Rafael Nadal produced his best performance on grass as he fought back to beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Thursday. "I have never played so well on grass," said the second seed, who will meet seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in the last eight on Friday.
Nadal, runner-up last year, struggled to find his rhythm for two sets after his third-round match against Swede Robin Soderling, a five-setter which was on the Saturday schedule but did not conclude until Wednesday.
Youzhny initially played near flawless tennis, finding the corners and hitting fine volleys at the net, before being hampered by a long-standing back problem. "Another line", Nadal cursed under his breath after an ace from Youzhny in the second set, a resigned reaction to the precision in the Russian's game.
Youzhny, who had twice beaten Nadal in the last 12 months, took the first set on his first break point of the match after a rare double fault from the Spaniard and broke again two games into the second after a superb backhand crosscourt winner.
The roles were dramatically reversed from the start of the third set which Nadal raced through in 27 minutes after breaking Youzhny to go 2-0 up. The Russian, who pulled out of last month's Halle tournament with a back problem, then asked for courtside treatment.
"Throughout the third set I thought about calling for the physio... but that would have been a motivation for Nadal," the 14th seed told a news conference. "It's tough, because it looks like I can do everything but I couldn't move like I did in the first and second sets," added Youzhny, who could no longer chase every Nadal effort with the same vigour as he had done early in the match.
There was the threat of a rain interruption when the score was 1-1 and 30-30 in the fourth set but it did not materialise and Youzhny again asked for the physiotherapist in the break when Nadal led 3-2.
BERDYCH BEATS UNHAPPY BJORKMAN: Seventh seed Tomas Berdych continued his unassuming passage into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-0 6-7 6-0 victory over an irate Jonas Bjorkman on Thursday. Overpowered in the opening two sets but leading the third 3-2 with a break point, the Swede was infuriated when umpire James Keothavong overruled a Berdych serve in.
"That is why you suck," the 35-year-old said, lambasting the umpire's decision. Last year's surprise semi-finalist branded the official "absolutely useless" before clawing back into the match by winning the third set tiebreak 8-6. "He made an horrendous call... 133 mile an hour serve wide on the far end, you shouldn't even go in there," Bjorkman told reporters.
"There's a lot of guys out there trying sometimes to make sure that everyone can see them on the court. You don't have to interrupt the game. All of a sudden they try to be in the picture."
MEN'S SINGLES RESULTS:
WIMBLEDON MEN'S SINGLES RESULTS ON THURSDAY (PREFIX NUMBER DENOTES SEEDING, * DENOTES NEW RESULT)
FOURTH ROUND:
-- 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 16-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 7-6(8) 7-6(2) 4-6 7-6(5)
-- 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat 14-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2
-- 7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat 19-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-4 6-0 6-7(6) 6-0
-- 10-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat 6-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 7-6(5) 7-6(5) 6-3
-- Wimbledon women's
-- singles results
-- Wimbledon women's singles quarter-final results on Thursday (prefix number denotes seeding)
-- 6-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat 14-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 4-6 6-2 7-5
23-Venus Williams (US) beat 5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-3 6-4.
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