Federer 'curse'

Earlier, sixth seed Djokovic endured a nightmare start to his match against Australian 11th seed Alex de Minaur, but battled back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

"It wasn't a great start for me, it was a great start for Alex de Minaur obviously. I kind of reset myself in the second set," Djokovic said.

"I was very pleased to hang in there in the right moments and win this one."

Fresh from his 100th win at Wimbledon on Saturday, making him the third player to achieve that feat after Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer, Djokovic reached his 16th quarterfinal at the tournament.

Aged 38, the Serb is aiming to win a record 25th major title, breaking a tie with the long-retired Margaret Court, and to equal Federer's record of eight men's crowns at the All England Club.

That would make him the oldest Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era.

Djokovic's 101st victory at Wimbledon came under the gaze of the Swiss great, who was sitting in the front row of the royal box alongside his wife Mirka.

"It's probably the first time he's watched me and I've won the match," Djokovic said. "The last couple I lost, so it's good to break the curse.

"No, it's great, obviously, great to have Roger, a huge champion and someone that I admired and respected a lot. We shared the stage for so many years, and it's great to have him back."

In the last eight, Djokovic faces Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli, who beat former Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4),7-6 (3).

In the women's draw, Iga Swiatek continued her serene progress with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson.

Swiatek, fourth in the rankings, is a five-time Grand Slam winner, but has never made a Wimbledon semifinal.

The 24-year-old is in a strong position in the second week of the tournament after the exit of so many of the top seeds.

"Honestly, it's pretty amazing. It's the first time I have really enjoyed London, sorry guys," Swiatek said, referring to her previous Wimbledon woes.

"We are tennis players, so we feel well off the court when we feel well on the court."

The Polish player next faces Russian 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who beat Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5.

Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva, 18, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-2, 6-3 win against American 10th seed Emma Navarro, who ended Barbora Krejcikova's reign as champion on Saturday.

Andreeva next plays Swiss former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who beat Russian world No 17 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 6-4.

AFP