London, Jun 29: Second-seeded British Andy Murray continued his perfect start to Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Tommy Robredo to reach the fourth round on friday.
Playing under the retractable roof on Centre Court because of persistent rain, Murray was in control throughout and advanced with a clinical 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 win.
The second-seeded Murray, who missed the French Open because of a back injury, has yet to lose a set at the All England Club this year. He warmed up for Wimbledon by winning at Queen's Club.
Murray has a clear field in front with Federer and Rafael Nadal crashing out in the initial rounds.
Murray is supposed to meet No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final.
Murray had lost to Roger Federer in the final last year.
On Friday, giant-killer Sergiy Stakhovsky crashed out losing to Jurgen Melzer of Austria in four sets 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Stakhovsky had stunned seven-time champion Federer in one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets.
The 116th-ranked Ukrainian couldn't replicate the serve-and-volley magic that stifled Federer. While Federer struggled with Stakhovsky's serve, Melzer broke him six times.
"I'm just a little disappointed that I got so blinded by the game I produced with Roger that I kept going with the same game I played against Jurgen, which was just not right," Stakhovsky said.
Advancing to the third round were fourth-seeded David Ferrer and No. 13 Tommy Haas. No. 15 Nicolas Almagro was knocked out by Poland's Jerzy Janowicz in a third-round match.
For the second straight day, play was disrupted by rain and the sliding roof was closed over Centre Court. Four singles matches didn't start and were rescheduled for Saturday.
In other men's play, Ferrer won an all-Spanish encounter against Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the third round for a sixth consecutive year.
Ferrer advanced with a scrappy 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 win in a match originally scheduled for Thursday but pushed back because of rain. He will next face No. 26 Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Melzer will face Janowicz, who served 30 aces and beat Almagro 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time.
Only six men and four women -- 10 total -- among the top 10 seeds reached the third round -- tying the performance at Wimbledon in 1996 (four men, six women) and the French Open in 1998 (two men, eight women).
It's the worst performance by the top 10 women's seeds at any Slam in the Open era. The previous low was five at the 2001 French Open.
In another twist, this tournament has produced the fewest five-set matches (12) over the first two rounds at Wimbledon in the Open era. The previous record was 13 in 1981.
Among the early casualties in the men's draw was Grigor Dimitrov, one of the rising stars in tennis. He was eliminated in the second round in a five-set, rain-delayed match that lasted more than four hours over two days.
With girlfriend Maria Sharapova cheering him from the stands on Court 3, the 29th-seeded Bulgarian fell to 55th-ranked Slovenian Grega Zemlja 3-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.
