David Ferrer’s Wimbledon record is much like his tennis: consistent and dogged but spectacularly unspectacular. The 31-year-old Spaniard has reached the third round here for the sixth year in a row but has only one quarter-final appearance to show for all his hard work in 10 previous appearances at the All England Club. Ferrer is through to the last 32 once again thanks to a typically hard-working victory over his fellow Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut. Ferrer, who will climb to at least No 3 in the world rankings after Wimbledon, won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 but was pushed hard by the world No 60. The victory was typical of so many Ferrer performances. Although he lacks the big weapons that so many of his rivals can call upon, he is a model of consistency. Nobody works harder for his points as Ferrer creates winning situations with his aggressive ball-striking from the back of the court, manoeuvring opponents out of their comfort zone. Bautista Agut is playing in his first Wimbledon – he failed in three previous attempts to qualify – and has never gone beyond the second round of a Grand Slam tournament yet he has plenty of talent. Although most comfortable when grinding out points from the back of the court, the 25-year-old was not afraid to use subtle variations of pace and even tried serve-and-volley on occasions. After two false starts because of the rain – play was even halted after the first point because the damp Court One surface was deemed to be dangerous – Ferrer broke immediately. The last two points of Bautista Agut’s first service game summed up Ferrer’s relentless spirit as the server was outrallied and forced into backhand errors. Bautista Agut broke back immediately but after another break Ferrer served out for the set after 43 minutes. Bautista Agut took the second set with a single break of serve, Ferrer double-faulting on break point, and twice came back from a break down to take the third set into a tie-break, only for Ferrer to win it 7-4. The underdog hung on well in the fourth set, but at 5-5 he was broken, netting a forehand on break point. Ferrer, who will now play the Ukrainian world No 24, Alexandr Dolgopolov, served out for victory when Bautista Agut hit a return wide on the first match point.