Roger Federer was barely troubled as he cruised into the last-16 at Wimbledon on Saturday with a straight sets win over Santiago Giraldo under the Centre Court roof.
The seven-times champion triumphed 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 over the Colombian world No 35 in an hour and 21 minutes and rarely looked troubled.
In the fourth round, Federer faces Tommy Robredo of Spain, seeded 23rd, for a place in the quarter-finals. Robredo beat No 15 seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-3.
It's really about maintaining a good level of play," said Federer, who is yet to lose a set in the tournament and has only dropped 23 games in three matches.
"I'm physically in pretty good shape right now, a few niggling things always going on right now but nothing really that worries me at this point.
"I've just got to keep playing aggressive and serving well. I think that's what you've got to do on this service. If I can keep the points short, great, otherwise, battle it out from the baseline.
"It's been an easy-going sort of last couple of weeks here at Wimbledon. We've really enjoyed it as a family and clearly I'm kept busy on that front. I hope it's going to be nice weather on Sunday so we can go outdoors a bit."
Giraldo, 26, is in the form of his life, having hit a career-high ranking of 34 in May and it would have taken the biggest win of his career to become the first Colombian to reach the last-16 at Wimbledon.
But it was only at 3-3 in the third set when he fashioned two break points, and Federer pulled off some smart serves to win the game and did not look back.
"I stayed in control right until mid-way through the third," the 32-year-old said.
"It was important to serve big then and get out of that game and then the next thing you know I got break points of my own.
"I was very happy, it was a really good match. I'm very pleased, it's always good to keep on moving on. Last year I lost in the second round so I'm aware of the tough draws you get, or the danger of certain players on this surface and I've been able to get it done many time – but not always, clearly."
Federer's victory brought England football icon David Beckham to his feet, one of several British and international sports stars invited into the Royal Box.
"I'm worried about the first week, getting to the second one, then the grass plays quite differently, actually, the second week so you can do a few different things depending on the weather," Federer said.
"Don't even know who my next round opponent is. I'm just happy I made it to the second week."
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, overcame an early blip to defeat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin and reach the Wimbledon last-16, shining beneath the Centre Court roof as heavy rain swept away the action outside.
The 2008 and 2010 champion dropped the opening set for the third time in three matches before turning things around in a 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
The second seeded Spaniard blitzed world No 63 Kukushkin, who had never won a match at Wimbledon before this year and had only ever beaten one top-10 player.
Nadal, the 28-year-old winner of 14 Grand Slam titles, won 17 of the last 19 games.
They had played just 15 minutes of their third-round match out on Court 17 before rain halted all action on the uncovered courts and forced All England Club organisers to cancel 24 doubles and junior matches by mid-afternoon.
Nadal had dropped the first set to Martin Klizan and Lukas Rosol in his first two rounds and Kukushkin, playing in his 21st tournament of the year, employed the same free-swinging tactics to bludgeon his way through the opener.
But in front of a Royal Box containing such sporting glitterati as retired Indian cricket master Sachin Tendulkar, ex-England football captain Beckham and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Nadal regained his composure to race away with the win.
From 1-1 in the second set to 3-0 in the fourth set, Nadal won 14 of 15 games and only faced his first break points of the tie at 2-0 in the fourth.
Kukushkin, a rare example of a player coached by his own wife, stopped the rot by getting on the board at 1-3.
But it was a brief respite as Nadal stormed to victory with 41 winners and just 12 unforced errors.
"At the beginning he was playing pretty long, no mistakes, very aggressive and I made few unforced errors with that second serve," said Nadal who has reached the second week for the first time since 2011.
"In the tie-break, I didn't serve my best and that was the real thing – without serving your best in a tie-break against a player who is playing well, it is impossible."
Nadal said he was looking forward to the second week after a first round loss in 2013 and second round exit 12 months earlier.
"I'm very happy to be in the second week again after two years losing in the first and second round. I'm playing well, good spirit, good tactics on court, fighting for every ball."
He will meet Australian rising star Nick Kyrgios after his victory over Jiri Vesely.
The world No 144 beat his Czech fellow former junior world No 1, also playing on a wildcard, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in their third-round tie.
Kyrgios was roared on by supporters on Court 17 who serenaded him with a rendition of the national anthem "Advance Australia Fair", with the emphasis on enthusiasm rather than note-hitting accuracy.
The 19-year-old debutant now has a shot at two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal in the fourth round which should provide a measure of his progress.
Kyrgios is the youngest player left in the men's draw and also the last Australian standing in the singles.
The Canadian eighth seeed Milos Raonic was the day's other winner, topping Poland's Lukasz Kubot in slight struggle of a match 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
The rain pushed matches between John Isner and Feliciano Lopez and Stan Wawrinka and Denis Istomin to Sunday, while Kei Nishikori was left locked in a fifth-set, 3-3 battle with unseeded Italian Simone Bolelli.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE

‘Easy-going’ win for Federer, Rafa Nadal in ‘good spirits’ advancing at Wimbledon
Roger Federer advanced on with a little-troubled victory over Santiago Giraldo, while Rafa Nadal made the last-16 for the first time in two years at Wimbledon, beating Mikhail Kukushkin.
Most popular today
