Defending champion Roger Federer has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals without dropping a set after he outclassed France’s Adrian Mannarino.
Federer won 6-0 7-5 6-4 against the 22nd seed on Centre Court, and has now won 32 consecutive sets at SW19.
He will play South African eighth seed Kevin Anderson or France’s Gael Monfils in the last eight on Wednesday.
The top seed is bidding for a joint-record ninth singles title to draw level with Martina Navratilova.
Federer served out the match with an ace out wide, winning in one hour and 45 minutes.
The Swiss is two sets short of his all-time record streak, which he set between the third round in 2005 and the final in 2006.
READ: Spain appoint Luis Enrique as new coach
– Fast start for the ‘Fed Express’ –
Federer has been referred to as the ‘Fed Express’ by some – and the 20-time Grand Slam champion lived up to that moniker as he raced into full speed from the first ball.
He broke in the opening game and allowed Mannarino just two points on his way into a 5-0 lead as Centre Court witnessed one of the most one-sided encounters in recent years.
The Frenchman, who has never reached a Grand Slam quarter-final, did force a break point in the sixth game, only to see Federer save it with an ace and then wrap up the opening set in just 16 minutes.
Wimbledon’s show court has long been enthralled by the eight-time champion – but even the usually pro-Federer crowd felt sympathy for the manner in which Mannarino was being beaten.
Encouraging cheers greeted an ace in his opening service game, only topped when he finally got on the scoreboard after saving four break points in an eight-minute battle.
The crowd wanted a contest, and they got one in the second set.
Mannarino, 30, pushed Federer to 4-4, despite being unable to make any dents on his opponent’s accurate serving.
However, a poor service game in the 10th game – summed up by a wild forehand – allowed Federer to convert the decisive break of the second set.
Mannarino unable to dismantle Federer serve
Mannarino’s break point towards the end of the opening set was the first faced by Federer at this year’s Championships.
Federer, who had not faced one since the first set of last year’s final against Marin Cilic, also had to save three more in the eighth game of the third set.
With Mannarino realising his chance had gone, Federer broke in the next game and served out to reach the quarter-finals for an Open era record-extending 16th time.
Federer has won 81 consecutive games on serve at Wimbledon, and let Mannarino take just 17 points when receiving.
He has not dropped serve since Tomas Berdych took the eighth game of the first set in their semi-final last year.
“He could have won that second set and the match would have been different,” Federer told BBC Sport.
“I was glad to win the first set so easily, it meant I always had the lead in the bag.
“I knew he was better than the first set, he showed that. In the beginning he didn’t play well and I didn’t miss much.”
