Wimbledon: Federer brushes aside Berrettini to claim 99th tournament win

In a remarkably one-sided encounter on Centre Court, Roger Federer thrashed Matteo Berrettini in straight sets to head into the last eight.

Federer is now within one win of becoming the first player ever to reach a century of victories at a single grand slam.

Roger Federer moved onto 99 wins at Wimbledon as he progressed into the quarter-finals with an emphatic 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory over Matteo Berrettini.

No other player has ever reached a century of victories at a single grand slam event, but Federer is now within one win of achieving the milestone.

With Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic having breezed into the last eight earlier on Monday, the 37-year-old showed no weaknesses against 17th-seed Berrettini on Centre Court, taking just 74 minutes to win.

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Some neat shots from Berrettini got the crowd onside in the final set, though two consolation holds of serve were all he could manage as Federer inflicted a humbling defeat to set up a quarter-final tie with former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.

It took Federer just 17 minutes to take the first set, swinging an ace down the middle after two breaks had already put him well in control.

Berrettini's nerves seemed to be getting the better of him, and the world number 20 failed to arrest his poor display in the second set, making seven unforced errors.

Federer played a clever drop shot to strike in the third game, and after Berrettini held the next time around on his serve, the Swiss claimed another break to take the second set with ease.

Another Berrettini mistake followed as Federer broke to love in the first game of the third - the Italian getting an attempted drop shot all wrong.

Federer did not let up, rushing up close to the net to win a fantastic point, and he subsequently broke again when the 23-year-old slipped from his return.

Berrettini failed to take advantage of his only break point in the next game, and despite holding twice to make the scoreline more respectable, his race was run as Federer - last time a Wimbledon champion in 2017 – won every point in the final game.

Federer will next play Japan's Kei Nishikori, who beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.