Top seed Rafael Nadal struggled past Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori at the Queen's Club ATP tournament on Thursday, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
After his stunning demolition of the field at Roland Garros where he clinched a fourth consecutive French Open title without dropping a set, the Spaniard looked human after all against Nishikori on the slippery grasscourts in west London.
The claycourt king seemed to have things under control until some uncharacteristic mistakes handed Nishikori a break for a 5-3 lead in the second set.
Nadal regained the initiative in the third set to ward off a shock but the Mallorcan will need to sharpen up in Friday's quarter-final against Croatian ace-machine Ivo Karlovic who out-gunned Chile's Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-5.
That match ended in unusual circumstances when Gonzalez, who had already been given a point penalty in the first set for smashing his racket, was docked the last game for ball abuse.
GRASSCOURT SPECIALISTS
While Nadal showed he still has plenty to learn about grasscourt play, two of the surfaces finest exponents in recent years moved through to the last eight with few alarms.
Third seed Andy Roddick, the defending champion, needed just one set to get past Mardy Fish when his fellow American and close friend retired injured after losing a tight first set 7-6.
Lleyton Hewitt, who like Roddick has been troubled by injuries of late, was too strong for Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, turning in a solid display to post a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Between them Roddick and Hewitt have dominated the pre-Wimbledon warm-up since the Australian won the title in 2000, winning the title four times each.
Both looked happy to be back on grass, although Roddick's victory was tainted.
"Mardy is a friend and I don't want him to be hurt," a sympathetic Roddick, who missed the French Open with a shoulder problem, told reporters. "Hopefully he'll be OK for Wimbledon.
"It's a shame because I thought we were having a pretty good match. I feel I'm ahead of where I might have thought I was going to be a week and a half ago."
Fish appeared to injure his ankle after tumbling for a wide volley on set point and after having it taped by the physio decided there was no point playing on.
BRITISH HOPE
Roddick now takes on British hope Andy Murray after he survived several injury scares of his own to beat rising Latvian Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Murray, who missed Wimbledon last year because of a serious wrist injury, needed treatment on his thumb, his groin and his neck before moving through with a late flourish.
The Scot, who said his thumb was so painful that he might not be able to play on Friday, spent much of the time falling over on Centre Court and moaned about its condition.
"I know grass courts are supposed to be slippy, but not that bad," Murray told reporters. "After I fell over and hurt my groin I asked to see the supervisor because I didn't think the court was fit to play on at that stage."
Frenchman Richard Gasquet, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, beat big-serving Croat Mario Ancic 7-6, 6-4 while David Nalbandian beat last year's surprise finalist Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-1.
