Sportmaster International

Federer took his head-to-head record against Lleyton Hewitt to 14-8

The Swiss star won 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 6-4 on a sun-drenched Centre Court.Hewitt put up a good fight in a first set in which there were no break points, and Federer needed four set points before taking the tie-break.The top seed then broke twice at the start of the second and raced away to win in one hour 48 minutes.He will play grass-court specialist Mario Ancic or Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in

the last eight.It was far from a flawless performance from Federer and he struggled to put away Hewitt - struggling with a hip injury - in the first set, thumping a forehand long on one of four set points.But once he finally wrapped it up with an ace there was only going to be one winner - as there had been in the last 11 meetings between the pair.Federer faced break points in four successive games at the end of the second and start of the third sets, but always raised his game when it mattered and never seemed unduly worried.The Swiss had saved eight break points but got a crucial break of his own in game three of the third.That was the decisive blow and Federer sealed victory soon after with yet another heavy serve that Hewitt could not return.