World number one men's tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland and Marat Safin of Russia have advanced to the third round of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.
Federer won his 50th straight match on grass when he earned a rain-delayed three-set victory over Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2, 7-6, 6-1. Federer was leading the match two sets to none when play was suspended Wednesday because of rain.
In the third round, Federer takes on Safin, a straight-sets winner over Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan (6-4, 6-2, 7-6).
Elsewhere in men's play, ninth seed James Blake of the United States beat Andrei Pavel of Romania (6-4, 6-3, 6-3). Blake plays Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero , a four-set winner over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg (6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6).
In women's play, former champion Venus Williams of the United States defeated Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic (6-2, 6-2). French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic of Serbia defeated American Meilen Tu (6-4, 6-3).
Ivanovic next faces French player Aravane Rezai, a three-set winner over Francesca Schiavone of Italy (6-4, 2-6, 6-4).
Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia beat Tatiana Poutchek of Blears (6-2, 6-1). Twelfth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia downed Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic (6-2, 6-2). Patty Schnyder of Switzerland scored a three-set win over Roberta Vinci of Italy (2-6, 6-3, 6-2).
In men's play, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia defeated Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic (6-4, 6-3, 6-4). Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic (6-3, 7-6, 6-4).
Two seeded Spanish players - number 11 Tommy Robredo and 17th seed David Ferrer - were knocked out. Robredo lost to Australian Wayne Arthurs (6-3, 7-6, 6-3). Ferrer lost to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (6-3, 6-4, 6-3).
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
