Rafael Nadal was relieved to progress into the fourth round of Wimbledon following a gruelling victory over Germany's Philipp Petzschner.
The Mallorcan was extended to five sets for a second successive match and had to dig deep to prevail 6-4 4-6 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-3 over the 33rd seed on Centre Court.
Worryingly, Nadal called for the trainer to have treatment to his left arm and right leg and his fitness was due to be assessed after the match.
‘That match was very difficult. Philipp's serve was unbelievable for almost the whole match,’ said second seed Nadal.
‘I tried to keep my returns in at the beginning but it just wasn't possible. In the end I think I played well.
‘I hope that physically I will be fine but I will be checked out.
‘It's been a long season for me and I've played a lot of matches over the last few months.
‘I've had two five-set matches here and that's tough, but I'm very happy to be in the fourth round.’
In an incident-packed duel, Nadal was issued with a code violation in the deciding set for receiving tips from his coach, uncle Toni Nadal, who was sitting in the players' box.
Nadal plays Paul-Henri Mathieu for a place in the quarter-finals, where he is likely to meet the highly-impressive Robin Soderling.
Soderling declared he is ready to face either Nadal or Roger Federer after continuing his breakneck advance through the draw.
Soderling, the sixth seed from Sweden, crushed Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2 7-5 to set up a fourth-round clash with David Ferrer of Spain.
The 25-year-old French Open finalist has emerged as a contender for the title at SW19 after managing to avoid dropping a set in three matches.
Soderling is one of only two players, alongside Juan Martin del Potro, to have beaten both Federer and Nadal in grand slam events and he fancies his chances against both greats.
‘I've beaten them once before so I'm pretty confident that I can do it more times, though it's not easy,’ he said.
‘They're the two best players in the world. You must play really well and have a good day if you are to win. If I have that, I have a good chance.
‘Roger is maybe the best player of all time but you can't win every match and you can't win forever.
‘You have to lose sometime - even Roger has to do that.’
Ninth seed Ferrer dispatched Jeremy Chardy of France 7-5 6-3 4-6 3-6 7-5 and is braced for a challenging afternoon against world number six Soderling.
‘It will be a very difficult match against Soderling. He serves really well and plays very fast. I will have to focus all the time,’ said Ferrer.
Ferrer has matched his best performance at Wimbledon by reaching the fourth round.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga powered his way into the last 16 with a robust dismissal of German qualifier Tobias Kamke.
The 10th-seeded Frenchman was made to work hard to win in five sets in the previous round against Alexandr Dolgopolov but had a more straightforward assignment today as he posted a 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7/1) triumph in one hour and 37 minutes.
France 32nd seed Julien Benneteau cruised past Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3.
Another Frenchman, Mathieu, endured a gruelling contest against Thiemo de Bakker of Holland before emerging a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 winner.
Andy Murray booked his place in the fourth round in impressive fashion with a thumping 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over Gilles Simon.
The shadows were lengthening on Centre Court as the pair made their entrance following Nadal's five-set win over Petzschner.
But any thoughts the roof might need to be deployed for the second time this week were soon put to bed as Murray made a tremendous start.
The second and third sets were closer but the winner was never in doubt, and the Scot sealed victory in less than two hours with his 15th ace.
Murray said: ‘It was a good match. As the match went on Gilles started to play better. It was starting to get dark and I had a few chances. I played a few nervous shots but I managed to close it out in the end.’
