Australia's Lleyton Hewitt stunned Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 yesterday to reach the Wimbledon third round.

Hewitt, the 2004 champion, will face either Philipp Petzschner or Mischa Zverev, both of Germany, for a place in the last 16.

The 28-year-old Australian, whose ranking has slipped to 56 following hip surgery, confidently ended the hopes of the 20-year-old Argentine who had been tipped as a strong outsider in the half of the draw missing defending champion Rafael Nadal.

His Center Court win meant so much to him that he collapsed to his knees in celebration at the end.

"I haven't beaten a top five player for a long time," said Hewitt.

"I was really up for it today. When you have played a final on Centre Court you should be able to handle the pressure but I knew that Juan Martin is a helluva player.

"I had a game plan and I executed it really well."

In the women's draw, Chinese No 19 seed Li Na made it through to the third round at Wimbledon with a straight sets victory over Belarusian world No 82 Olga Govortsova.

The Chinese No 2 notched up a 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court 7, sealing victory with a passing shot down the line.

Li faces Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round. The Polish No 3 11 seed knocked out the Chinese No 3 Peng Shuai in the second-round thriller 6-2, 6-7, 9-7.

Reigning champion Venus Williams made hay while the sun shone on Court 1, crushing Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3 6-2. Venus, her left leg strapped throughout, is seeking a sixth title here and her third in a row, and never gave the world No 73 the chance to fully express her game. She will face Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain for a spot in the fourth round.

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova showed an increasing liking for grass when she blazed past France's Pauline Parmentier 6-1 6-3.

The Russian fifth seed, who has never passed the quarter-finals here, crunched 12 winners as she blazed through the first set in just 25 minutes.

(AFP/Reuters via China Daily June 26, 2009)