Roger Federer moved closer to an eighth Wimbledon men's singles title as he advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-2 victory over Sam Groth on Centre Court this afternoon.
The big-serving Australian rarely troubled the former world number one in the opening two sets, but forced a fourth by taking the third set - the first Federer has lost at this year's tournament - in a tie-break.
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Groth's main weapon - his world record-breaking serve - was on show from the opening game as he dished up a 142mph effort.
In his next service game he upped the ante to 147mph, but Federer showed no signs of being intimidated by his powerful opponent.
Instead he waited for his moment to strike, picking off Groth with a break of serve midway through the opening set which proved decisive.
It was the same story in the second, as Federer was dominant on his own serve and struck with his trademark killer instinct to pick off his opponent with another single break.
Federer had chances to break his opponent again at the end of the third, but Groth dug deep to hold and force a tie-break.
Groth roared into an early lead in the third-set decider, and kept Federer at arm's length before sealing the set when the second-seed pushed a forehand wide.
However, Federer showed his class with a break at the start of the fourth, and then clinched the tie with another break to set up a last-16 encounter with Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.
Joe Sharratt
