Roger Federer needed just 16 minutes to win the opening set in a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 defeat of France’s Adrian Mannarino to reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final on Monday.
Eight-time champion Federer will be playing in his 53rd Grand Slam last-eight where he will play Kevin Anderson, the eighth-seeded South African.
Top seed Federer, 36, has now won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon, just two behind his record set from the third round in 2005 to his title triumph in 2006.
“It was crucial for him to stay in the match at the beginning of the second set and then it got tougher,” said Federer after his sixth win in six meetings against French left-hander Mannarino.
“You always tend to play better against better players and I am happy to be back in the second week of Wimbledon.”
Federer boasts a 4-0 career record against 2017 US Open runner-up Anderson and 9-4 over Monfils.
Monfils and Anderson have yet to get to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, although the French shotmaker may just be the slight favourite as he has a 5-0 winning record over the big South African.
Djokovic into 10th QF
Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the 10th time on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Three-time champion Djokovic, seeded 12, will face Japan’s 24th seed Kei Nishikori for a place in the semi-finals.
It will be Djokovic’s 41st appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final and he will start favourite against Nishikori who will be in his first last-eight at the All England Club.
Former world No 1 Djokovic has a 13-2 winning record against the Japanese player.
Nadal ends seven-year wait to return to Wimbledon quarters
World number one Rafael Nadal reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final since 2011 with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, will face either Juan Martin del Potro, the fifth seed from Argentina, or unseeded Gilles Simon of France for a place in the semi-finals.
It will be 32-year-old Nadal’s 35th appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final as he continues his bid to win an 18th Major title
Del Potro made to wait
Next up for Nadal is either Juan Martin del Potro, the fifth seeded Argentine, or unseeded Gilles Simon of France.
Del Potro was leading 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5), 5-7 when his tie with Simon was halted for the night due to darkness.
Nishikori ends 23-year Japanese wait
Kei Nishikori overcame an arm injury to reach his first Wimbledon quarter-final with a gritty 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10), 6-1 win over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
The 28-year-old Nishikori is the first Japanese man to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995. His reward is a last-eight match-up against either three-time champion Novak Djokovic or unseeded Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Nishikori needed lengthy treatment and a medical timeout on a right arm injury in the first set and had to save set points in the third.
Gulbis, ranked 130 and who came through qualifying, had shocked fourth seeded German Alexander Zverev in the third round.
But having played three successive five-set matches in the main draw to get this far, he ran out of steam.
A nasty fall, which required a medical time out on his left knee, doomed Gulbis’s bid to become just the sixth qualifier to reach the last-eight at Wimbledon.
Raonic, Isner set up big-servers clash
Big-serving Milos Raonic fired 37 aces and 74 winners to defeat Mackenzie McDonald of the United States and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the fourth time.
The 27-year-old Canadian, who was runner-up to Andy Murray in 2016, triumphed 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.
The 13th seed won all 20 of his service games on Monday and will tackle US ninth seed John Isner for a place in the semi-finals.
Isner reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final at the 10th attempt with a 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/4) win over Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Isner, 33, will be playing in his first quarter-final at the majors since the 2011 US Open when he faces former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic for a semi-final spot on Wednesday.
Tsitsipas was bidding to become the first ever Greek player – man or woman – to reach the last-eight at a Grand Slam.
Later Monday, two-time champion Rafael Nadal attempts to make the quarter-finals for the first time since he finished runner-up in 2011.
The world number one faces Czech world number 93 Jiri Vesely, who has never got past the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
Victory for Nadal over his fellow left-hander would take him into a 35th Grand Slam quarter-final.
It would also give him a last-eight clash against Juan Martin del Potro, the fifth seeded Argentine, or unseeded Gilles Simon of France.
Three-time champion Novak Djokovic, seeded a lowly 12 this year, can make his 10th Wimbledon quarter-final if he defeats unseeded Karen Khachanov, the world number 40 from Russia.
Results
4th round:
Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA x22) 6-0, 7-5, 6-4
Kevin Anderson (RSA x8) bt Gael Monfils (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 7-6 (7/4)
Milos Raonic (CAN x13) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2
John Isner (USA x9) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x31) 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/4)
Novak Djokovic (SRB x12) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Kei Nishikori (JPN x24) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10), 6-1
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Jirí Veselý (CZE) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Suspended due to darkness:
Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x5) leads Gilles Simon (FRA) 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7.5), 5-7
With inputs from AFP
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