On the day the longest ever tennis match came to a weary conclusion, five-set contests were all the rage with six other men’s singles matches going the distance.
Number 2 seed Rafael Nadal needed a fifth set to overcome Robin Haase on Centre Court. The Spaniard trailed 2-1 in sets at one point before winning the last two 6-0 6-3 to advance to the third round.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was pushed even further by Aleksandr Dolgopolov, eventually coming through 10-8 in the fifth – a breeze compared to the record-breaking Nicolas Mahut-John Isner encounter which finished 70-68 in the final set earlier in the day.
In other marathon second round matches, Julien Benneteau overcame Andreas Beck, Fabio Fognini edged Michael Russell, Philipp Petzschner beat Lukasz Kubot and Jeremy Chardy knocked out Lukas Lacko.
In contrast, Andy Murray enjoyed a straightforward passage to the third round, overcoming Jarkko Sieminen 6-3 6-4 6-2 and beaten French Open finalist Robin Soderling had a similarly comfortable win over Marcel Granollers.
In the women’s singles, there were simple victories for number 1 seed Serena Williams, JOE favourite Caroline Wozniacki, number 7 Agnieszka Radwansk and former champion Maria Sharapova.
