London, July 1

Serena Williams fired down a Wimbledon record 23 aces, Yaroslava Shvedova blitzed through a record 24 consecutive points and Andy Murray beat the clock on another night of late drama as the All England Club ushered in the AN - after Nadal - era on Saturday.

Forty-eight hours after brazen Czech Lukas Rosol turned tennis’s world order on its head by bludgeoning Rafa Nadal out of Wimbledon and 24 hours after Roger Federer came within two points of falling through the same trap door, Murray waged his own battle under the floodlights - this time with the clock.

Wimbledon rules state that Centre Court matches must finish by 2300 local time and with the seconds ominously ticking down, it seemed as if Murray would be left hanging in no man’s land till Monday to complete his third-round match against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

As it was he survived a series of falls, was penalized for allowing a string of balls to pop out of his pocket in mid-rally but still managed eke out a nerve-shredding 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-1 win as the clock struck 2302 local time - the latest ever finish at the grasscourt slam.

"Time was also an issue for his next opponent Marin Cilic.

The Croatian staggered past Sam Querrey 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 17-15 in fading light to win the second longest ever match at the All England Club.

Earlier in the day, it seemed as if four-times women’s champion Williams was also on borrowed time.

The American’s serve was on fire and she was never broken but she was lucky to escape unscathed as she subdued Zheng Jie’s charge with a 6-7 6-2 9-7 third-round win.

It was the same arena that Rosol had found to his liking on Thursday as his ferocious forehands and atomic aces destroyed Nadal’s title hopes.

But 48 hours later, Rosol will be hoping he does not end up being a one-hit wonder as he headed back into obscurity after a less than spectacular 6-2 6-3 7-6 Court 12 drubbing at the hands of Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Andy Roddick’s chances of winning that elusive Wimbledon crown faded further into the sunset when he was outplayed 2-6 7-6 6-4 6-3 by seventh seed David Ferrer.

Three-times runner-up Roddick has now failed to reach week two for the second year running and with his 30th birthday just a few weeks away, the resigned look on his face at the end of the match suggested that even he knew that his time was up.

In stark contrast, fellow American Brian Baker has been providing the feel-good factor in the men’s game this week.

The 27-year-old qualifier - described by Mardy Fish as a player who "just fell off the map" - showed that it is never too late to mount a career comeback as he fought his way into the last 16 with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 6-3 win over Benoit Paire.