Roger Federer put on a Centre Court masterclass Monday to earn a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory over American Steve Johnson and a place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
The seven-time champion has been in supreme form at SW19 thus far and was at his graceful, elegant best against the outclassed Johnson in equaling Martina Navratilova's record of 306 Grand Slam event victories in a match that lasted only 96 minutes.
Johnson already had beaten Jeremy Chardy and Grigor Dimitrov to reach round four, but Federer proved an altogether different challenge. And with Novak Djokovic eliminated from his side of the draw, few would bet against Federer, 34, reaching the final and attempting to become a record eight-time victor at Wimbledon.
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Federer, watched by former coach Stefan Edberg, had never faced Johnson in a competitive match, and it took a few games for the Swiss to figure out his opponent's style.
But once in full flow it was one-way traffic. Federer was able to put plenty of pressure on Johnson's backhand and soon had a break for a 4-2 lead.
Federer then whistled a stunning forehand down the line en route to earn another break and the first set.
And it did not take long for Federer to gain the upper hand in the second set, either, with Johnson failing to return a lightning forehand with a volley at the net and surrendering the break.
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Federer was not giving Johnson a sniff, and the second was swiftly wrapped up with the 17-time grand slam champion making just one unforced error in the set.
There had been few Independence Day fireworks from Johnson, but he showed some resolve by breaking for a 3-1 lead in the third with a stinging forehand.
Johnson tamely handed back the break, though, and he did well to save a couple of break points when serving at 3-3.
But the writing was on the wall and a superb backhand that landed on the line, coupled with a bizarre attempt at a hot-dog shot from Johnson, brought up more break points that Federer easily ate up.
And he served out for the match to set up a last-eight tie against Marin Cilic.
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STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Federer [3] def Johnson 6-2 6-3 7-5
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Federer - 35/13
Johnson - 23/21
ACES
Federer - 6
Johnson - 8
BREAK POINTS WON
Federer - 5/10
Johnson - 1/4
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Federer - 66
Johnson - 64
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Federer - 75/71
Johnson - 62/42
TOTAL POINTS
Federer - 107
Johnson - 77