<p>Russian Mikhail Youzhny loomed on Andy Murray’s horizon and Australian Bernard Tomic hurtled back on to the Grand Slam radar as an unpredictable Wimbledon neared its halfway point on Saturday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Youzhny, the 20th seed, beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets to reach the last 16 while bad-boy Tomic continued his impressive form to knock out French ninth seed Richard Gasquet. <br /><br />Tipped as his country’s next big thing the 20-year-old Tomic has instead gained a reputation as a sports car-driving playboy and was left out of Australia’s Davis Cup team last year for what officials considered a lack of effort. <br /><br />A quarterfinalist here in 2011, Tomic had lost his last 11 matches against top-10 opponents but produced a display of maturity and skill to win 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). <br /><br />Like a ruthless emperor dismissing an underling, top seed Novak Djokovic ended a highly satisfactory first week by brushing aside Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to continue his serene progress.<br /><br />In the others, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Frenchman Kenny De Schepper also reached the last 16. <br /><br />Yet another injury blighted the tournament with Dutchman Igor Sijsling’s retirement from his third round match with Croatia’s Ivan Dodig taking the tally of withdrawals to 13 -- already equalling the previous worst toll in 2008. <br /><br />With the hype beginning to boil as he tries to go one better than last year and become Britain’s first male Wimbledon champion for 77 years, the World No 2 Murray would have enjoyed seeing Laura Robson win to keep him company in the second week. <br /><br />The unseeded 19-year-old rallied from the brink of defeat against New Zealander Marina Erakovic to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, sparking wild celebrations on Court Two and on the slope known as Henman Hill where thousands watched on a huge screen. <br /><br />There was disappointment, though, for a legion of Japanese fans watching 12th seed Kei Nishikori as he went down in five sets to Italian Andreas Seppi after twice being in front. <br /><br />Number 23 seed Seppi has now prevailed in his last seven five-set matches. <br />Former women’s champion Petra Kvitova avoided becoming yet another high seed to perish as she completed a third round victory against Ekaterina Makarova over two days. <br /><br />American Sloane Stephens moved away from the abyss against lowly-ranked Czech Petra Cetkovska to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time where she will face another last-16 debutant in Puerto Rican Monica Puig. <br /><br />Another American tipped for a bright future, teenager Madison Keys, was also seeking a last 16 berth but lost out in three sets to Poland’s fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.<br /><br />Indians shine<br /><br />Indian players enjoyed a fine outing with the seasoned trio of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna winning their respective men’s doubles matches to progress into the third round.<br /><br />Fourth seeds Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed past Britain’s Jamie Delgado and Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.<br /><br />Eight seeded Indo-Austrian pair of Bhupathi and Julian Knowle got the better off Nicholas Monroe of the US and German Simon Stadler 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 while Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin fought hard before prevailing over Daniel Brands and Lukas Rosol 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (8-10), 6-4.<br /><br />In the second round of ladies’ doubles, India’s Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber of United States defeated Flavia Pennetta and Andrea Petkovic 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.<br /><br />third round results (prefix denotes seeding)<br /><br />Men’s singles: 1-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt 28-Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; 13-Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Feliciano Lopez (Esp) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4; 8-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Grega Zemlja (Slv) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0; 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt 27-Kevin Anderson (SA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt 9-Richard Gasquet (Fra) 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); Ivan Dodig (Cro) bt Igor Sijsling (Net) 6-0, 6-1, 1-0 (retd); 23-Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt 12-Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 6-4; Kenny De Schepper (Fra) bt 22-Juan Monaco (Arg) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4; 20-Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Viktor Troicki (Srb) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Lukasz Kubot (Pol) bt 25-Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.<br /><br />Women’s singles: 6-Li Na (Chn) bt 32-Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 4-6, 6-0, 8-6; 23-Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt 14-Samantha Stosur (Aus) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Alison Riske (US) 6-2, 6-3; 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Madison Keys (US) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul) bt Petra Martic (Cro) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Laura Robson (GB) bt Marina Erakovic (NZ) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Monica Puig (PR) bt Eva Birnerova (Cze) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 11-Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt 18-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) 6-1, 6-4; 17-Sloa-ne Stephens (US) bt Petra Cetkovska (Cze) 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 6-4; 8-Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt 25-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.</p>
<p>Russian Mikhail Youzhny loomed on Andy Murray’s horizon and Australian Bernard Tomic hurtled back on to the Grand Slam radar as an unpredictable Wimbledon neared its halfway point on Saturday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Youzhny, the 20th seed, beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets to reach the last 16 while bad-boy Tomic continued his impressive form to knock out French ninth seed Richard Gasquet. <br /><br />Tipped as his country’s next big thing the 20-year-old Tomic has instead gained a reputation as a sports car-driving playboy and was left out of Australia’s Davis Cup team last year for what officials considered a lack of effort. <br /><br />A quarterfinalist here in 2011, Tomic had lost his last 11 matches against top-10 opponents but produced a display of maturity and skill to win 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). <br /><br />Like a ruthless emperor dismissing an underling, top seed Novak Djokovic ended a highly satisfactory first week by brushing aside Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to continue his serene progress.<br /><br />In the others, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Frenchman Kenny De Schepper also reached the last 16. <br /><br />Yet another injury blighted the tournament with Dutchman Igor Sijsling’s retirement from his third round match with Croatia’s Ivan Dodig taking the tally of withdrawals to 13 -- already equalling the previous worst toll in 2008. <br /><br />With the hype beginning to boil as he tries to go one better than last year and become Britain’s first male Wimbledon champion for 77 years, the World No 2 Murray would have enjoyed seeing Laura Robson win to keep him company in the second week. <br /><br />The unseeded 19-year-old rallied from the brink of defeat against New Zealander Marina Erakovic to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, sparking wild celebrations on Court Two and on the slope known as Henman Hill where thousands watched on a huge screen. <br /><br />There was disappointment, though, for a legion of Japanese fans watching 12th seed Kei Nishikori as he went down in five sets to Italian Andreas Seppi after twice being in front. <br /><br />Number 23 seed Seppi has now prevailed in his last seven five-set matches. <br />Former women’s champion Petra Kvitova avoided becoming yet another high seed to perish as she completed a third round victory against Ekaterina Makarova over two days. <br /><br />American Sloane Stephens moved away from the abyss against lowly-ranked Czech Petra Cetkovska to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time where she will face another last-16 debutant in Puerto Rican Monica Puig. <br /><br />Another American tipped for a bright future, teenager Madison Keys, was also seeking a last 16 berth but lost out in three sets to Poland’s fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.<br /><br />Indians shine<br /><br />Indian players enjoyed a fine outing with the seasoned trio of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna winning their respective men’s doubles matches to progress into the third round.<br /><br />Fourth seeds Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek sailed past Britain’s Jamie Delgado and Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.<br /><br />Eight seeded Indo-Austrian pair of Bhupathi and Julian Knowle got the better off Nicholas Monroe of the US and German Simon Stadler 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 while Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin fought hard before prevailing over Daniel Brands and Lukas Rosol 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (8-10), 6-4.<br /><br />In the second round of ladies’ doubles, India’s Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber of United States defeated Flavia Pennetta and Andrea Petkovic 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.<br /><br />third round results (prefix denotes seeding)<br /><br />Men’s singles: 1-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt 28-Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; 13-Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Feliciano Lopez (Esp) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4; 8-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Grega Zemlja (Slv) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0; 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt 27-Kevin Anderson (SA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt 9-Richard Gasquet (Fra) 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); Ivan Dodig (Cro) bt Igor Sijsling (Net) 6-0, 6-1, 1-0 (retd); 23-Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt 12-Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 6-4; Kenny De Schepper (Fra) bt 22-Juan Monaco (Arg) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4; 20-Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Viktor Troicki (Srb) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Lukasz Kubot (Pol) bt 25-Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.<br /><br />Women’s singles: 6-Li Na (Chn) bt 32-Klara Zakopalova (Cze) 4-6, 6-0, 8-6; 23-Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt 14-Samantha Stosur (Aus) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Alison Riske (US) 6-2, 6-3; 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Madison Keys (US) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul) bt Petra Martic (Cro) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Laura Robson (GB) bt Marina Erakovic (NZ) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Monica Puig (PR) bt Eva Birnerova (Cze) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 11-Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt 18-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) 6-1, 6-4; 17-Sloa-ne Stephens (US) bt Petra Cetkovska (Cze) 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 6-4; 8-Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt 25-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.</p>