Federer to face old foe

Defending champion Roger Federer will face the last man to beat him on grass in the Wimbledon quarter-finals after disposing of former champion Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer fired down 21 aces as he beat 2002 champion Hewitt 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 6-4 in the fourth round on Centre Court and now faces Mario Ancic in the last eight. Ancic came back from two sets down to beat Fernando Verdasco 13-11 in the fifth set.

Ancic's victory in the first round at the All England Club in 2002 is the last time Federer has tasted defeat on grass, the Swiss star extending his unbeaten run on the surface to 63 with victories in the first four rounds in SW19.

Federer admitted: "I completely underestimated him back in 2002 when I played him.

I played a great Wimbledon the year before and came in as one of the top seeds.

"I just thought I'll play a little bit of serve and volley. I expected him to stay back and it was the opposite. I couldn't serve and volley because I thought conditions were slow."

The defending champion added: "I was completely surprised. He played well till the very end. I was a little shell-shocked and didn't know what happened to me.

"What it taught me was not to underestimate any opponent, no matter where they're from, what technique they have, what ranking they have. I think I had a tendency when guys maybe didn't have the proper technique or were new on tour, I would sometimes not give them the respect maybe they deserved."

There was no danger of Federer making the same mistake against Hewitt despite having won their last 11 matches, with the Australian being the only other player in the draw to have won the tournament.

Neither player could force a break point, or even take a game to deuce, in a cagey opening set which required a tie-break to decide it.

Hewitt looked like going 3-0 down before a correct challenge via Hawk-Eye - Federer disagreeing with the call despite the replay - but the Australian still found himself having to save three set points.

It was then Federer's turn to win a crucial challenge at 7-7 when his lob was initially incorrectly called out, and the champion took full advantage. A brilliant backhand winner down the line, after he had drawn Hewitt into the net, gave him another set point and he took it with an ace to win the tie-break 9-7.

Federer said: "I think I served really well which was important against Lleyton.

"I saw he was struggling with his hip but nevertheless, he was dangerous. I think the key was the first set tie-break and afterwards I played consistently well and saved a lot of break points which was crucial."

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.