Wimbledon men's quarterfinals disrupted due to meteo conditions

After the start of play was held up by nearly an hour, Federer raced to a 6-1, 1-1 lead over Mario Ancic before the rain came again and the covers were rolled back onto Centre Court.

On Court 1, Feliciano Lopez was leading Marat Safin 5-2 when play was suspended.

The matches resumed after a delay of about 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Federer walked onto Centre Court in his custom-made cardigan just after 1:45 p.m. and glanced up at the threatening skies.

It looked like he wanted to get things over as quickly as possible against Ancic, the last man to beat him at Wimbledon — in the first round in 2002.

Federer charged through the first set in 20 minutes — winning 12 of the first 14 points, hitting six aces and winning 16 of his 17 service points.

This was Federer at his vintage best, gliding across the court and ripping shots that flew past Ancic or forced him into errors. The two held serve to open the second set before the rain came again.