Roger Federer served his way into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Lleyton Hewitt on Monday.
Federer fired down 21 aces as he beat 2002 champion Hewitt 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 6-4 in the fourth round on Centre Court.
'I think I served really well which was important against Lleyton,' Federer admitted.
'I saw he was struggling with his hip but nevertheless, he was dangerous. I think the key was the first set tie-break and afterwards I played consistently well and saved a lot of break points which was crucial.'
Neither player could force a break point, or even take a game to deuce, in a cagey opening set which required a tie-break to decide it.
Hewitt, the last man to win Wimbledon before Federer's five consecutive titles, looked like going 3-0 down before a correct challenge via Hawk-Eye, but the Australian still found himself having to save three set points.
It was then Federer's turn to win a crucial challenge at 7-7 and the champion took full advantage.
A brilliant backhand winner down the line, after he had drawn Hewitt into the net, gave the Swiss star another set point and he took it with an ace to win the tie-break 9-7.
Hewitt's hopes of causing a massive upset had surely rested on him winning the opening set, and it was no surprise when he dropped his serve in the first game of the second.
A host of unforced errors, including a double fault, gifted Federer the advantage and it was the same story in the third game as the world number one stormed into a 4-0 lead.
Hewitt finally got on the scoreboard with a love service game and even forced a break point in the next game, but Federer responded with his 13th and 14th aces of the match to avert the danger.
The 26-year-old saved two more break points to close out the set 6-2 and all but guarantee his place in the quarter-finals.
Hewitt has been struggling with a hip injury and appeared occasionally to grimace in pain, but he was never simply going to throw in the towel, forcing five break points on Federer's first two service games of the third set.
However, Federer saved them all with some superb serving and, in between, broke Hewitt's serve once more.
Hewitt tenaciously kept Federer within his sights but the top seed looked to have plenty in reserve, serving out to complete victory in one hour, 49 minutes.
Murray seals comeback win
Andy Murray won the match of his life to take his place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
The feisty Scot showed grit and guts and some astonishing shots to fight back from two sets down to beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 5-7 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 6-4 to earn a mouth-watering showdown with Spain's Rafael Nadal.
And if he does not go on to win the Wimbledon title then at least he can look back at this match and say this was when he seduced the Centre Court crowd.
Ancic produces miraculous comeback
Mario Ancic answered the call of tennis statisticians when he came from two sets down to beat Fernando Verdasco 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 13-11 on Monday to set up a Wimbledon quarter-final against champion Roger Federer.
The 24-year-old Ancic, a semi-finalist in 2004, has now reached the quarter-finals three times but missed the tournament last year and was out for nearly six months with glandular fever.
The unseeded Ancic looked down and out when Verdasco, the number 22 seed, led two sets to one and 4-1 in the fourth, only to fight his way back into a match that lasted three hours and 48 minutes on Court 11.
Ancic, who had beaten Verdasco's fifth-seeded compatriot David Ferrer in the previous round, settled the match after breaking his opponent in the 13th game of the deciding set.
Verdasco, 40-0 down on Ancic's serve, fended off two match points before the Croat won with an ace.
Verdasco played near faultless tennis in the first two sets, finding the corners consistently and hitting some fierce passing shots that had the Croat reeling.
The Spaniard set up his first break points in the fourth game with a brilliant lob and won the second when Ancic hit a cross court drive wide.
Verdasco also set himself up to take the second set with two break points in the third game. Ancic saved the first with an ace but was wide with the second.
Ancic, surprised by a player he beat in two sets at Queen's in the build-up to Wimbledon, struggled for consistency at first but finally earned his first break points in the sixth game of the third set, Verdasco hitting a return wide on the first.
Verdasco looked to have made an all-important breakthrough when a brilliant lob put him 40-love up on Ancic's serve in the fourth game of the fourth set, taking a 4-1 lead with a passing shot down the line on the first break point.
Ancic, however, raised his game to break Verdasco in the left-handed Spaniard's next two service games before going on to level the match with an ace.
The gruelling fifth set went with serve until the 13th game when Ancic broke the Spaniard, who hit the break point long.
Verdasco broke right back and the next break point, which Ancic won to go 12-11 ahead, proved decisive. The Spaniard saved the first two of three match points before succumbing to an ace.
Nadal makes light work of Youzhny
Rafael Nadal maintained his Wimbledon quarter-final collision course with Andy Murray after dispatching Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-3 6-1.
The Spanish second seed avenged the worst defeat of his career - a 6-0 6-1 thrashing in Chennai earlier this year - by battering Youzhny into submission in two hours and 10 minutes on Court One.
Russian 17th seed Youzhny traded blows with the French Open champion from the baseline but Nadal overpowered his rival with some typically ferocious shots.
The 22-year-old, who is on course for a third successive final at the All England Club, overcame an early injury scare to post his straight-sets victory.
The match was just one game old when he requested a break to allow his trainer to treat a troublesome knee.
Racing to the net, the Spaniard showed remarkable speed to return a drop shot but then pulled up after sustaining the damage to his right leg.
When play resumed the knee was dressed with extra strapping but the manner in which he bludgeoned his way to three break points in the fourth suggested there were no lingering ill-effects.
Youzhny hit the net on the third but Nadal found himself in trouble a game later, firing a simple forehand wide to immediately concede his advantage.
The Majorcan was back in business when a cleverly-disguised drop shot secured break point and he concluded an enthralling rally with a brutal winner.
Youzhny kept his composure as he fell victim to two dreadful line calls in the eighth but he was only delaying the inevitable.
Nadal was in danger of running away with it as he broke in the fourth game of the second set with Youzhny doing the hard work only to overhit what should have been the winner.
The Russian, who led Nadal two sets to love in the same round of Wimbledon last year before slumping to defeat, was being ground out of contention.
Another poor call went against him but he responded with two impressive service games to keep him within sight.
His brave resistance was ebbing, however, as Nadal emerged triumphant from one delicate rally to close out the set.
Youzhny amassed three break points in the opening game of the third set but Nadal steadied himself and averted the danger with a vicious passing shot.
Brilliant play from the Russian appeared to have ended a marathon second as he recovered beautifully to send Nadal scampering backwards with a precision lob.
Nadal's acceleration enabled him to recover but the return was a sitter for Youzhny who surged to the net for the simplest of smashes only to fire it long.
The nightmare shot was symbolic of his fading chances and, powerless to halt Nadal's relentless onslaught, the demoralised underdog surrendered the final set - and with it the match.
