WIMBLEDON, England — Things got quite complicated for Rafael Nadal on Saturday.
His right knee was bothering him “a lot,” something he later would say he’s “a little bit scared about.”
His left elbow was briefly in pain, too, following one serve.
He got into a dispute with the chair umpire over whether Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle, was coaching during the match, which is against the rules.
Oh, and then there was this issue of most concern Saturday: For the second consecutive round at Wimbledon, Nadal fell behind by two sets to one.
For the second consecutive round, though, the generally indefatigable Nadal came back, this time pulling out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 victory over 33rd-seeded Philipp Petzschner of Germany to reach the second week.
“This match was very difficult for me,” Nadal said. “Having a five-set match two days ago and one today — that’s tough. I’m happy to be in the fourth round. I’m going to try to be better for Monday.”
That’s when the tournament will resume after observing its traditional day of rest on the middle Sunday. All 32 players still in the event will be on the jam-packed schedule.
Nadal will meet 66th-ranked Paul- Henri Mathieu of France, who beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-4. In his previous outing, de Bakker eliminated John Isner, the 6-foot-9 American who won the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set.
Isner was still in town Saturday morning, having breakfast in Wimbledon Village with doubles partner and pal Sam Querrey. Hours later, as darkness descended, No. 18 Querrey won his own lengthy — well, not that lengthy, of course — match, reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round for the first time by defeating 2002 semifinalist Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 9-7. The final point was played at 9:23 p.m., and Querrey figured the match would have been suspended and continued Monday if he hadn’t won when he did.
Next up for the 22-year-old from Santa Monica, Calif., is a Centre Court contest against No. 4 Andy Murray, trying to become Britain’s first Wimbledon men’s champion since Fred Perry in 1936.
Defending women’s champion Serena Williams had a much easier time, serving 19 aces in a straight-sets win over Dominika Cibulkova that set up a fourth-round matchup with 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, who beat Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova 7-5, 6-3.
At a glance
Saturday at Wimbledon at the All England Club:
Men’s seeded winners: No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 6 Robin Soderling, No. 9 David Ferrer, No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 18 Sam Querrey, No. 32 Julien Benneteau.
Men’s seeded losers: No. 25 Thomaz Bellucci, No. 26 Gilles Simon, No. 33 Philipp Petzschner.
Women’s seeded winners: No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 7 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 9 Li Na, No. 16 Maria Sharapova.
Women’s seeded losers: No. 10 Flavia Pennetta, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka, No. 29 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 31 Alexandra Dul- gheru, No. 32 Sara Errani.
Noteworthy: Serena Williams had 19 aces in 43 serving points.
Quoteworthy: “I think it’ll be 99 percent for Murray, and like my mom and dad and sister cheering for me.” — American Sam Querrey, talking about the Centre Court crowd on Monday, when he faces Briton Andy Murray
Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 76.
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