Myskina struggles through

Russian number nine seed Anastasia Myskina made heavy weather of securing her place in the last 16 at Wimbledon, coming through an epic, near three-hour battle with Jelena Jankovic before rain stopped play at the All England Club this afternoon.

The 2004 French Open champion had sailed through the first set 6-0, but then lost concentration as the 17th-seeded Serbia and Montenegro player rallied.

Myskina, however, still gave herself three match points at 5-4, but could take none of them as Jankovic reeled off three consecutive games to level by taking the set 7-5.

It then looked ominous for Myskina, who had failed to impress during her two previous matches here this year, as the 17th seed – runner-up at Edgbaston earlier this month – moved 5-1 ahead.

The Russian, however, managed to claw her way back to level at 5-5, before Jankovic’s request for a bathroom break was denied by the umpire, which seemed to unsettle her as she dropped her serve.

Myskina, though, failed to take advantage and the scores were again all square, at 8-8.

Another break for the Russian proved decisive, and she eventually closed out the set 10-8, after surviving a break point herself when Jankovic netted a tired backhand after two hours and 43 minutes of high drama.

Number three seed Amelie Mauresmo, meanwhile, made light of the changing conditions to breeze into the last 16 with a traight-sets demolition of American Shenay Perry.

With the All England Club under heavy clouds and the threat of a downpour imminent following almost a full week of glorious sunshine at SW19, the Frenchwoman wasted little time in setting about the world number 159 in the first match on Court 13.

The two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist forced an early break of serve, before sweeping through the rest of the set in 26 minutes, before completing another highly-impressive victory, 6-0 6-2.

“I managed to play in the wind and was able to control the points, so it was good for me,” the world number three said.

“It gives you a lot of confidence to play the way I do on the court. Overall, I think my game is really coming together.”

Standing between Mauresmo and a place in the quarter-finals will be Elena Likhovtseva, the 13th seed, who beat Silvia Farina Elia of Italy 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva is also into the last 16, after the sixth seed defeated American Mashona Washington 7-5 6-1.

The 23-year-old, who reached two Grand Slam finals during 2004 in France and the United States, will meet Myskina in round four.

“We have played a lot of times,” said the 23-year-old, beaten by Myskina in the final at Roland Garros two years ago.

“It is going to be interesting, because we know each other very well – it is always a battle.

“But I have never been in the quarter-finals here before, so that is what I am looking for.”

In today’s other third-round ties completed before the rain delay, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian fifth seed, beat Nicole Vaidisova, of the Czech Republic, 7-5 6-7 6-2.

She will play Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva, who defeated Italy’s Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-3 6-2.