Federer defeated former world number one Marat Safin 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to register his 51st grasscourt win in a row and will now face experienced German Tommy Haas, who put out Russia's Dmitry Tursunov, for a quarterfinal spot.

"I was pleased with my performance because I knew the danger against Marat," said Federer.

"There were really tricky conditions, swirling winds and a tough opponent. I was doing a good job of keeping the ball in play, keeping it low to his forehand with my slice and I took my chances."

But if the Swiss is the undisputed king of Centre Court, then Serbia's unheralded world number 64 Janko Tipsarevic was prince for a day when he knocked out Chilean fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6.

His reward was a place in the last 16, where he will meet Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, who put out American ninth seed James Blake in four sets.

Tipsarevic received a standing ovation and then revealed that he was such a fan of Fyodor Dostoyevsky that he has tattooed a quote from the Russian writer into his arm.

"It says 'beauty will save the world'," explained the Serb, who has been christened Tipsy by locals.

Frenchmen were also on a roll on Friday with Richard Gasquet, injury-plagued wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Paul-Henri Mathieu all making it to the last 16.

Gasquet and Tsonga will meet for a quarter-final place while Mathieu, who put out Croatian 15th seed Ivan Ljubicic, will face two-time runner-up and third seed Andy Roddick.

American Roddick came back from a third set 2-5 deficit to beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).

In the women's draw, top seed Justine Henin eased past Russia's Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-3 to book a clash with 15th seed Patty Schnyder for a place in the quarter-finals while Serena Williams, the 2002 and 2003 champion, crushed Venezuela's Milagros Sequera 6-1, 6-0 in just 44 minutes.

She goes on to meet Daniela Hantuchova.

Martina Hingis, the women's champion in 1997, saw her 2007 campaign end on Court Two, the graveyard of the champions, when she was knocked out by unseeded American Laura Granville 6-4, 6-2.

Granville, who has only reached the second week of a Grand Slam once before, now faces a fourth round tie against Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek.

Hingis admitted her gamble to play the tournament, despite not being fully recovered from a hip injury, had not paid off. "I think overall I shouldn't have played," said the ninth seed.

In stark contrast to the quickfire wins of Henin and Williams, two other women seeds endured marathon third round outings.

Third seeded Serb, Jelena Jankovic, battled back from a set down to beat Czech 25th seed Lucie Safarova 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and now faces French 18th seed Marion Bartoli for a place in the quarter-finals.

But Russian eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze was knocked out, losing 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 to Dutch 31st seed Krajicek, the sister of 1996 men's champion Richard.

Henin has never won Wimbledon although she has come agonisingly close, losing in the 2001 final to Venus Williams and falling at the final hurdle again last year against Amelie Mauresmo.

However, the world number one is adamant she does not feel a burning desire to erase the bitter memories of those defeats.

"I still believe I can do it, but it's not an obsession for me," said Henin who has spent just over two hours negotiating her three matches.

"I don't think that much about that. I just want to enjoy every moment. I don't have anything to prove."

India's golden girl Sania Mirza, a devout Muslim, saw her controversial decision to team up with Israel's Shahar Peer pay off when the 16th seeded pair won their opening doubles beating Lilia Osterloh and Sofia Arvidsson 7-5, 6-3.