The world No. 1 Roger Federer was tested in the first set en route to a 7-5, 6-3 third-round victory over Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin on Court 1 at Wimbledon.
After a rain delay of over an hour, Federer finally made it onto Court One and the Swiss star looked set for a routine win when he broke in the second game of the match.
But a commanding 3-0 lead for Federer swiftly disappeared as Istomin broke back and began to hammer down some powerful serves.
Istomin, who became the first player from Uzbekistan to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon last month, was beginning to cause Federer some serious problems when rain forced a stoppage.
Federer had to save two break points when they returned at 5-5 half an hour later and he made the most of that escape by converting his third set point in the next game.
In the second game of the second set was enough to get the Swiss great to the finish line
Federer's quarterfinal opponent on Thursday will be 10th-seeded 6-foot-9 American John Isner, who launched 22 aces in upsetting seventh-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 7-6 (16-14). Isner shocked Federer in a Davis Cup match in Switzerland back in February.
Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and it is Federer's turn to take the court.
