Federer passes ‘tricky’ Mahut test

ROGER FEDERER came through the toughest test of his Wimbledon defence so far — but still has lost just one set in SW19 since the 2004 final.

Federer was made to fight all the way before seeing off the brave challenge of France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-3 7-6 6-4 on court one.

The world number one and defending champion served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, only to be broken for the first time in the championships, but hit straight back to break his 24-year-old opponent and claim his 44th straight win on grass.

“It was a tricky match, it was very difficult,” admitted Federer, who beat Richard Gasquet and Britain’s Tim Henman in straight sets in the first two rounds.

“I expected a big serve but not that big of a second serve, that was what was really difficult.”

The player with the unenviable task of taking on defending champion Roger Federer is 13th seed Tomas Berdych, who won another tough five-set match with Germany’s Tommy Haas.

Berdych lost the opening set but took the next two only for Haas, the 19th seed, to force a decider, which Berdych eventually took 8-6.

Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round after surviving a one-set shoot-out against Hyung-Taik Lee — and then reflected on how family life is aiding his bid for a second title at SW19.

The match resumed yesterday at two-sets-all after bad light brought a halt to proceedings on Thursday night.

And it was the Australian who kept his nerve to secure a 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 victory and a meeting with Olivier Rochus.

Having admitted “it was all about survival out there” against an opponent ranked 102 in the world, Hewitt confirmed having his wife, actress Bec Cartwright, and baby Mia Rebecca in tow was helping him off the court.

“It’s not so much about tennis,” he said.

“You sort of forget about the tournament a lot of the time.”

Max Mirnyi set up a fourth-round clash with doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman after a brilliant comeback against eighth seed James Blake.

The 6ft 5in Mirnyi, nicknamed “The Beast”, trailed two sets to one on centre court but stormed through the next two for the loss of just one game.

Mirnyi will now face Bjorkman in the last 16 on Monday after the Swede defeated Italy’s Daniele Bracciali.

Mirnyi won the French Open doubles title with Bjorkman last year but rated yesterday’s win as one of his best in a grand slam.

“It would definitely be up there,” added the 28-year-old from Belarus.

The winner of the match between Mirnyi and Bjorkman will take on either Radek Stepanek or Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals.

Stepanek came back from two sets down to beat former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Czech 14th seed winning a thriller 11-9 in the final set.

Verdasco pulled off the biggest upset in the men’s competition so far, the Spanish 28th seed beating fourth seed David Nalbandian in straight sets.

Andy Murray finished off Frenchman Julien Benneteau in just 26 minutes to book a high-profile third round clash with third seed Andy Roddick today.