Hewitt on hold while Pratt goes through

Lleyton Hewitt’s progress to the third round was halted by bad light but compatriot Nicole Pratt has already advanced to the final 32 after day four of the Championships overnight.

Pratt, a ten-time visitor to Wimbledon, won a second round match at the All-England Club for the first time in her career, out pointing tiring French 29th seed Tatiana Golovin 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Ranked well below her opponent at 136th in the world, qualifier Pratt recovered from a one-sided first set to grind past Golovin with her usual mix of tenacity and courage, as the Frenchwoman seemingly struggled with an ankle injury.

Pratt now faces the formidable figure of top seed Amelie Mauresmo, who once again proved much too strong for Australia’s Sam Stosur 6-4 6-2. Stosur matched it with the Australian Open champ for much of the opening set, but ultimately, Mauresmo’s class and experience shone through on centre court.

Meanwhile, one of the pre-tournament favourites, Lleyton Hewitt, was locked in a titanic battle with Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, tied at two sets a piece 6-7 (7-4) 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (7-5) when the umpire stopped play late in the English evening.

Tiebreaks were needed to separate the pair in three of the four sets as Lee took to the challenge with relish, never allowing Hewitt to dictate the match. The Aussie sixth seed recovered from a one-set deficit to capture the next two sets, before succumbing in the fourth just moments prior to the close of play.

Earlier, Alicia Molik’s return to the court suffered a disappointing setback as she was beaten comprehensively by Slovak 21st seed Katarina Srebotnik 6-2 6-1. The former world no. 8 was no match for Srebotnik, offering just 58 minutes of resistance as she attempts to repair her illness-induced ranking of 260.

Elsewhere, defending women’s champion Venus Williams produced a stirring comeback to defeat fellow American Lisa Raymond and advance to the third round.

Down by a set and 5-2, the sixth seed bounced back just in time, winning five games straight to send the contest into a deciding third set. Having come so close to an upset victory, Raymond’s defiance wavered in the last and Williams eventually progressed 5-7 7-5 6-2.

Golden girl Maria Sharapova was also among the winners on day four, easily accounting for American Ashley Harkleroad 6-2 6-2. Joining the fourth seed in the final 32 are her Russian counterparts Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva, while eight seed Patty Schnyder was surprisingly knocked out of the tournament by Frenchwoman Severine Bremond 4-6 1-6 4-6.

In the men’s half of the draw, French Open champion and second seed Rafael Nadal overcame a spirited challenge from unheralded American Robert Kendrick to move into the third round.

Behind by two sets to love and in danger of making an early exit, Nadal dominated a third set tiebreak before going on to secure the final two sets in style 6-7 (4-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 6-4.

Andre Agassi’s farewell tour of Wimbledon will continue for at least two more days, after he disposed of Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-4. Similarly, American third seed Andy Roddick had little trouble with Florian Mayer, dispatching the German in straight sets 6-4 6-1 6-2.

Sebastien Grosjean, Marcos Baghdatis and Ivan Ljubicic were other seeds to book their passage through to the third round, but it was curtains for 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin, beaten by Chilean clay-courter Fernando Gonzalez in five exhausting sets 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4.

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