By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon |
 Nadal is yet to get past the third round at Wimbledon |
World number two Rafael Nadal fought back from two sets down to beat Robert Kendrick and set up a third-round clash with Andre Agassi at Wimbledon. Nadal narrowly avoided falling victim to the first major shock of the fortnight, edging past the qualifier 6-7 (4-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 6-4.
Kendrick dominated early on with a superb attacking game-plan and was at one stage two points from victory.
But a fired-up Nadal dug deep and will now face Agassi in the last 32.
"I was worried," admitted the second seed. "It was very tough. He played a very good match.
"I had chances to break but he came up with a good serve every time. He served unbelievable. It made me think that I couldn't afford any mistakes.
"It was important to come through. I think I played a good match overall."
The Spaniard sunk to his knees on converting his third match point as though he had won the title, and with good reason.
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Kendrick made a mockery of his world ranking of 237 with a magnificent performance of controlled grass-court tennis, firing 28 aces and moving to the net 94 times.
The early drama came when a line judge fainted with Nadal serving at 1-2, and a five-minute delay followed before the unfortunate official was taken away in a wheelchair.
When play resumed, Kendrick took a tight first set with five straight points in the tie-break and got the only break of the second in game two.
Nadal was starved of chances but showed his fighting spirit in the third-set tie-break, moving 5-1 clear with a desperate cross-court forehand winner.
A titanic fourth set saw Kendrick get to 5-4 up and 30-30 but Nadal did not falter, and in the following game Kendrick double-faulted facing a third break point.
There was not much doubt who held the initiative going into the fifth and Nadal took advantage, breaking in game five and serving out for the win.
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Highlights: Wimbledon day four