Gilles Muller beats Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon epic as Roger Federer eases into 15th quarter-final

Rafael Nadal will not follow his 10th French Open win with a third Wimbledon triumph after losing to Gilles Muller in an enthralling and utterly engrossing five-set Court One thriller that stole the show on 'Manic Monday' (10 July) at SW19 and forced Novak Djokovic's match against Adrian Mannarino to be postponed until tomorrow.

The Spaniard demonstrated great courage to fight back from a 2-0 deficit to force a decider and save no fewer than four match points during a truly gripping fifth set that no one who witnessed it will forget in a hurry.

However, he could not stave off a fifth in game number 28 as a determined Muller, following a seemingly endless streak of consecutive holds, took advantage of two tired errors from Nadal to seal his maiden Wimbledon quarter-final spot.

A captivating affair was finally curtailed at four hours and 47 minutes, with the veteran Luxembourger advancing 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 to tee up a meeting with Marin Cilic.

"I'm tired," Muller told the BBC after wrapping up arguably the finest win of his lengthy career to date. "It was a long match, I was two sets up, I played well then Rafa stepped it up and then it was a big battle.

"I had match points and didn't make them, it was getting tough and I was watching the sky thinking that it would be over soon. Then in the last two match points I thought just give it a shot and go 100 per cent. It's a great feeling."

Federer sees off Dimitrov in straight sets

Elsewhere in the men's draw on one of the most hectic days in the tennis calendar that traditionally encompasses every single fourth-round contest, Roger Federer's quest to claim a record eighth Wimbledon singles crown and a 19th Grand Slam title overall remains firmly on track after he cruised into the quarters with little difficulty.

The rejuvenated Swiss needed just one hour and 37 minutes to comfortably defeat world number 11 Grigor Dimitrov - previously christened "Baby Fed" - in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court to book his 50th last-eight appearance at a major and a 15th at the All England Club.

Federer will meet Milos Raonic next, with last year's beaten finalist overcoming a 2-1 deficit to oust Alexander Zverev in five sets 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 5-7, 6-1.

Tomas Berdych will play Djokovic or Mannarino in the quarter-finals after outlasting Austrian prodigy Dominic Thiem in yet another competitive five-setter. Andy Murray's reward for beating Benoit Paire is a clash with American Sam Querrey, who toppled Kevin Anderson 5-7 7-6 6-3 6-7 6-3 in a gruelling battle of two notably big servers out on Court 18.

The 2014 US Open winner, Cilic, poses perhaps the greatest threat to the remaining members of the so-called "Big Four" having sealed a fourth successive quarter-final berth with a ruthless 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of 18th seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The Croatian has yet to drop a single set at this year's tournament and will fancy his chances of making a real run at claiming the second Grand Slam title of his career.

With Nadal and Muller's match taking so long to complete, tournament organisers announced that there would be no more play on Monday evening. Questions were immediately raised as to why Djokovic vs Mannarino could not have been moved onto Centre Court following the conclusion of Federer's win over Dimitrov.