Ivanovic tested to extreme

Top seed Ana Ivanovic survived two match points before recovering to reach the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday in a marathon victory over unseeded French player Nathalie Dechy.

The French Open champion will play Zheng Jie of China for a place in the last 16 after a 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 victory over the experienced and determined Dechy in a match which lasted three-and-a-half hours.

Ivanovic, 20, made a series of unforced errors on Court One and frequently looked ill at ease on the grass as Dechy, playing in her 13th Wimbledon, gave her a lesson in accuracy in the early stages.

The glamorous Serb rarely looked worthy of the world No 1 ranking she secured after her triumph at Roland Garros as she struggled with her first serve in the first set, allowing Dechy to capitalise.

In the second set, Ivanovic teetered on the brink of early elimination just as her Serb compatriot Novak Djokovic was being dumped out by Marat Safin on Centre Court.

Dechy, who has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon, had two match points with the score poised at 5-4, but a fortunate point at the net worked in Ivanovic's favour and she recovered to force and win a tie-break.

The French woman battled to the last game but Ivanovic's superior power finally proved decisive and she can continue her quest to reach her first Wimbledon final.

Ivanovic admitted that she was fortunate to escape after the ball just fell into Dechy's side of the court after the World No 1 played it into the net-tape on the second match point in the 10th game of the second set.

"She played really well and gave me a tough match," said Ivanovic.

"When I saw the ball roll over the net on the second match point I thought that was my second chance.

"My heart missed a beat when it went on the other side. I was so lucky."

There were no such dramas for Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who beat Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round.

Also on Wednesday twice former champion Serena Williams produced an erratic performance but proved too strong for Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska whom she dispatched 6-4 6-4.

Top-ranked Federer only had a minor hiccup - dropping serve once, the first time since Roland Garros - before getting past Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to extend his streak on grass to 61 matches.

The Swiss is after a sixth straight Wimbledon title.

2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo recovered to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Virginia Ruano Pascual and 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli beat Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2, 7-5.

Others advancing were No 10 Marcos Baghdatis, No 13 Stanislas Wawrinka and Bobby Reynolds, who had a 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Frank Dancevic.

Juan Carlos Ferrero had to retire with a leg injury in the third set when trailing to Mischa Zverev.