Wimbledon's usually reliable weather forecasters got it completely wrong yesterday but Roger Federer made all the right moves as he breezed into the second week of the grasscourt championships.
When the All England Club threw its gates open yesterday, a booming voice through the PA system welcomed the spectators flocking into the grounds with the words "there is an increasing risk of heavy thundery showers as we move through the day".
The news was greeted with glee by many of the 15,000 Centre Court ticket holders, who hoped to become the first to see a competitive match under the multi-million pound roof.
Federer was also keen to test conditions under the new translucent 1,000-tonne concertina structure but had to make do with playing in glorious sunshine during his 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 third round victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Despite dropping his first set at this year's tournament, the signs looked ominous for anyone harbouring hopes of preventing the five-times former champion from reaching his seventh successive final in south-west London.
French Open runner-up Robin Soderling, who continued his seamless transition to grass with a 7-6 6-4 6-4 win over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, will be up next for the Swiss.
Serena Williams also came prepared for a wet day as she walked out on Court Two wearing her customised white raincoat. However, the American did not need it as she stormed into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Italy's Roberta Vinci.
With Williams dashing past her first three opponents, Daniela Hantuchova could be in for a couple of sleepless nights.
The slender Slovakian earned a date with the second seed thanks to a 6-4 6-3 win over Japan's Ai Sugiyama. Fourth seed Elena Dementieva, a semi-finalist last year, blew away fellow Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-2.
But their compatriot, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, handed Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano a walkover after failing to recover from an ankle sprain.
Karlovic's serve
Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, could find no solution to the problem of Ivo Karlovic's massive serve as the Croatian ran out a 7-6 6-7 7-5 7-6 victory in their third-round clash yesterday.
Tsonga failed to create a single break point against the 2.08m player from Zagreb, who blasted 46 aces and has this week spectacularly broken a run of four successive first-round exits at the All England Club.
Karlovic will play seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, of Spain, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Other results
Men - Djokovic bt Fish 6-4 6-4 6-4; Sela bt Robredo 7-6 7-5 2-6 7-5.
Women - Schiavone bt Bartoli 7-6 6-0; Azarenka bt Cirstea 7-6 6-3.