Federer progresses to stay in sight of 18th Grand Slam

Roger Federer’s pursuit of an 18th grand slam title gathered momentum at Wimbledon as the Swiss reached his 45th major quarter-final with a serene 6-2 6-2 6-3 victory over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Breaking Federer’s serve at this year’s championships is turning into mission impossible as Bautista Agut became the fourth man to try and fail.

The world number two has now held strong for eight straight matches, stretching over 106 successive service games – with Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber the last man to get a look in during last month’s first round match at the Halle Open.

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A netted backhand by Bautista Agut on his own serve completed the most straightforward of wins and earned Federer a quarter-final date with French 12th seed Gilles Simon.

Meanwhile, local hero Andy Murray also moved into the quarter-finals after beating Ivo Karlovic.

Karlovic’s serve, which arrows out of the ether from his giant 2.11 metre frame, is one of tennis’s most terrifying weapons, but it was not enough to stop the third seed moving on comfortably with a 7-6(7) 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory.

Stanislas Wawrinka continued his pursuit of a rare double with an air of calm authority, beating dangerous Belgian David Goffin 7-6(3) 7-6(6) 6-4.

The barrel-chested fourth seed, bidding to emulate fellow Swiss Roger Federer and become only the fifth man in the professional era to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, turned on the style on a sun-swept Court One.

Results:

2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat 20-Roberto Bautista (Spain) 6-2 6-2 6-3
12-Gilles Simon (France) beat 6-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3 6-2
9-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Denis Kudla (U.S.) 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-5
3-Andy Murray (Britain) beat 23-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6(7) 6-4 5-7 6-4
4-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat 16-David Goffin (Belgium) 7-6(3) 7-6(7) 6-4
21-Richard Gasquet (France) beat 26-Nick Kyrgios (Australia) 7-5 6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(6)
Vasek Pospisil (Canada) beat 22-Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 6-3