Sat Jun 28 17:38:38 2008

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Nadal, Youzhny advance at Wimbledon

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Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Second-seeded Rafael Nadal cruised in third-round action while 17th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny was tested before advancing at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Nadal shook off early and late challenges from German Nicolas Kiefer, taking a 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision to advance. Kiefer showed grit in the third set, rallying from an 0-5 deficit before falling for good. The super Spaniard will next face Youzhny.

The Russian outlasted No. 16 Czech Radek Stepanek in an epic five-set match, 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 6-3 to reach the fourth round and a date with Nadal, the runner-up in the last two years.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the eighth seed, was also a third-round winner as he handled compatriot Gilles Simon, the 28th seed, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and will next face 12th-seeded Englishman Andy Murray.

"Having beaten him will give me confidence, yes," said Gasquet of his recent run of luck against his future opponent. "It's fun to play on the Centre Court in England against him. I like to play these matches, for sure. I began well in the first round and now I'm playing great."

Home favorite Murray rolled to a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2 victory over Germany's Tommy Haas and has won nine of his 10 sets in this grass court tournament. Murray nailed 15 aces and converted five break points in a match that lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes.

"He hasn't had the best year so far, but seems to be playing much better the last few weeks," Murray said of Gasquet. "I think he had a slightly tougher match maybe than expected today."

Also Saturday, unranked Croat Marin Cilic toppled 14-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, 6-7(5-7), 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(8-6). He will square off against another unranked opponent, France's Arnaud Clement, who scored a four-set victory over Austrian Jurgen Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

German Rainer Schuettler earned his ticket to the next round by dispatching Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. He will face Serbian Janko Tipsarevic who upended 25th seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6(7-1), 7-6(7-3), 6-3.