Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal eased into the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday as the sport's Grand Slam heavyweights continued to deliver blow after blow to their wilting lightweight rivals.

'Big three' ease into quarters

Federer became the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 28 years when he booked his place in the last-eight for the 17th time.

The eight-time champion breezed past Italy's Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in just 74 minutes to make sure of a spot in his 55th quarterfinal at the Slams.

It was also his 99th win at the All England Club.

At 37, he is the oldest man to reach the last eight at the majors since 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 U.S. Open.

Federer, who hit 24 winners and just five unforced errors, will face Japan's Kei Nishikori for a place in the semifinals.

Japanese eighth seed Kei Nishikori defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight for the second successive year. He will face Federer in last-eight.

Defending champion and world No. 1 Djokovic reached his 11th Wimbledon quarterfinal and 45th at the majors with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over France's Ugo Humbert.

Djokovic, 32, has a 5-1 career record over 21st seed Goffin who will be playing in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal.

"My plan always is to reach the final stages at Grand Slams," said Djokovic who converted five of nine break points on Monday.

"Wimbledon has been a special tournament that has motivated me throughout my life."

Djokovic will face Belgium's David Goffin for a place in the semifinals.

Third-seed Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, swept to an easy 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over outclassed Joao Sousa of Portugal to book his place in a seventh quarter-final at the All England Club.

Nadal next plays Sam Querrey, against whom he holds a 4-1 record.

Between them, the "Big Three" faced just one break point on Monday and dropped a combined 19 games.

"I'm really getting into a good groove now, today I was able to read his serve, get the returns back in play and hit well from the baseline," said Federer who could face Nadal in a blockbuster semifinal.

"I'm still getting used to the conditions also but on the performance it was a really good match for me."

Gauff's teen dream over

Teenage sensation Coco Gauff said she hopes that one thing her adoring fans at Wimbledon have learned about her in the past week is she is a "fighter" and "never gives up."

The 15-year-old's hopes of moving into the quarterfinals were hindered by a stomach complaint in her 6-3, 6-3 loss to Simona Halep in the last 16.

She leaves, though, having turned herself into a media darling, significantly improved her ranking from 313 and left her mark as a potential Grand Slam winner of the future.

However, even though Gauff, the youngest ever qualifier in the women's singles, who had then dispensed with three opponents including five-time champion Venus Williams, was more subdued following her defeat she still had a spark.

"I hope they (the crowd and her opponents) learned about me that I'm a fighter," she said. "I'll never give up."

Gauff, who endearingly described herself on Friday as both "goofy and weird," said she hoped she had served as an example to many who were dreaming of making it in tennis.

"I hope they learned from me that, I mean, anything is possible if you work hard, just continue to dream big," she said.

"I mean, like I said, if somebody told me this maybe three weeks ago, I probably wouldn't believe it."

"But I think just putting in the work definitely raised my confidence because I knew how hard I worked and I knew what shots I could make and what was possible."

No. 1 Barty, Pliskova out

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty's hopes of becoming the first Australian women's champion in nearly four decades were dashed on Monday, opening the way for Serena Williams to potentially equal the all-time Grand Slam haul.

There was one consolation for Barty as Karolina Pliskova could have taken her No. 1 spot but the Czech third seed went out as well in a marathon duel beaten by compatriot Karolina Muchova 4-6, 7-5, 13-11.

Williams, bidding for a 24th Grand Slam title to tie with Australian Margaret Court, will play Riske next after trouncing Carla Suzarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2.

"It is a tough one to swallow but I lost to a better player," said Barty, who had been hoping to become the first Australian champion since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won her second title in 1980.