LONDON — Roger Federer crushed Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 on Monday, while Andy Murray dispatched Nick Kyrgios as the pair of leading Wimbledon title contenders eased into the quarterfinals on Monday to start the second week of the major.
Federer, seeded third, claimed his 14th career quarterfinal at the event he has won seven times, and has not dropped a set over four matches.
Second seed Murray manhandled Australian Kyrgios, beating the dangerous 15th seed for the fifth time without a loss, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
Murray is the looming favorite for a second title at the event which he won in 2013 to break a 77-year British men’s title curse.
Federer is showing some of his strongest grass tennis in years as he progresses quietly. The winner of a record 17 grand slam titles equaled the 306-match-win mark of Martina Navratilova as holder of the most singles wins at the grand slams by a man or woman.
Federer improved to 306-50 at the majors as he set up a challenge against Marin Cilic after the Croatian ninth seed advanced 6-1, 5-1 when opponent Kei Nishikori had to quit in pain with a rib injury.
“I did lots of things right in the first week,” Federer said as he bids for his first grand slam titles since Wimbledon 2012.
“Now, you really have to play your best tennis. Cilic lies ahead. He ran me off the court two years ago at the U.S. Open (semis), so I want to get my revenge.
“From now on, it will be difficult,” Federer said of his meeting with the 2014 U.S. Open champion, whose win over Nishikori was a repeat of that grand slam final.
Federer hammered journeyman Johnson, who had little experience on the big stage and who has never been past the third round of a major in five years as a professional.
Federer swept the first two sets in 55 minutes, then came back from a third-set break with an immediate re-break of the American.
The 34-year-old Swiss player broke again for 6-5 and served out the routine win on his first match point.
“The match was a lot tougher than the scoreline indicated,” Federer said. “You need lots of concentration, the finish line is far.
“Things can turn so quickly in tennis, I’m happy with how I played. I mixed it up well today.”
Sixth seed Milos Raonic came from two sets to love down for the first time to overtake David Goffin 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed just 24 minutes on court as compatriot and seventh seed Richard Gasquet quit trailing 4-2 with a back injury.
Sam Querrey continued his momentum after beating Novak Djokovic over the weekend, with the American firing 23 aces to beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. France’s Lucas Pouille stopped Bernard Tomic 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
In the women’s fourth round, Serena Williams shrugged off a brief interruption for mist as the Centre Court roof was closed, with the top seed closing out fellow grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-0.
Williams moved into her 14th quarterfinal at the All England Club to next face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a winner over Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-3.
“I felt like I was really dialed in. I’m just here to do the best I can,” Williams said. “I had a little time (during a delay for closing the Centre Court roof) to think about it and just calm down, really just relax.
“Both Svetlana and I had an opportunity to talk to our coaches. I think that really helped me out a lot. I talked to Patrick. He gave me some tips on what I could do. I just was able to do that.”
Dominika Cibulkova beat third seed Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time in two weeks on grass, posting a 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 win. Cibulkova, a 2014 Australian Open finalist, missed on a match point opportunity at a set and 5-4 and had to tough it out through a long final set to emerge the winner.
Her success may force the postponement of her weekend wedding back home, with the Slovak not stressed if her big day is postponed by further Wimbledon play. Cibulkova is just a week removed form her first career trophy on grass as she won Eastbourne after defeating Radwanska in the quarterfinals. Fourth-seeded Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber crushed Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-1; Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep put out U.S. ninth seed Madison Keys 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Venus Williams joined her younger sister in the last eight as she put out 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. The 36-year-old Williams is the oldest woman to get this far at Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
Elena Vesnina won a battle of Russian doubles partners over Ekaterina Makarova 5-7, 6-1, 9-7.
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