Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne posted wins, but several top players have been eliminated from the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.
Federer, the world No. 1 reigning champion, scored a straight-set win over Nicolas Mahut of France, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4. It was the Swiss player's 44th straight win on grass.
Meanwhile in the women's draw, Henin-Hardenne scored an easy win over 19-year-old Anna Chakvetadze of Russia (6-2, 6-3). The Belgian plays Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, a straight-sets winner over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia (6-4, 7-6).
Second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium also advanced with a straight-sets win over China's Zheng Jie (6-3, 6-2).
However, former U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia lost her third-round contest with Li Na of China (3-6,6-2,6-3). No. 12 seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland, playing in her first Wimbledon since coming back from retirement, lost to Ai Sugiyama of Japan in three sets (7-5, 3-6, 6-4).
Elsewhere in men's play, Argentine fourth seed David Nalbandian lost his match to Fernando Verdasco of Spain (7-6, 7-6, 6-2). Max Mirnyi of Belarus ousted eighth-seeded American James Blake in five sets (6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, and 6-0).
Andy Murray of Scotland kept British hopes alive with a four-set win over Julien Benneteau of France (7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1). Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic took five sets to beat Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain (7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6, and 11-9).
In a second-round match, former champion Lleyton Hewitt won over South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik (6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-7, and 6-4). The match was tied at two sets apiece Thursday when play was suspended due to darkness.
