Nadal, Djokovic fight to reach Wimbledon quarters

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal battled all the way back to win his fourth-round match Thursday and reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic also secured a berth in the round of eight by taking out former champion Lleyton Hewitt in a dramatic bout.
The second-seeded Nadal fought back after dropping the first two sets to defeat 14th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The capable Youzhny was slowed by a back problem over the final three sets.
Nadal needed 3 hours, 5 minutes to record his comeback, which he did with the help of six service breaks. The Spaniard played a clean match by committing a mere 18 unforced errors over five sets.
The reigning three-time French Open champ Nadal was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the great Roger Federer and lost to Youzhny in the 2006 U.S. Open quarters.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who topped 19th-seeded Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0.
Berdych fired 15 aces at the ageless Bjorkman, who failed to break his Czech counterpart's serve while Berdych piled up a whopping seven breaks of the Swede. Berdych also struck 31 more winners (48-17) than the overmatched Bjorkman.
The 35-year-old Bjorkman reached the Wimbledon semis last year, only to be destroyed by the amazing Federer.
The 6-foot-5 Berdych will now appear in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
A fourth-seeded Djokovic fought his way into the quarters by holding off a 16th-seeded Hewitt 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Djokovic moved on by converting on his third match point against the gritty Hewitt. The Serb needed 4 hours, 12 minutes to dismiss Hewitt, who withstood a barrage of 56 winners, including 17 aces, from Djokovic, who also piled up 49 unforced errors on Day 10.
The former world No. 1 Hewitt captured the second of his two Grand Slam event titles here Wimbledon in 2002.
Djokovic reached the French Open semifinals last month, only to lose to the reigning king of clay Nadal.
Also advancing to the quarters was 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who upended sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The 2006 Australian Open finalist Baghdatis reached the Wimbledon semis last season.
Baghdatis advanced in 2 hours, 9 minutes, as he broke Davydenko's serve six times while the Russian piled up 39 unforced errors.