Roger Federer came out on top in the battle of the Wimbledon champions when he trumped Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals on Monday. Australian Hewitt, the only men's winner in the draw other than five-times champion Federer, kept the Swiss on his toes during a tight first set.
Once Federer had earned the tiebreak 9-7 with a 195 kph thunderbolt ace, he ran Hewitt ragged on a sun-drenched Centre Court and chalked up his 63rd consecutive win on grass with an unreturnable serve. Federer will next face either Croatia's Mario Ancic, who was the last man to beat the world number one on grass in the first round here in 2002, or Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco.