A day after World No. 2 Rafa Nadal went out in a shocking second-round exit, third-ranked Roger Federer nearly joined him in defeat on Friday. The six-time Wimbledon champion overcame a two-set deficit to edge Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-1 in the third round.
“It's always one of the best feelings coming back from two sets to love in a Grand Slam, and in particular here at Wimbledon where I have been able to do it before,” said Federer. Benneteau was within two points of victory on six occasions in the fourth set, including twice in the tie-break at 5-5 and 6-6. He went for his shots on each point, but was outdueled by Federer.
In another match on Centre Court, World No.1 Novak Djokovic also came back from a deficit of one set against Radek Stepanek to win the match 4-6,6-2,6-2,6-2 . Stepanek fought hard in the first set but after that, he couldn't keep up his pace with Nole's game and was brushed aside by the defending Champion without much trouble.
Mikhail Youzhny reached the fourth round at The Championships for the seventh time in 12 Wimbledon appearances on Friday.
The Russian No. 26 seed knocked out eighth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and he will now be hoping to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi also made it through to the third round alongwith his Dutch partner Jean Julien Rojer with an easy win over their opponents Bobby Reynolds and Van Der Merwe 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 .
Following are the matches scheduled for Day-6 at Wimbledon 2012:
David Ferrer (ESP)[7] v. Andy Roddick (USA)[30]
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