Nadal hopes for a silver lining

Rafael Nadal's rain-affected match against Robin Soderling was suspended at 4-4 in the final set and will stretch into a third day at Wimbledon after only 20 minutes of play was completed.

French Open champion Nadal, who squandered a match point in the third round tie on Monday, returned to Court One 2-0 up in the fifth set but a nervous start gave Soderling the break and the Swede held his service game to level the score.

Spain's Nadal pulled off a wonder shot to take the next game, diving to his right and gently dropping the ball over the net.

But then inevitably the rain, which has plagued the match since the players initially began warming up on Saturday, returned after just eight minutes of tennis.

Nadal was on the back foot once again when play resumed, saving two break points.

However the session only lasted 12 minutes before the storms returned with the second seed preparing to serve and the score at 6-4 6-4 6-7 4-6 4-4 - it was the fifth rain break of the match

Wimbledon third seed Andy Roddick was in full control of his fourth round tie against Paul-Henri Mathieu before rain forced his match into a third day.

The start of play was delayed as dismal weather conditions once again wreaked havoc at the All England Club.

American number one Roddick had won the first set 6-2 and was serving for the second at 6-5 up before rain halted the encounter for the second and final time.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo crashed out of Wimbledon at the hands of Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.

Rain and fast-falling drizzle disrupted proceedings on Centre Court as Vaidisova eventually came through the fourth-round clash 7-6 4-6 6-1.

The first two sets were very tight with the 6ft Czech striking first blood 8-6 on a tie-break before Mauresmo, who has been struggling with a leg injury, fought back.

But any hopes the Frenchwoman had of keeping alive her hopes of making a successful title defence at the All England Club were snuffed out as she was undone by a catalogue of unforced errors.

And the 27-year-old fourth seed, who produced 37 unforced errors in a scrappy performance , duly succumbed to Vaidisova.

Their match spanned almost four hours, of which only around two hours 20 minutes were spent on court.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.