Big four power their way to last eight

TENNIS/Men's Singles:The top four seeds all made it through to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon with the battle to be crowned champion looking set to be every bit as hot as the weather in London today

Crowds and competitors sweltered as the second week start, with courtside temperatures reaching 33 Celsius early in the afternoon.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were out early in the day and both looked back to their best as they breezed into the last eight.

And in tonight’s games Roger Federer marched into his 29th consecutive grand slam quarter-final with a four-set victory over Russian 18th seed Mikhail Youzhny, while top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4,

Federer dropped the opening set his first of the tournament on a tie-break but hit back to complete a 6-7 (7/5) 6-3 6-3 6-3 win in just over three hours.

The 29-year-old is chasing a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and will play 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals.

Federer had progressed serenely through to the last 16, barely dropping a point on his own serve.

At times tonight he was at his imperious best, mixing backhand passes with inside-out forehand winners, deft volleys and even a through-the-legs shot from the baseline.

Nadal had to be at his resilient best to see off the 2009 US Open winner Del Potro, particularly after suffering a foot injury which caused a lengthy delay at the end of the first set.

The Spaniard Nadal regrouped after the break to win the tiebreak 8-6 and although Del Potro won the second set Nadal's phenomenal mental strength always kept him in control of the match.

Del Potro suffered a heavy fall at 2-2 in the third set and went off-court for treatment on a hip injury. Nadal broke Del Potro's serve for the first time in the fifth game of the fourth set and he clinched victory on his first match point to set up a quarter-final against American Mardy Fish.

Two days after his wobble against Marcos Baghdatis, Djokovic was in prime form against Michael Llodra, delivering a punishing straight-sets victory in little more than 90 minutes on Court One.

The Serbian lost his cool during the thrilling encounter with Baghdatis, smashing his racquet on Centre Court, but he was calmness personified against Llodra with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 win.

His success set up a last-eight clash with 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic, who doubles up as Djokovic’s practice partner.

The 18-year-old qualifier needed just an hour and 21 minutes to beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1 7-5 6-4 on Court 18 to move into the last eight his best grand slam performance.

Only Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe have reached the same stage of Wimbledon at a younger age.

The teenager, born in Stuttgart but raised in Australia, admits he could barely believe he had made it through.

“I never thought I’d be here in the second week, especially in the quarter-finals,” said Tomic, who beat fifth seed Robin Soderling last week.

“What a tournament it’s been for me, I’ve learned a lot. I’m in a position now where I’ve never been happier and I’m looking forward to playing on Wednesday.”

Murray, who dropped a set against the dangerous Ivan Ljubicic on Friday, was given the royal seal of approval after his 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 6-2 win over Richard Gasquet a highly-talented player he was expected to struggle against.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in the Royal Box to watch the win, and Murray revealed the newly-weds offered him their congratulations after.

“I met them after. They said well done on the match,” said Murray, who was slightly embarrassed by his dishevelled appearance when meeting the couple.

“If I’d known they were coming, I would have shaved,” he added. I was thinking to myself as I came off I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them, ‘I’m sorry, I’m a bit sweaty’. But it was really nice.”

Murray will next play Feliciano Lopez who came through a five-set thriller against Lukasz Kubot.

With the Williams sister both departing, Fish kept the US flag flying at Wimbledon by beating last year’s runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-4 6-4 to book a quarter-final place.

Tenth seed Fish edged a first-set tiebreak 7-5 before pulling away from the Czech sixth seed, chalking up 23 aces and signed off with an emphatic smash.

Frenchman Tsonga upset the formbook also as he beat Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer 6-3 6-4 7-6.

Men's Singles round four
(1) R Nadal (Esp) bt (24) J Del Potro (Arg) 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-4
(2) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt (19) Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-3 6-3 6-3
(3) R Federer (Swi) bt (18) M Youzhny (Rus) 6-7 6-3 6-3 6-3
(4) Andy Murray (Brit) bt (17) Richard Gasquet (Fra) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-2
(10) Mardy Fish (USA) bt (6) Tomas Berdych (Cze) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4
(12) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (Fra) bt (7) David Ferrer (Esp) 6-3 6-4 7-6
Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 6-1 7-5 6-4
Feliciano Lopez (Esp) bt Lukasz Kubot (Pol) 3-6 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 7-5

Quarter-final draw
Nadal v Fish
Djokovic v Tomic
Federer v Tsonga
Murray v Lopez