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Roger Federer came through a comfortable fourth-round match against Sweden's Robin Soderling at Wimbledon, winning 6-4 7-6(5) 7-6(5) against the man he beat in the French Open final a few weeks ago.

There was only one break of serve in a match dominated by sublime serving, with each man enjoying countless love games: just thirteen points were won on opponents' first serves in the course of the three sets.

The only player to blink was Soderling. The Swede missed just enough first serves in the ninth game of the opening set to give Federer something to swing at and, with Soderling's groundstrokes consistently either overhit or guided wide, the world number two took advantage.

Federer closed out the first set, but after that Soderling's serve only grew stronger - and in neither second nor third sets did another break of serve ever look likely. Indeed, every time a chance came the other player invariably slammed the door with one of the match's 39 aces.

That left the winner to be decided in the tie-breaks - and it was there that Soderling's weaker ground strokes were decisive. His 25 unforced errors - compared to Federer's eight - put him on the back foot at the critical moments, as he did in faltering late in an otherwise blemish-free tie-break to let Federer grab the second set.

In the third set Soderling enjoyed a pair of break points at 4-4, but two wild backhands and an ace by Federer closed out the danger.

It was a massive disappointment for the Swede, who threw his racquet in the air in disbelief - but he seemed to be making amends in the tie-break after taking the initiative early on and getting to 5-3 and with two serves in hand.

Yet a brilliant winner from the Swiss player followed by a catastrophic double fault by the Swede got things back on terms, and the 14-times Grand Slam champion finished the match of ruthlessly to earn a quarter-final match against Croatia's Ivo Karlovic, who won a bruising encounter with Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 7-6(9). .

Verdasco has a mighty serve himself but he could not compete with the imposing Karlovic, who makes it through to the last eight at a grand slam for the first time.

Karlovic, the 22nd seed, won the first set 7-5 on a tiebreak before Verdasco levelled up, taking the second breaker 7-4.

It was not exactly subtle stuff and the only variation on the theme came in the third set when Verdasco went 0-40 in the eighth game and lost the last of them after thrashing a forehand long.

Karlovic served out before the fourth set reverted to type, with the Croat taking the inevitable tiebreak 11-9, as Verdasco spooned an easy forehand long.

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic continued his unassuming path through the men's draw with a 6-2 6-4 6-1 victory over Israel's Dudi Sela.

Former Australian Open champion Djokovic, the youngest man remaining in the draw, simply had too much ammunition for the 24-year-old world number 46, and progressed through to the last eight for the second time with ease.

Sela, the first Israeli man to go this far at a grand slam for 17 years, could not reproduce the form that took him past seeds Rainer Schuettler and Tommy Robredo in previous rounds, ditching a forehand into the net on match point.

Djokovic will play Germany's Tommy Haas, the oldest men's survivor, for a place in the semi-finals after the 24th seed reached the last eight for the first time witha 7-6(8) 6-4 6-4 win over Russian Igor Andreev.

Haas, the oldest player remaining in the men's draw, showed superb timing off both wings to produce his best showing at the All England Club since his debut in 1997.

The former world number two took a tight opener 10-8 on the tiebreak and after that solved the problem of the 29th seed's booming forehand to wrap up the second just 41 minutes later. A single break was enough in the third and the end came when Andreev netted a forehand.

Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt fought back from two sets down to defeat Czech Radek Stepanek 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.

It was an epic victory for the feisty Australian, firing on all cylinders once more after a hip operation that saw him tumble down the rankings.

In a "battle of the crocks," Hewitt had to call the trainer to work on his left leg after the second set while Stepanek, the 23rd seed, summoned help after the fourth set to strap up his troublesome left knee.

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, showed all his old spirit, cheered on by a raucous bunch of Australian fans chanting "If you want to see five sets, clap your hands." The crowd obliged and so did Hewitt.

Andy Roddick booked a tantalising quarter-final date against former champion Hewitt after outgunning Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6(5) 6-4 6-3.

The American sixth seed fired down 24 aces as he outclassed the 20th seed with a combination of guile and power.

After giving Berdych the runaround, Roddick sealed his place in the last eight here for the fifth time when his opponent could only paddle a backhand into the net.

Berdych had been one of only two men who had not dropped a set coming into the fourth round but he failed to trouble Roddick with his baseline tactics and went out after an hour and 48 minutes.

Toby Keel / Reuters