretched to four sets in his first round match on Monday but faced no such problems against Germany's Tobias Kamke on Court Number One, wrapping up a 6-3 6-3 7-5 win with a minimum of fuss.Murray will take on Ivan Ljubicic for a place in the last 16 after the Croatian veteran made short work of Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 6-4 6-2."I served well but the rest of my game needs work. It was quite tricky and windy," Murray said."He was hitting the ball very hard and flat, so it was tough to get into a rhythm."Murray was joined in the last 32 later Wednesday by American eighth seed Andy Roddick who had too much class for Romania's Victor Hanescu en route to a 6-4 6-3 6-4 win.Roddick, a three-time losing finalist, will face Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the third round on Friday.Elsewhere on Wednesday, the men's draw went mostly to form, with seeded players Mardy Fish, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils all reaching the third round.The highlight of the women's tournament saw five-time champion Venus Williams pushed all the way by 40-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in a pulsating three-hour battle.Williams, 31, finally prevailed 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 8-6 to advance to a third round meeting with Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez on Friday, who defeated Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-0.Williams, seeded 23, is feeling her way back into tennis after a five-month lay-off following an injury sustained at the Australian Open in January, an enforced absence that has left her hungrier than ever."I think more than anything I've learned I'm very competitive. I've been extremely positive regardless of how my opponent's playing. Just keeping fighting," Williams said
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