Swiss Roger Federer, seeded number 2, gave up his first set at this Wimbledon, but beat Australian Sam Groth and will face Spanish Roberto Bautista in the round of 16.
Federer, 33, won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7) and 6-2, hours after Bautista beat Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili more easily, 7-6 (7). /4), 6-0 and 6-1.
The Swiss aspires to become the first to win eight Wimbledon tournaments and the second to win a Grand Slam tournament eight times, after Spain’s Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Last year he played his ninth final at the All England Club, but lost to Serbian Novak Djokovic.
Bautista, 27, the 22nd-ranked player in the world, was better on paper than Basilashvili, the 153rd-ranked player in the world, who entered the final draw at Wimbledon after surviving a qualifying round.
The tennis player from Castellón had never lost in a Grand Slam against a player from the qualifying phase, but the superiority did not manifest itself until the second set, after a very close first set that ended with a tiebreaker game (7-4 ).
After the unexpected eliminations of Rafael Nadal and Feliciano López in the second round, Bautista could become the only Spaniard in the round of 16 unless Pablo Andújar performs the difficult task of eliminating sixth-seeded Czech Thomas Berdych on Saturday.
Bautista thus surpasses his best performance at Wimbledon, his third round in the 2014 edition, and equals his best performances in a Grand Slam tournament, in the last Australian Open and the United States Open.
Basilashvili, 23, was playing his fourth match of a Grand Slam tournament, all at this Wimbledon, and had just eliminated Feliciano López, the great Spanish grass-court specialist.
Federer advances to round of 16 at Wimbledon
