Wimbledon - Men's Draw: Number two seed Rafael Nadal avoided a potential banana skin this afternoon when he came from a set down to beat young Latvian Ernests Gulbis, while home favourite Andy Murray made light work of Belgian Xavier Malisse.
Twice finalist and sixth seed Andy Roddick became the latest high profile contender to be knocked out this evening after he as beaten in four sets by Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.
The result will lift the mood of Serb fans after third seed Novak Djokovic lost to Russia's Marat Safin yesterday.
The American took the opener on a tie-break but Tipsarevic hit back to win the next two sets 7-5 6-4.
Roddick had thee set points in the fourth but couldn't take them and Tipsaveric made him pay by winning the a tie-break 7-4 to close out the match.
Tipsarevic will now face Dmitry Tursunov who beat out Britain's Chris Eaton in three sets.
Nadal lost the first set 7-5 as his 19-year-old opponent, ranked 48 in the world, showed little sign of nerves on Court One.
Nadal's speed around the court came to the fore as he took the second 6-2 but Gulbis pushed him again in the third before the Spaniard finally edged it on a tie-break.
With his nose in front, Nadal wasn't going to relinquish his advantage and closed out the match by taking the fourth set 6-3.
Nadal now plays Germany's Nicolas Kiefer, who demolished Martin Vassallo Arguello in straight sets.
The 27th seed dropped only four games against his Argentinian opponent as he won through 6-0 6-3 6-1.
British number one Murray won 6-4 6-2 6-2 against his regular practice partner to set up a meeting with Germany's Tommy Haas - a straight-sets winner against Tommy Robredo.
Murray took just one hour and 33 minutes to dispatch the 27-year-old Belgian to the delight of the Centre Court crowd.
Such was the destructive quality of Murray's big serving and punishing groundstrokes that the weight of expectation on the packed Wimbledon hill can only have increased.
One heavy serve clocked in at 136mph and some of his returns must have been not far behind as he pummelled Malisse on both wings.
"I served really well, lost concentration in the second set and in the middle of the third but played well throughout," Murray said afterwards. "In the past, I've had some long ones so it's nice to get off the court in straight sets."
Ninth seed James Blake saw his hopes go up in smoke as he crashed out to Germany's Rainer Schuettler in a close-fought five-set encounter.
American Blake lost the opener 6-3 but came through a tie-break in the second and won the third 6-4.
However, Schuettler stepped up his game and won the next two 6-4 6-4 to ensure that Blake's miserable record of having never gone beyond the third round at SW19 continued.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who dropped just five games in his first round match, was made to work much, much harder this time but booked his place in round three by beating Italian Stefano Galvani.
Youzhny, the 17th seed, lost the first set 6-4 before hitting back to claim a 2-1 lead.
Galvani levelled again before Youzhny held his nerve in the fifth to complete a 4-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory.
Radek Stepanek, the 16th seed from the Czech Republic, found himself in even bigger trouble after losing the first two sets of his match against Serbian Viktor Troicki on tie-breaks
But he turned the match around in convincing fashion, dropping just six more games to win 6-7 6-7 6-3 6-1 6-2.
Unseeded Marin Cilic is one of the dangerous floaters in the draw and he proved just why by ousting 24th seed Jarkko Nieminen.
In a topsy-turvy match the Croat finally came through in the decider to score a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-7 7-5 victory.
Men's Results
25-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Chris Eaton (Britain) 7-6(2) 6-2 6-4
Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beat 6-Andy Roddick (U.S) 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 7-6(4)
8-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-2 6-2 retired
Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat 24-Jarko Nieminen (Finland) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-7(6) 7-5
16-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-7(1) 6-7(3) 6-3 6-1 6-2
Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat 9-Jame Blake (U.S) 6-3 6-7(8) 4-6 6-4 6-4
12-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 6-4 6-2 6-2
Tommy Haas (Germany) beat 23-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-4 6-4 6-3
2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 5-7 6-2 7-6(2) 6-3
17-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Stefano Galvani (Italy) 4-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3
Arnaud Clement (France) beat Benjamin Becker (Germany) 7-6(7) 7-6(3) 6-3
Jurgen Melzer (Austria) beat Jesse Levine (U.S) 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1
27-Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) beat Martin Vassallo Arguello (Argentina) 6-0 6-3 6-1