LONDON, June 27: Five-time champion Roger Federer eased into the Wimbledon last 16 on Friday only to find Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 winner, standing in his way of making the quarter-finals.

Federer racked up his 62nd consective grasscourt win with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Tunisian-born Frenchman Marc Giquel to keep his dreams of an historic sixth successive Wimbledon title on track.

The top seed will renew his long-standing rivalry with Hewitt, the last man to win the men’s title before Federer took personal charge of Centre Court.

The Australian 20th seed again shrugged off his hip injury to reach the fourth round for the sixth straight year with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) win over world number 46 Simone Bolelli of Italy.

“The next round will be difficult against a more experienced player.

Hewitt’s a former world number one. He’s won Grand Slam titles. It should be an exciting match,” said Federer who hasn’t lost on grass since his first round exit here against Mario Ancic six years ago.

Federer leads Hewitt 13-7 in their career meetings.

The Australian has lost the last 11 with his most recent win over the world number one coming five years ago.

Meanwhile, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze helped ease the pain of Russia’s Euro 2008 football exit by moving into the last 16 in the women’s singles.

Fourth seed Kuznetsova celebrated her 23rd birthday with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and will face Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.

The 14th seeded Pole put out 16-year-old Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-2.

Chakvetadze, the eighth seed, reached the fourth round for the first time with a 6-4, 6-3 win over compatriot Evgeniya Rodina.

She next faces Czech 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova who put out Australia’s Casey Dellacqua, the world 43, 6-2, 6-4.

Vaidisova was a quarter-finalist in 2007 where she lost to Ana Ivanovic despite holding three match points and is desperate to put her season back on track after a nightmare run where she lost six successive first round matches.

She stopped the rot with a quarter-final run at Birmingham two weeks ago and even an hour-long rain suspension couldn’t disrupt her rhythm on Friday.

“I made some changes to my team earlier this year (new coach David Felgate was hired) and those changes take time to take effect. They don’t work overnight,” said the 19-year-old.

“I’m pretty positive. I always believed that I would come back.”Later Friday, Marat Safin, a former world number one, was hoping to follow up his stunning second round win over third seed Novak Djokovic by beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi to reach the last 16.

Former double women champion Serena Williams takes on 2006 winner Amelie Mauresmo while the 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli faces colourful American Bethanie Mattek.

Results:

Men’s singles third round results on Friday (prefix number denotes seeding):

20-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-1 6-3 7-6(2); 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Marc Gicquel (France) 6-3 6-3 6-1.

Women’s singles third round results on Friday (prefix number denotes seeding):

14-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 6-3 6-2; 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-4; 8-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) bt Evgeniya Rodina (Russia) 6-4 6-3; 18-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) bt Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 6-2 6-4. —Agencies