Roddick's change in tactics settles ill-tempered struggle

After losing in the semi-finals and the final in his last two Wimbledon campaigns, Andy Roddick fancies his chances of going one better this year. Yesterday, however, the No 2 seed's future beyond the second round appeared in doubt.

Roddick's match against the Italian, Daniele Bracciali, was held over from Thursday night, when the American was leading by two sets to one. There had been an exchange between the two as they went off, Bracciali wanting to continue, while Roddick was happy to sleep on his lead.

Bracciali, who won the Surbiton Trophy earlier this month, took the fourth set in impressive style before a rain break interrupted play yet again. When they resumed Roddick, adopting a bold serve-and-volley approach, recovered to win 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3.

Roddick said: "That first set today was pretty amazing stuff on his part. He was basically just cranking every ball. He was killing forehands if I left it short. I'm not going to go out and serve and volley every match, but I need that option. I get up there [to the net] sometimes, but most of the time it's to shake hands."

Of the previous night's ill feeling, Roddick said: "I don't think there is anything wrong with walking off a dark tennis court. If he is upset he can come and talk to me about it - and he doesn't need an interpreter. I wanted to win this match. There was a chip on my shoulder. I was not happy last night."

Fernando Gonzalez, who has won Olympic bronze and gold medals, enjoyed an overwhelming victory over Joachim Johansson, the No 11 seed.

Johansson ended Greg Rusedski's challenge in the previous round but was brushed aside by Gonzalez, who won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The win means that the Chilean has now reached the last 16 in all four of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Taylor Dent is also through to the fourth round after beating the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. He will now seek the advice of his father, the former Australian top 20 player, Phil Dent, who watched his next opponent, Lleyton Hewitt.

When asked about his father's allegiance, Dent replied: "He's Dent more than Aussie, that's for sure. He'll be chomping at the bit to tell me everything he knows. If I execute out there, I'm going to be handful for Lleyton."

Mario Ancic, the No 10 seed, had no trouble beating Gaël Monfils, the French teenager who won the junior Wimbledon title last year. The Croatian, a semi-finalist here last year, won 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and now faces Feliciano Lopez, conqueror of Marat Safin.