ESPN Wimbledon 2008

WIMBLEDON, England -- Five-time champion Roger Federer swept Lleyton Hewitt -- the last man to win the Wimbledon title before him -- 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-4 on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals and extend his winning streak on grass to 63 matches and 38 in a row at the All England Club.

Federer, who served 21 aces, has now beaten his Australian rival in 12 consecutive matches.

Federer will next face the last player to beat him on grass and at Wimbledon -- Croatian Mario Ancic, who won in the first round in 2002. Ancic came from two sets down Monday to beat Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11. The final set alone lasted 1 hour, 35 minutes.

"I completely underestimated him back in 2002," Federer said. "I was a little shellshocked and didn't know what happened to me. What it taught me was not to underestimate any opponent."

No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal, runner-up to Federer the last two years, overcame an injury scare in the second game of the match and beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

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Carl De SouzaAFP/Getty ImagesRoger Federer, in hot pursuit of a sixth straight Wimbledon title, has yet to lose a set in this edition of the Grand Slam tournament.

Nadal slipped on the worn turf behind the baseline on Court 1 while stretching to hit a forehand, with his right leg bending awkwardly. After losing the point, he took a medical timeout, and a trainer wrapped his leg below the knee. The Spaniard lost the next point and the game but showed no sign of trouble and dominated the rest of the way.

"I felt a little bit of pain," the four-time French Open champion said. "I was a little bit scared. I felt something crack a little behind [the knee]. But I think it's fine."

While Federer and Nadal had little trouble advancing, No. 8-seeded Richard Gasquet and No. 10-seeded Marcos Baghdatis were taken five sets and ultimately ousted.

Baghdatis, a semifinalist in 2006 and quarterfinalist last year, squandered three match points in the fifth set and lost lost 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 8-6 to Feliciano Lopez.

Lopez, down 0-40 at 4-5, came up with big serves on all three points to avoid defeat.

"He just went for it with guts, and he took the game," Baghdatis said of the Spaniard. "Good for him."

No. 12-seeded and local favorite Andy Murray came from two sets down to beat Gasquet 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4 in a Centre Court match that ended in near-darkness at 9:30 p.m.

After hitting a service winner on his second match point to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where he will face Nadal, Murray flexed his biceps to the capacity crowd of 15,000.

"It was the best moment I've ever had on a tennis court," said Murray, bidding to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. "It looked like I was down and out. The crowd got behind me when I really needed."

Murray was two sets behind and a break down at 5-4 in the third before his survival instincts kicked in. He delighted the home crowd on Centre Court by breaking straight back to level at 5-5 before forcing a tiebreak, which he took with ease.

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Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty ImagesAndy Murray rallied from two sets and a break down to advance to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

The 12th seed repeatedly punched the air and brought the crowd to its feet as he raced through the fourth set, where eighth seed Gasquet's previously sizzling backhand winners fizzled out, to set up an exciting fifth.

The 21-year-old Scot got an early break under his belt and Gasquet faded along with the light, allowing Murray to secure victory when the Frenchman put his return into the net after nearly four hours.

"It was maybe a Davis Cup match," Gasquet said. "Anywhere else two sets up and a break up I would have won, but here he had the crowd.

"So I'm waiting for him at Roland Garros," Gasquet said with a grin. "I'm sure he fought more because he was in Wimbledon, so it was maybe the key. He played with the crowd. It was difficult for me when I lost the third [set in a tiebreak]. But in the fourth and the fifth he served and returned better than me. ... The crowd was for him, that's natural. But it helped Andy a lot."

Gasquet did not want to use the fading light as an excuse, saying it was the same for both players.

"I understand they wanted to finish the match because it's better for Wimbledon ... but that's not an excuse," he said. "He won the match, he played well, he fought a lot."

Gasquet likened Murray's game to that of 35-year-old Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, whom the Brit beat in the first round.

"He's maybe the Fabrice of modern times, but faster and with a bigger serve," Gasquet said. "I practice a lot with Fabrice Santoro. He's the same, he does a lot of drop shots."

Gasquet said Murray's clever play on grass could help him produce an upset in his quarterfinal against Nadal.

"With Nadal, you have to play more to the net, be more aggressive, more powerful, but [Murray] is a good player on grass, he has good feeling for the game, he's really clever," Gasquet said. "If he serves well, you never know, but in three sets, Nadal is the favorite."

Mercurial Russian Marat Safin, his temper in check and his talent to the fore, fought his way into the Wimbledon quarterfinals with 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win over Swiss 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

The two-time Grand Slam winner, who had already knocked out Serb No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic, won the first nine points of the first set before Wawrinka stopped the rot with an ace and fought back to level the match at 4-4.

But then he lost his serve and Safin, who has so often let his volatile temperament get the better of him, held his for a 1-0 lead.

Safin, who was recording his best Wimbledon result since reaching the quarterfinals in 2001, twice broke Wawrinka in the second set, which he won comfortably.

Safin, never a great fan of grass, let slip his advantage in the third set with a lapse of concentration. But the lanky former world No. 1 then firmly re-established control, swiftly dismissing Wawrinka 6-1 in the fourth set.

Federer, who hasn't lost a set while chasing his sixth straight title, was in complete command against Hewitt after scraping through the first-set tiebreak. At 7-all, Federer mishit a backhand and the ball was ruled wide, but a replay showed it hit the sideline and the point was replayed. Federer then hit a backhand winner for 8-7, and an ace gave him the set.

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion whose career has been slowed by a chronic hip injury, went 0-8 on break points.

"I saw Lleyton struggling with his hip a little bit," Federer said. "That first-set tiebreaker really put me on the winning streak and after that I played consistently well."

Hewitt, who said he's not sure if he'll play in the Beijing Olympics or U.S. Open because of his hip troubles, praised Federer's serve.

"He hit every line out there today," the Australian said. "That's why he's the best player around, especially on this surface. Serve is so important. He hit the target every time."

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.