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LONDON - Champion Roger Federer completed an elegant half century in 10 minutes on Friday (NZ time) to reach the third round of Wimbledon.
Local hope Tim Henman, however, teased his long-suffering fans for more than three tense hours before his Wimbledon dreams were shattered by a Spaniard
who serves and volleys.
Since making his debut here in 1994, the 32-year-old Briton has rarely done anything without an overdose of drama and his 7-6 7-6 3-6 2-6 6-1 defeat by Feliciano Lopez proved no exception.
By the end of the five-set thriller each had won 153 points but unfortunately for four-times semi-finalist Henman, it was Lopez who had won all the important ones.
"We played 306 points and we're even and it's obviously highlighted on grass that you've got to win the right ones at the right time. That's frustrating," said Henman, whose defeat marked the end of the British challenge in either singles draw.
There was nothing wrong about Federer's timing.
The world number one's bid to emulate Bjorn Borg's five successive titles at the All England Club gathered momentum when he won his 50th consecutive grasscourt match 6-2 7-5 6-1 against Argentine teenager Juan Martin Del Potro.
While Federer's progress was never in doubt, Marat Safin set up an intriguing meeting with the Swiss by reaching the third round of the grasscourt grand slam for only the third time.
In the process he ruined Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi's bid to become the first Pakistani to reach the third round here with a 6-4 6-2 7-6 victory.
Federer was 2-0 up in the third set on Thursday when rain stopped play and on resumption swifty finished off his win.
Safin had been scheduled to play on Court One on Wednesday but did himself no favours with the organisers when he lashed out at what he saw as exorbitant prices in the players' restaurant.
On Friday, officials demoted him to Court 18 and in a rather muted performance, the often volatile Russian produced an array of lobs and passing shots to outwit Qureshi, the first Pakistani to play in the main draw of a grand slam for 31 years.
Safin's performance would hardly have worried Federer, who has won seven of their nine duels and has dropped just one set in his last 13 Wimbledon matches.
"I hope he's not going to have one of those crazy good days against me," said Federer.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the only other men's champion in the draw, romped to a 6-2 6-2 6-1 win over a clueless Simone Bolleli.
Three-times former winner Venus Williams geared up for a potential fourth round showdown with 2004 champion Maria Sharapova with a 6-2 6-2 thrashing of 170th ranked Czech Hana Sromova.
Just 24 hours after creating a stir at the championships by emerging on court wearing red underwear, Tatiana Golovin discovered that red was not really her lucky colour.
"I'll keep wearing them as long as I keep winning, they are lucky," the 17th-seeded Frenchwoman had said.
She had obviously spoken too soon as she became the highest women's seed to exit following a 6-2 3-6 6-1 defeat by Austrian Tamira Paszek.
Serbian sensation and French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic, seeded six, looked comfortable on grass to beat American Meilen Tu 6-4 6-3.
Tommy Robredo became the first big casualty in the men's draw. The 11th-seeded Spaniard failed to last the distance against 36-year-old Wayne Arthurs and fell 6-3 7-6 6-3. Next up for the Australian will be the second oldest man in the draw, 35-year-old Jonas Bjorkman.
- REUTERS