Wimbledon, England – Three-time semifinalist Andy Murray and fifth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon, while American Andy Roddick crashed out of the tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis Club after falling to Spaniard David Ferrer on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus by a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 margin.
After spliting the first two sets, the players went to the locker room as the Centre Court roof was closed. Murray rallied to win the third set and was ahead 5-1 in the fourth just as the clock struck 11 p.m., which is the curfew time at Wimbledon.
But they let play continue, and Murray quickly closed out the match to prevent a Monday finish.
Murray, who reached the semis here the previous three years, is trying to give Britain its first male Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry way back in 1936.
Next up for Murray is 16th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic, who outlasted American Sam Querrey 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (3-7), 17-15 in 5 1/2 hours. It's the second longest match in Wimbledon history, by time.
Roddick, a three-time Wimbledon runner-up and seeded 30th, couldn't sustain his early momentum and saw his seven-match win streak go by the boards, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 6-3.
Conversely, the seventh-seeded Ferrer, who already has four titles this year, stretched his victory streak to eight matches and equaled his best result at Wimbledon. He'll next take on ninth-seeded Argentine and 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who topped 19th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
Tsonga reached the round-of-16 for a third straight year by beating Slovakian Lukas Lacko, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. A semifinalist last year, Tsonga advanced to take on 10th-seeded American Mardy Fish.
Fish hit 17 aces and turned aside Belgian qualifier David Goffin, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6).
Fish underwent a medical procedure on May 23 to correct a problem with his heart. He had not played since losing as top seed to Michael Russell in the 2nd round at Houston in April. By winning Saturday, Fish reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for just the second time in 10 appearances.
Little-known Czech Lukas Rosol, who upset Rafael Nadal Thursday in the biggest surprise of the tournament, was a straight-sets loser to Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday.
Both Kohlschreiber and Rosol have each beaten Nadal on grass this year, but on Saturday the 27th-seeded German eased to a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) triumph. The fourth-round appearance will equal Kohlschreiber's best result at a Grand Slam.
American Brian Baker moved into the second week of play with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Benoit Paire. Baker, who next faces Kohlschreiber, had to go through qualifying to get into his first Wimbledon. Now, he'll have a chance to continue his incredible comeback from an injury.
It's been a remarkable run for Baker, considering he underwent five surgeries between November 2005 and July 2011. He took three years to fully recover from an elbow surgery and returned unranked in July 2011, winning a Futures event in Pittsburgh.
In fact, Baker started this year ranked No. 458, but now the 27-year-old is projected to break into the top-100.
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