Nadal beats Kiefer to advance at Wimbledon

Murray keeps British hopes alive with victory over Haas

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns to Germany's Nicolas Kiefer during their Men's Singles, third round match on the Centre Court at Wimbledon. Nadal advanced with a 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.

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updated 4:15 p.m. ET June 28, 2008

WIMBLEDON, England - Second-ranked Rafael Nadal has advanced to the fourth round with a 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-3 win over Nicolas Kiefer in fading light at Wimbledon.

Nadal, bidding to be the first man since Bjorn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, did not drop serve Saturday until 5-1 in the third set, when he was serving for the match.

The four-time French Open champion, and runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon the last two years, held at love in his next service game to finish it off.

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Other men’s winners included No. 8 Richard Gasquet, No. 12 Andy Murray, Janko Tipsarevic, Arnaud Clement and Rainer Schuettler, the oldest player left in the draw at 32. Murray, carrying Britain’s perennial hopes for a first homegrown male champion since 1936, had 15 aces in a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Tommy Haas.

The tournament has been jolted by a series of early upsets that have decimated the seeding lists.

Six of the top-10 seeded men have been knocked out so far before the fourth round: No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 Ferrer, No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 7 David Nalbandian and No. 9 James Blake.

The No. 2 seeded Nadal, who lost to Federer in the last two finals, was dismissed Kiefer in straight sets to advance.

Roger Federer’s next opponent is 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt — the last man to win the title before the Swiss star began his run of five straight championships.

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