Wimbledon 2008 4th round: As good as it gets

- Federer dumps out Hewitt: Roger Federer came out on top in the battle of the Wimbledon champions by trumping Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Australian Hewitt, the only men's winner in the draw other than five-times champion Federer, kept the Swiss on his toes during a tight first set.

The 27-year-old Hewitt, struggling with a hip injury, had hoped to profit from some inside information since his coach Tony Roche had been in Federer's camp until 13 months ago.

But his challenge fizzled after an engaging first set in which he traded an assortment of bewitching volleys and groundstrokes with the Swiss maestro.

Neither player earned a break point during the opening set, but as he has done many times in the past, Federer saved his best arsenal for the tie break.

The vocal Australian contingent of fans tried to lift their man but soon fell silent as Hewitt fell 4-0 behind in the second set.

Two games later, the Australian earned his first break point of the match, only to be thwarted by a ferocious kicking serve.

He stretched the top seed to break points in three successive games but the outcome was the same each time - Federer would come up with the big serves to wipe out any hopes of a Hewitt fightback.

In the third set the Australian slipped behind the baseline and ended up on his knees to surrender his serve and hand Federer a 2-1 advantage.

That was enough for Federer to close out the match and remain on course for a modern-era record of six successive men's titles.

By reaching the quarter-finals without dropping a set in this year's event, the Swiss not only grabbed a 12th successive win over the Australian but also ensured he would keep the world number one ranking when the new list is published next Monday.

- Federer will face another in the next round when he comes up against Croatia's Mario Ancic , the last man to beat the top seed on turf in the first round here in 2002.

Ancic came from two sets down to beat Fernando Verdasco 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 13-11 in a marathon encounter.

Unseeded Croat Ancic, 24, 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.

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 saved the first two of three match points before succumbing to an ace.

- Rafael Nadal survived an early scare when he needed treatment to his right calf before beating Mikhail Youznhy 6-3 6-3 6-1.

The second seed, 1-0 up after serving first, slipped and landed badly on his right leg chasing a crosscourt shot and needed a time-out for treatment on the side of court one.

However, it proved a blip and the Spaniard crushed an opponent he needed five sets to overcome at the same stage of Wimbledon a year ago. He next meets Briton Andy Murray in the last eight.

The Russian, seeded 17th, had won the last of their previous 10 meetings by a remarkable 6-0 6-1 in the final at Chennai in January. Their tally is now 7-4 to Nadal.

- Mercurial Russian Marat Safin, his temper in check and his talent to the fore, fought his way into the quarter-finals 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1 against Swiss 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

The twice Grand Slam winner, who had already knocked out Serbian number three seed Novak Djokovic, won the first nine points of the first set before Wawrinka stopped the rot with an ace and fought back to level the match at 4-4.

But then he lost his serve and Safin, who has so often let his volatile temperament get the better of him, held his for a 1-0 lead.

Safin, who was recording his best Wimbledon result since reaching the quarter-finals in 2001, twice broke Wawrinka in the second set which he won comfortably.

Safin, never a great fan of grass, let slip his advantage in the third set with a lapse of concentration.

But the lanky former world number one then firmly re-established control, swiftly dismissing Wawrinka 6-1 in the fourth set.

- Spaniard Feliciano Lopez saved three match points before outlasting Cypriot number 10 seed Marcos Baghdatis 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6 8-6.

The 26-year-old left-hander, seeded 31, was staring defeat in the face when serving at 4-5 0-40 down in the final set but saved all three match points, the final one with an ace, to hold.

He then broke Baghdatis, a semi-finalist here two years ago, to seize the initiative and confidently served out for victory.

Lopez, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2005, his best result at a Grand Slam, now takes on Russian Marat Safin