There is an ultimately reassuring and attractive quality about Roger Federer on a tennis court - like a sailing ship under full canvas on a breezy, but not windy, day. While Novak Djokovic has vented his fury on an innocent object like a tennis racket, Rafael Nadal has undergone foot scans and Andy Murray is deliberating whether he should shave off his beard in anticipation of any more royal visits, Federer has sailed on serenely into the quarter-finals, as he always seems to.
This is Federer's 13th Wimbledon and his 47th straight Grand Slam tournament and although he has not added to his record total of 16 Grand Slam titles since the Australian Open 18 months ago, he pronounces himself unworried: "I don't go through days thinking 'my God, I haven't won a Grand Slam in so long'. I don't cry over stuff like that; I don't get pulled down by it. Actually, I think I get motivated by it."
He has certainly appeared motivated at these 125th Championships, having dropped just one set in four matches. Even then it was on a tiebreak (against Mikhail Youzhny) when he did not lose his serve. He has been broken only twice, perpetrated just two double-faults and won 84% of his first serve points. Only in the aces department - where he lags with 51 compared to the tournament leader Feliciano Lopez's 100 - has Federer been less than Championship quality.
There has been just one title this year, in Doha, but Federer asserts that he is playing well. After beating an old foe, David Nalbandian, in the third round at a cost of 10 games, Federer was particularly upbeat. "I played a great match. The important thing is that I'm moving well. I'm using basically everything of my arsenal, the slice, the drive and so forth. I've been playing really well. I've gotten through the matches comfortably and that's really nice," he said.
It may be less comfortable against his quarter-final opponent, the 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who has every reason to feel a little overlooked as a non-member of the "Big Four club" which is exciting everyone at this year's Championships.
But Tsonga has recent form on grass, earning his spot in the final at the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club earlier this month, making life tricky for Andy Murray in that final and - importantly in the run-up to Wimbledon - attracting even more people to his fan club, thanks largely to his all-court style of play. His willingness to throw himself around the grass like that old Wimbledon favourite Boris Becker means that even a supreme racquet-wielder such as Federer will have to work a little harder to finish points off.."
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