AFP
London, Jun 30: Rafael Nadal struck a blow for Spain on the eve of the Euro 2008 football final when he beat Germany's Nicolas Kiefer to reach the Wimbledon last 16 on Saturday.
Second seed Nadal, bidding to become only the third man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season, won 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-3 and will meet Mikhail Youzhny of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, women's second seed Jelena Jankovic limped into the last 16 and avoided joining top seed Ana Ivanovic and third seed Maria Sharapova on the All England Club scrapheap.
"It's always difficult to play Nicolas on a fast surface like this so I am happy to be in the fourth round," said Nadal who'll now turn his attentions to Sunday's soccer showdown in Vienna.
"We have an unbelievable team and a very good chance. Myself and some of the other Spanish players will watch the game tomorrow and hope for a win."
British 12th seed Andy Murray set-up a fourth round clash with French eighth seed Richard Gasquet, a semi-finalist in 2007, with a 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany's Tommy Haas.
"I maybe had the chance to win in straight sets but, apart from the last few games of the second set, I thought it was a really good match," said Murray, bidding to become the first home men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936.
Gasquet put out compatriot Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 while Arnaud Clement made sure of further French participation by beating Austria's Jurgen Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Germany's Rainer Schuettler, the oldest man left in the draw at 32, reached the fourth round for the first time since 2003 with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Schuettler, now 94 in the world after reaching a career high of five in 2004, will face Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia for a place in the quarter-final.
Tipsarevic, who put out sixth seed Andy Roddick in the last round, defeated Russia's 25th seed Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Jankovic escaped entering the Wimbledon black books when she came from behind to beat Danish 30th seed, and 2006 junior champion, Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to make the fourth round for the third successive year.
Had she lost, it would have been the first time in history that all three women's top seeds had been knocked out before the end of the first week.
But her third round win came at a cost with the 23-year-old picking up a left knee injury which puts a question mark over her fourth round match with Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn.
"I slipped and my leg went straight. I started to feel some pain. It was a struggle so I needed treatment," said Jankovic who was watched from the royal box by Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar and Britain's multiple Olympic gold medal winner Steve Redgrave.
"The physio taped it but I couldn't move. I had to take the tape off. The physio wasn't happy about that. Now I will have to see how it will react and I'm just hoping for the best," she said.
Venus Williams moved closer to a fifth Wimbledon title and joined sister Serena in the last 16 with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Maria Jose Martinez.
The reigning champion and seventh seed will face Russian Wimbledon debutant Alisa Kleybanova, who put out Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-4, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Williams reeled off the first five games in just 17 minutes before her Spanish opponent rallied but then closed out the match with a 127 mph serve which equalled her record best.
Tamarine, 31, staged a superb fightback to reach the fourth round for the seventh time with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over New Zealand's Marina Erakovic.
Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva, the world 154 who put out Sharapova, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win over China's Peng Shuai and faces compatriot Nadia Petrova.
Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva also went into the last 16 with a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 win over Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
Dementieva will face Israel's Shahar Peer who put out Russian ninth seed Dinara Safina, the French Open runner-up, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 8-6 in a three and a half hour marathon.
There will be six Russian women in the last 16.