Rafael Nadal ended a seven-year wait to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals again as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic joined him in the last eight.

Nadal’s knees have struggled with the move from clay to grass in recent years, but he has breezed through the draw so far and secured another straight-sets win, beating Czech Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

The world number one and two-time former champion said: “Of course it’s an important result for me.

"It’s true that it has been a while since I have been in that position, but at the same time I have been in that position a couple of times in my career. When I come here, I come here thinking I can do a good result.”

Federer extended his run of consecutive sets won at Wimbledon to 32 in a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Adrian Mannarino and still has not had his serve broken all tournament, although he was forced to save his first break points.

The first set took just 16 minutes, and Federer said: “I was also surprised it was that fast. Shouldn’t really happen, but thankfully they do for me. I probably won’t have another 6-0 set this week, so I’ll enjoy this one.”

There was deja vu for Djokovic as he was forced to wait until after 7pm to begin his match against Karen Khachanov, but he comfortably beat both the Russian and the light, winning 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Last year, Djokovic was furious after his fourth-round match was cancelled for the day following the epic clash between Nadal and Gilles Muller.

This time it was Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils who held up the Serbian, who said: “Post-match I heard that the organisers were planning to cancel my match if Monfils and Anderson went to a fifth. Luckily for me it didn’t happen.”

Djokovic has had a difficult two years, but is beginning to look and feel a lot more like his old self again.

He said: “It was quite a strange feeling for me not to be able to deliver my game that I know I possess, that I know I’ve been delivering for so many years. It was frustrating. But I had to trust the process. I’m still part of that process. But things are looking much better in the last month and a half.”

So all the big three names are through at Wimbledon, but did you spot what happened at the end of the Nadal game?

After winning in straight sets, the Spaniard walked off the court and did the customary signature session for the adoring fans.

However, one fan presented Nadal with a 'RF' hat, and despite the Swiss maestro being a long-term rival, he was still happy to give it a sign.

This moment didn't go unnoticed by BBC commentator Andrew Cotter, who said at the time: “He just made him sign a Roger Federer hat."

In those situations, it literally is get them to sign whatever you have.