Top seed Novak Djokovic ended a highly satisfactory first week at Wimbledon by brushing aside Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-2 6-2 to continue his serene progress.
Chardy, the 28th seed, put up little fight in the evening sunshine on Centre Court with the third round match wrapped up in 86 minutes.
Clinical Djokovic, who eased past the same player in the first round two years ago on his way to a first Wimbledon title, is yet to drop a set in three one-sided contests so far.
His next opponent, evergreen Tommy Haas, should put up more resistance in the last 16.
German Haas surprisingly beat the Serb in straight sets at the Sony Open in Miami in March, although Djokovic took revenge in the quarter-finals of the French Open earlier this month.
Fourth seed David Ferrer came through a punishing five-set test against Alexandr Dolgopolov to move into the last 16 in the evening gloom.
Ferrer eventually ground down the 26th seeded Ukrainian 6-7(6) 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 6-2 in three hours 12 minutes.
“It was a very hard match,” this year’s French Open finalist Ferrer said. “I tried to fight a lot and to be focused in the right moments and eventually I won.”
There were only been 12 five-set matches in the first two rounds of the men’s singles at Wimbledon, which was the fewest at the grasscourt grand slam in the Open era.
Ferrer’s famed staying power came into its own as he got on top in the fourth set and ended the resistance of Dolgopolov to set up a fourth round match against Croatia’s Ivan Dodig.
Eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro suffered an injury scare after moving into the last 16 with a straight sets win against Slovenia’s Grega Zemlja.
Del Potro fell awkwardly chasing down a drop shot in the third set, receiving treatment and taking a medical timeout before wrapping up a 7-5 7-6(3) 6-0 win.
“I will see the doctor after here, because I was going for the dropshot and I twisted my ankle,” he told reporters.
“I hyper-extended my knee, as well. It was really painful. I was a little scared at that moment.
“I finish the match very quickly. Now I start to feel something in my knee and my ankle, as well. I will check with the doctor very soon.”
Del Potro, who equalled his best performance by reaching the fourth round, will now face Italian Andreas Seppi.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny loomed on Andy Murray’s horizon and Australian Bernard Tomic hurtled back on to the Grand Slam radar as an unpredictable Championships neared its halfway point.
Youzhny, the 20th seed, beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets to reach the last 16 while bad-boy Tomic continued his impressive form to knock out French ninth seed Richard Gasquet.
Tipped as his country’s next big thing the 20-year-old Tomic has instead gained a reputation as a sports car-driving playboy and was left out of Australia’s Davis Cup team last year for what officials considered a lack of effort.
A quarter-finalist here in 2011, Tomic had lost his last 11 matches against top-10 opponents but produced a display of maturity and skill to win 7-6(7) 5-7 7-5 7-6(5).
Youzhny’s clash with Serb Troicki at a sun-drenched All England Club was one of four men’s third round matches in the lower half that had been held over from a rain-hit Friday.
Youzhny served notice that Murray’s expected charge into the final for a second consecutive year will not be the cakewalk some predict in the wake of a rash of first-week retirements and withdrawals that decimated the bottom half of the draw.
The burly Russian won 6-3 6-4 7-5 but inevitably most of the questions in his news conference revolved around his impending battle with home favourite Murray.
“Don’t worry, I will sleep normal,” Youzhny said, when asked if he was concerned about being public enemy No.1 on Monday.
In the others, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Frenchman Kenny De Schepper also reached the last 16.
Yet another injury blighted the tournament with Dutchman Igor Sijsling’s retirement from his third round match with Dodig taking the tally of withdrawals to 13 – already equalling the previous worst toll in 2008.
Apart from appearing on Centre Court in a parade of Britain’s Olympians, Murray enjoyed a day of leisure having seen off Spain’s Tommy Robredo under the Centre Court roof on Friday.
With the hype beginning to boil as he tries to go one better than last year and become Britain’s first male Wimbledon champion for 77 years, it was a nice day off for the world number two.
There was disappointment, though, for a legion of Japanese fans watching 12th seed Kei Nishikori as he went down in five sets to Italian Seppi after twice being in front. Number 23 seed Seppi has now prevailed in his last seven five-set matches.
Third round results
1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 28-Jeremy Chardy (France) 6-3 6-2 6-2
4-David Ferrer (Spain) beat 26-Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 6-7(6) 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 6-2
13-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 4-6 6-2 7-5 6-4
8-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Grega Zemlja (Slovenia) 7-5 7-6(3) 6-0
7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat 27-Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5
Bernard Tomic (Australia) beat 9-Richard Gasquet (France) 7-6(7) 5-7 7-5 7-6(5)
Ivan Dodig (Croatia) beat Igor Sijsling (Netherlands) 6-0 6-1 1-0 (Sijsling retired)
23-Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat 12-Kei Nishikori (Japan) 3-6 6-2 6-7(4) 6-1 6-4
Kenny De Schepper (France) beat 22-Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-4 7-6(8) 6-4
20-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-3 6-4 7-5
Lukasz Kubot (Poland) beat 25-Benoit Paire (France) 6-1 6-3 6-4
Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 6-2 6-4 6-4
