Federer wins 50th straight match on grass; Nadal cruises

Updated: June 28, 2007, 7:28 PM ET

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Federer Advances to Face Safin

Roger Federer tops Juan Martin del Potro to move on to the third roundTags: Tennis

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WIMBLEDON, England -- Roger Federer won his 50th straight match on grass Thursday, beating 18-year-old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

The four-time defending champion, who will next face Marat Safin, had led 2-0 in the third set before rain halted play Wednesday. When they resumed, the top-ranked Swiss finished off del Potro, winning three straight games before del Potro held serve in the sixth game.

"It was done quickly like I was hoping, but I was ready to go five sets in case," said Federer, who broke the Argentine five times and saved the only break point he faced.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal also won, beating Werner Eschauer of Austria 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, and advanced to the third round along with No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 9 James Blake. Four-time semifinalist Tim Heman lost, however.

Lawn Mower

Roger Federer extended his record grass-court winning streak with his second-round victory Thursday at Wimbledon. He'll try to win his 52nd straight match on grass Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Longest streaks by surface
Surface	Streak
Clay	Nadal, 81
Indoor carpet	McEnroe, 65
Hard court	Federer, 56
Grass	Federer, 51*
*active streak

The No. 1-seeded Federer, trying to become only the second man in the Open era to win five straight titles at the All England Club, finished with 33 winners and made only 23 errors -- one less than del Potro.

"Fifty is a great number to achieve," said Federer, who is trying to match Bjorn Borg's streak of Wimbledon titles. "I'm delighted about that but I haven't won the tournament.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Safin beat Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to advance.

"He's always a player who can upset anybody on any day. I hope he's not going to have one of those crazy good days against me," Federer said of Safin. "Hopefully I can use my variety against him."

Federer said skipping the grass-court warmup tournament in Halle has not hurt his play, but he did admit to feeling slightly under the weather.

"I have a bit of throat thing going on, but not much," Federer said.

Tim Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semifinalist, was eliminated by Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 2-6, 6-1 in a match that started a day earlier. It was the third year in a row that Henman lost in the second round.

Henman, who also played five sets over two days in the first round, was the last British man or woman in the tournament. This was his 14th appearance at Wimbledon, and there has been speculation that it might be his last.

After the fourth set, the 78th-ranked Lopez took a bathroom break, which broke Henman's momentum.

"When you get into a fifth, you've got to try to maintain that momentum," Henman said. "Suddenly he hits two or three good shots in one game and he's in the driver's seat."

Henman walked to the middle of Centre Court to acknowledge a standing ovation and then left with no emotion.

"I feel sorry for him because they [British fans] love him and support him a lot," Lopez said.

Wayne Arthurs, playing in the final tournament of his 17-year career and at 36 the oldest man in the starting draw, upset No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 7-6, (5), 6-3.

Djokovic advanced by beating Amer Delic of the United States 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), while Blake defeated Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, Davydenko rallied to beat Chris Guccione of Australia 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 and 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 13 Tommy Haas, No. 15 Ivan Ljubicic and No. 20 Juan Carlos Ferrero also won, while No. 17 David Ferrer, No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela and No. 29 Agustin Calleri lost.