Roger Federer thrived in 35-degree temperatures to clinch an 11th win in 11 meetings against big-serving Swede Robin Soderling on Monday and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
In a repeat of the French Open final, where the great Swiss clinched a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam title, Federer won 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) over the man who dramatically ended Rafael Nadal's Roland Garros reign.
Federer, chasing a sixth Wimbledon title, will be appearing in his 25th Grand Slam quarterfinal where he'll face Croatia's Ivo Karlovic, who has fired 102 aces in three rounds, or Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco.
Soderling, who also lost in straight sets in the second round here in 2008 to Federer, paid heavily for a sloppy service game when he cracked to trail 4-5 courtesy of a netted forehand.
Federer clinched the opener when the Swede went long with a second service return.
The Swede dropped just three points on serve in the second set, but Federer was the more composed in the tie-breaker, refusing to give Soderling the pace on which he thrives.
Soderling finally carved out his first break points of the match in the ninth game of the third set, but Federer stood firm to lead 5-4.
The Swedish 13th seed glanced a chance at 5/4 in the tie-breaker, but Federer went to 5/5 and then match point when his opponent served a third double fault.
The match was Federer's when the Swede went wide with a dispirited drive.
Germany's rejuvenated Tommy Haas, the oldest man left in the draw at 31, reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final with a 7-6 (10/8), 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev.
Haas, seeded 24, and who saved two match points in his third round marathon victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic, next faces either Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic or Israel's Dudi Sela.
Djokovic was a semifinalist in 2007 while Sela is the first Israeli in the last 16 here in 20 years.
A win for the world number 46 would make him the first Israeli man or woman to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open era.
In the women event, Venus and Serena Williams hardly broke sweat in the sizzling heat Monday as they cruised into the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Venus easily won the first set against former world number one Ana Ivanovic, who retired hurt in floods of tears, as temperatures shot past 30 degrees at the All England Club.
Serena strolled through against Daniela Hantuchova, while Elena Dementieva also had a comfortable ride into the last eight against Elena Vesnina.
Five-time champion Venus is bidding to become the first woman to win a hattrick of Wimbledon singles' titles since Steffi Graf claimed three in a row from 1991 to 1993.
The third seed cruised through the first set 6-1 in half an hour, after which Serbia's Ivanovic had her left thigh strapped up.
The 2008 French Open champion won the first game of the second set, but the pain was too much and she had no choice but to pull out, leaving Court One in a stream of tears.
Younger sister Serena, the second seed, beat Hantuchova 6-3, 6-1 in 56 minutes on Court 2.
The two-time champion easily brushed aside the unseeded Slovak, who has been suffering with a cold and now tackles Belarusian Victoria Azarenka.
Fourth seed Dementieva, a semifinalist last year, beat fellow Russian blonde Vesnina 6-1, 6-3 in 70 minutes.
Vesnina fended off a set point and took the sixth game but the Russian number two wrapped up the first set inside 29 minutes.
Vesnina, the world 37, put up a better fight of it in the second set, holding Dementieva at 2-2 before losing serve.
Dementieva, making her 11th Wimbledon appearance, now takes on either France's Virginie Razzano or Italy's Francesca Schiavone for a place in the semi-finals.
Azarenka, the eighth seed, had a tougher time of it to beat 10th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.
Azarenka won the first set 7-6 (7/5) on a tie-break, after which Petrova called a medical time-out and was treated with ice on her legs.
The Russian won the second set 6-2 but lost the final set 6-3
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