Roger Federer looking strong as he cruises past Mischa Zverev

Roger Federer joined his fellow title favourites in cruising into the fourth round of Wimbledon with victory over Mischa Zverev.

Defending champion Andy Murray is the only one of the big four to have been tested so far, and Federer matched Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in reaching the last 16 without having dropped a set.

Zverev certainly played his part in the match and briefly had Federer under pressure late in the first set.

But, once the third seed won the tie-break, he was never troubled and eased to a 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 6-4 victory in an hour and 49 minutes.

All parts of the Federer game look to be working well ahead of a fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, with the Swiss finishing on a tally of 61 winners and only seven unforced errors.

History did not favour Zverev.

This was their fifth meeting, with the German yet to win a set. In Halle in 2013 he did not even manage a game, while their two matches this season were closer but not that close.

It has been a remarkable rise for Zverev, inspired by the success of little brother Alexander, from outside the top 150 only a year ago.

One of the few genuine serve-volleyers left in the game, Zverev stunned Andy Murray in the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to Federer.

Things had a familiar feel early on as Federer raced into a 4-1 lead but Zverev began to rush the seven-time champion and the German fought back to level.

He had Federer under real pressure at 5-5, forcing two break points, but he could not take either and was second best in the tie-break.

Federer just had a little too much pop on his groundstrokes for Zverev's fine volleys to withstand, while the German struggled to put any real pressure on his opponent's serve in the second and third sets.

After breaking early in the third, Federer brought out the tweener, much to the delight of the crowd - although it did not win him the point.

There was a bit of an exhibition feel about Federer in the final stages before he clinched victory with his 13th ace.