• Wimbledon, Day Four

Nadal survives Haase scare

Rafael Nadal battled past Robin Haase in five sets © Getty Images

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Day Four in pictures

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal needed all of his battling qualities to make it past Robin Haase as the plucky Dutch player pushed him all the way in a five-set thriller.

In similar fashion to Roger Federer in his first-round clash with Allejandro Falla, Nadal stared defeat square in the face. Haase won the first and third sets to move to within touching distance of a massive upset on Centre Court, but the Spanish sensation summoned his best tennis when he needed it to secure a 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-3 win.

Any prospect of a shock seemed unlikely as Nadal put pressure on his opponent's serve from the start with a number of slick returns. Haase resisted and moved 6-5 ahead, before three mistakes on serve by Nadal handed the Dutchman, who beat James Blake in the first round, a one-set lead.

In true champion's style, Nadal hit back with a break in the opening game of the second set and duly levelled. But his concern was evident as Haase won the second set in bruising style, plundering several heavy groundstrokes past his hapless opponent.

In keeping with the topsy-turvy nature of the match, the 2008 champion again responded, winning the fourth in bruising fashion with a string of clinical mid-court putaways. Haase, visibly starting to tire, seemed humbled by the nature of his fourth set loss and one further break in the deciding set finished his hopes as Nadal edged past a severely stern test of his title credentials.

"He is a very good player and he played a very good game," Nadal said. "I was going along fine and looked good and then I had three bad points at 6-5 and lost the first set.

"Playing against him is always tough. In Grand Slams this is how it is and games are always close. When you play against one of the biggest serves on the tour it is tough.

"I think I should be very happy to win this match because I was very close to going out. I had a good test today which is good and my game is taking shape so I will continue to work hard."

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Alexandr Dolgopolov in five sets © Getty Images

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No. 10 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also came through a five-set battle as he dug deep to take out rising star Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Tsonga had complete control of the match as he powered two sets ahead with some powerful baseline hitting. Dolgopolov, playing in his second Grand Slam, fought back and threatened to cause an upset but Tsonga edged through in an edgy final set to win 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 5-7 10-8 in three hours and 55 minutes.

Fellow Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Jeremy Chardy also made it into the third round with five-set wins. No. 32 seed Benneteau overcame Andreas Beck 3-6 6-2 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3, while Chardy edged past Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-6(4) 4-6 5-7(5) 8-6.

No. 23 seed Gilles Simon enjoyed a much more simple route into the next round, where he will face Andy Murray, as he was granted a walkover win when Ukrainian Illya Marchenko withdrew with an injury to his right shoulder.

French Open finalist Robin Soderling booked his place in the third round with a comfortable quick-fire win over Marcel Granollers. The No. 6 seed looked in good form as he took the opening set in 36 minutes with a break in the 11th game and kicked on to claim a 7-5 6-1 6-4 triumph. Soderling will face Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci in the next after he beat martin Fischer 6-7(11) 7-6(4) 7-6(1) 6-2.

No. 9 seed David Ferrer enjoyed a comfortable passage into the third round as he overcame Florent Serra 6-4 7-5 6-7(6) 6-3, while American Sam Querrey, the No. 18 seed, brushed aside Ivan Dodig 6-2 5-7 6-3 7-6(10).

There were also wins for Fabio Fognini, Tobias Kamke, Xavier Malisse and No. 33 seed Philipp Petzschner.

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