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| Viktor Troicki dives to play a forehand as Andy Murray looks on [GALLO/GETTY] |
With a cheer accompanying every point he won, home favourite Andy Murray cruised into the second week of Wimbledon barely breaking sweat.
The third seed produced some stunning shots as he demolished Serbian Viktor Troicki, the 30th seed, in straight sets.
The Scot, who won his first grass court title at Queens earlier in June, has been in dominant form in the last two rounds, and will be certainly gunning for his first Grand Slam title.
Despite home pressure, he has proved he is a force to be reckoned with on the tour, and will move to second in the world should he win the Championship.
Swiss challenge
Murray goes on to play Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss 19th seed, in round four after Wawrinka ended the challenge of qualifier Jesse Levine in four sets.
Although the American could not pull off another shock result, that was provided by Israeli Dudi Sela, beating 15th seed Tommy Robredo.
It is unlikely to see Sela repeat this feat in the fourth round against Novak Djokovic, after the world number four brushed aside the challenge of Mardy Fish (28) with a dominant display, and he should be even more impressive against one of only three non-seeded players left in the draw.
Former champion Lleyton Hewitt is one of those players, after he continued his fine run in this year's Championships with a dogged display against 25-year-old Philipp Petzschner, winning through in straight sets.
He will take on 23rd seeded Radek Stepanek, the former quarter-finalist who upset another Spaniard, David Ferrer. The Australian should have too much for the Czech.
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| Ferrero celebrates his epic win [GALLO/GETTY] |
But the performance of the round goes to Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Fernando Gonzalez in an epic five-set encounter.
At 70 in the world, he is the lowest ranked player left in the draw, and will look to cause another upset by beating Gilles Simon in the fourth round.
The eighth seed has been in very good form this week, and has somewhat slipped under the radar.
The Spaniard will have to be at his very best to beat an improving Simon.
World number two Roger Federer dropped his first set of the Championships against Philipp Kohlschreiber (27) of Germany, but had enough experience to see off his tricky opponent.
He will face Robin Soderling in the next round in a repeat of the French Open final, and the Swedish 13th seed will be hoping he is more lucky than his seeding suggests and defeat the favourite for the title.
He will have to be very lucky for that to happen, as Federer is still looking a strong bet for the final.
Other results in the third round included Ivo Karlovic (22), the big serving Croat, knocking out 9th seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in a minor upset, Fernando Verdasco (7) easing past Albert Montanes (32), and Igor Andreev (29) defeating Andreas Seppi all in four sets.
Tommy Hass of Germany, seeded 24th, won a gruelling five-set match against 11th seed Marian Cilic 10-8 in the final set, and Tomas Berdych (20) outplayed Russian Nikolay Davydenko (12) in a straight sets win.
The Czech number one goes on to face the American number one, Andy Roddick, after he battled through a tight match against Austrian 26th seed Jurgen Meltzer on centre court.
In the battle of the big serves, Roddick held his nerve in two tie-breakers before the Austrian took the third with a single break of serve.
They traded further breaks in the fourth before A-Rod, as he is known by his fans, took the upper hand and served out the match.
Berdych will have his work cut out to beat the American, but will have gained much confidence from defeating the former world number three.
This match could end up being a classic if the 20th seed can produce his best tennis.
Best Result: J C Ferrero def. F Gonzalez (10) 4-6 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-4
Upset Potential: L Hewitt vs R Stepanek (23), F Verdasco (7) vs I Karlovic (22)
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| No lucky break for Svetlana Kuznetsova [GALLO/GETTY] |
Both the fifth and sixth seeds fell in a dramatic day for the women, as Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic tamely dropped out of the tournament.
German Sabine Lisicki has been promising big things in recent months and may finally have proved her worth as a potential top 10 player in beating the Russian.
The unseeded Lisicki will have to battle past another young star, Caroline Wozniacki, who was dominant in dismissing Anabel Medina Garrigues (20) for the loss of just four games.
Lisicki best Wozniacki in Charleston this year to win her first WTA tour title, but the 18-year-old Dane has been looking in good form and should come through the match.
Jankovic complained of feeling unwell in her 3-set defeat to the last remaining qualifier in the draw, Melanie Oudin.
It was, without a doubt, the biggest win of the teenager's career, but you have to feel Agnieszka Radwanska will put a stop to her impressive run.
The 11th seeded Pole produced a steady performance to end China's interest in SW19, beating 19th seed Li Na in two sets.
Sister act
As expected, the Williams sisters progressed to the second week with ease, Serena knocking out Roberta Vinci, and Venus gaining revenge over Carla Suarez Navarro, both in straight sets.
Out to try their hands at preventing another all-American final will be a resurgent Daniela Hantuchova, and a 13th seeded Ana Ivanovic, the former world number one who had a good win over Australia's Samantha Stosur (18).
Both will provide stern opposition, but will anything stand in the way of making it eight of the past 10 titles to go to either sister; Venus has five titles, Serena two.
Amelie Mauresmo turned back the years with a straight-set win over Flavia Pannetta (15).
The 2006 champion will face top seed Dinara Safina in the fourth round, and despite the Russian starting to find her feet on the grass, the French 17th seed will have too much grass court experience and should run out a winner.
The seventh seeded Vera Zvonereva was another top seed failing to progress after she withdrew before her match with Eastbourne finalist Virginie Razzano (26) with an ankle injury.
Although Zvonereva has had a good year to date, the Frenchwoman was likely to have won that match.
She will play Italian Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round, after the unseeded London resident shocked 12th seed Marion Bartoli in straight sets. This looks destined to be a tight encounter, and will probably go to three sets.
Game, set and grunt
Joining them in the fourth round will be fourth seed Elena Dementieva, who enjoyed the easiest win of the round over fellow Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-2, and eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, after the Belarussian eased to a straight sets win over Sorana Cirstea (28), although the latter has not endeared herself to the London crowd with some excessively loud grunting.
Possibly even louder than Maria Sharapova?
Sharapova's conqueror in the second round couldn't repeat the feat, as Gisela Dulko lost out to Nadia Petrova in three sets.
Tenth seeded Petrova has a massive serve which took a while to get firing, but once the second set went the way of the Russian, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
However, without the serve hitting its target, Petrova will find the going tough against Azarenka, her fourth round opponent.
Dementieva plays yet another Russian, Elena Vesnina, after she upset 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who many thought would reach the semi-finals in Wimbledon.
Both the higher ranked players should come through these matches fairly comfortably, as they are beginning to play very well.
Best Win: M Oudin (Q) def. J Jankovic (6) 6-7 7-5 6-2
Upset Potential: D Safina (1) vs A Mauresmo (17), V Razzano (26) vs F Schiavone
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