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Federer, Nadal roll into Wimbledon quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

06/30/2008 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer moved into his sixth straight Wimbledon quarterfinal on Monday by handling former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets, while two-time runner-up Rafael Nadal also moved on in straights in fourth-round action at the storied All England Club.

The top-seeded and current No. 1 Federer erased the 20th-seeded Hewitt 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, 6-4 on Day 7 at the year's third Grand Slam event, while a second- seeded Nadal cruised past helpless 17th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Following a tight first-set tiebreak, Federer wound up rolling in 1 hour, 49 minutes against the overmatched Hewitt, who was nursing a sore hip. The sublime Swiss swatted 21 aces and held his serve throughout the match, as the speedy Aussie went 0-for-8 on his break-point chances and had his serve broken on three occasions.

"That first set tiebreaker really put me on the winning streak and after that I played consistently well," Federer said.

The two-time major titlist Hewitt is the last man not named Federer to capture Wimbledon, which he did six years ago.

Federer is now 14-7 lifetime against Hewitt, including wins in their last 12 matchups. The Swiss is 3-0 in their Wimbledon encounters and 6-0 in meetings at majors.

The 12-time Grand Slam titlist Federer is the reigning five-time Wimbledon champ and has won his last 38 matches at the All England Club. Bjorn Borg holds the record with 41 consecutive wins here.

Federer's quarterfinal opponent will be capable Croat Mario Ancic, the last man to beat the Swiss on grass. Federer is 5-1 lifetime against Ancic, including a 1-1 mark at the AEC and a recent victory over the Croat at Roland Garros.

'I completely underestimated him back in 2002," Federer said of Ancic. "I was a little shellshocked and didn't know what happened to me. What it taught me was not to underestimate any opponent."

The 26-year-old Federer hasn't lost on grass since falling against Ancic in the opening round at Wimbledon back in 2002. The super Swiss has won 63 straight on the fast surface, including victories over Nadal in the last two Wimbledon finals.

The reigning four-time French Open champion Nadal brushed aside Youzhny in 2 hours, 10 minutes by breaking the Russian's serve a whopping six times in 12 tries on Day 7. Youzhny could manage only one break in the setback on Court 1.

Nadal injured his right knee in the second game of the match against Youzhny, as he slipped on some worn turf behind the baseline. He took a medical timeout and a trainer wrapped his leg below the knee. The powerful Spaniard, however, showed no signs of trouble after that and would dominate the bout.

"I feel something behind the knee, but it seems better," Nadal said. "I'm going to get it checked for a precaution but I hope that I'm fine."

Nadal beat Youzhny in five sets in the fourth round here a year ago after the Russian jumped out to a two-sets-to-none lead.

The 22-year-old Nadal is currently riding a 21-match overall winning streak, including his first-ever grass-court title, in London, three weeks ago and a pasting of Federer in the French Open finale.

Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Wednesday will be heavy British crowd favorite Andy Murray.

In one of the most entertaining men's matches of the fortnight, a 12th-seeded Murray came all the way back to beat eighth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-4 in 3 hours, 58 minutes. Murray closed out the bout on his second match point by firing an unreturnable serve at 9:30 p.m. local time, this after Gasquet clearly had the better of the play through the first two sets and a half.

Murray, appearing in his third main draw at the All England Club, will compete in his first-ever Wimbledon quarter on Day 9 here.

A British male hasn't titled here since Fred Perry all the way back in 1936.

Former world No. 1 Marat Safin, unseeded here, continued his surprising run with a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory over 13th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the No. 9 player in the ATP rankings.

The 28-year-old currently 75th-ranked Safin is a two-time Grand Slam champion who has never advanced beyond the quarters at Wimbledon. His round-of-eight opponent will be tough Spanish lefthander Feliciano Lopez.

An unseeded Ancic advanced with a brilliant 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11 come- from-behind victory against 22nd-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on Monday. The Croat needed 3 hours, 49 minutes to prevail, including a 1-hour, 35-minute fifth set. Verdasco was a grass-court runner-up in Nottingham two weeks ago.

Another upset occurred when a 31st-seeded Lopez came back to bounce 10th- seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 8-6. Baghdatis reached the quarterfinals here last year and the semifinals two years ago. Lopez will now play in his second quarterfinal here in four years.

Veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement dismissed 19-year-old Croat Marin Cilic 6-3, 7-5, 6-2, while German veteran Rainer Schuettler snuck into the round of eight with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who upended two-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick here last week. The 30-year- old Clement, the 2001 Australian Open runner-up, will appear in his third career Grand Slam quarterfinal and his first-ever Wimbledon quarter, while the 32-year-old Schuettler, the 2003 Aussie Open runner-up, will appear in his first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal and his second career major quarter.

Clement and Schuettler will square off here on Wednesday, as the men, in terms of singles play, will have the day off here on Tuesday.