Wimbledon:Roger Federer and Andy Roddick were both made to work hard for their second-round victories at Wimbledon today. For the second round running, defending champion Federer struggled to see off an opponent many had expected him to demolish.
But qualifier Ilija Bozoljac proved anything but a pushover for the top seed, who eventually prevailed 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 7-6 (7/5).
The big-serving Bozoljac hit 31 aces and 102 winners, compared to 69 by the champion, but also produced 37 unforced errors, almost three times as many as the more consistent Federer.
It was a case of deja vu for the world number two, who came back from two sets down for the first time at Wimbledon to avoid a humiliating exit at the hands of little-known Colombian Alejandro Falla on Monday.
"They both played fantastic," said Federer, who next plays a more familiar opponent, Frenchman Arnaud Clement, for a place in the last 16.
"It shows how deep the men's game is at the moment. It's good for me that I came through.
"I'm very happy to go through. It could have gone to three or it could have gone to five.
"I wasn't broken which is a good sign for me. As long as I'm moving on, I'm happy."
Roddick had earlier been given a severe test by Michael Llodra before booking his place in the last 32.
Last year's beaten finalist prevailed after four tough sets against the Frenchman, who won the warm-up tournament in Eastbourne last week.
The fifth seed recorded a 4-6 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7/2) triumph on Centre Court, but not before Llodra has entertained the crowd with some classic grasscourt tennis.
His willingness to come to the net saw plenty of exciting exchanges in the forecourt but in the end Llodra, who is currently working with former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo, came off second best.
Afterwards Roddick paid tribute to his opponent and admitted he'd been forced to change tactics mid-match.
"That was as tough a second-round match as there is in this tournament right now - he's well versed on how to play on grass," said Roddick.
"In the first set I played well but the game he broke me on was one of the best return games someone has played against me. I had love!
"He was playing flawless tennis and played an almost perfect first set.
"Coming off his win in Eastbourne last week he certainly was very confident.
"It took some of my best stuff to get through that. I thought I played really well - and I had to.
"I had to make an adjustment. After losing my serve like that, I had to start coming in and serving and volleying behind it."
Third seed Novak Djokovic had things much easier than his fellow big-name rivals.
It initially seemed as if Taylor Dent would pose Djokovic, who needed five sets to win his opener, plenty of problems.
But once the big-serving American lost the first set on a tie-break his fight disappeared and Djokovic strolled to a 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 6-4 victory.
"It was very important for me to overcome that first set," Djokovic assessed afterwards. "That was the turning point and I controlled the game after that.
"He had a serve of 151mph that he didn't put in and 148mph was the fastest he got in. It was incredible.
"He had so many first serves over 140mph. It's a dream for me to make that in my life ever.''
Lleyton Hewitt, the winner in Halle recently where he beat Roger Federer, progressed when opponent Evgeny Korolev retired from their clash due to an upper arm injury.
Hewitt was already leading 6-4 6-4 3-0 when Korolev, who had required regular treatment, decided enough was enough.
"Everything is going well at the moment. Halle gave me a lot of confidence as to how well I can play on this surface,'' said Hewitt afterwards.
"Every match from now is going to get tougher and tougher and you've got to try and survive the first week and give yourself an opportunity in the second. Hopefully I can do that.''
The Australian, a champion here in 2002, will next face Gael Monfils, who was a 6-4 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 winner over Karol Beck.
Feliciano Lopez, who took out Rafael Nadal at Queen's Club, beat Ricardas Berankis in four sets, but another in-form player, Mardy Fish, the American who beat Andy Murray at Queen's, bowed out at the hands of Florian Mayer, the German fighting back from a set down to win in four.
Tomas Berdych is another player who has been on a good run and the French Open semi-finalist had no problems dismissing the challenge of Benjamin Becker.
The Czech, seeded 12, won 7-5 6-3 6-4.
Jurgen Melzer, the other beaten semi-finalist at Roland Garros earlier this month, produced the comeback of the day.
He was two sets down to Viktor Troicki but recovered to win 6-7 (5/7) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8/6) 6-3.
However, one seed to rash out was Nikolay Davydenko.
Although the Russian was seeded seven, his 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (10/8) 6-1 defeat to German Daniel Brands was not that great a shock as he has a poor record on grass.