Unlike the 2009 French Open final, Robin Soderling played his best tennis on Monday against Roger Federer in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Sadly for the Swede, it didn’t matter one bit.

Showing the fabulous form that eluded him against Federer in Paris, Soderling blistered the ball and kept it inside the lines for most of the afternoon at famed Centre Court. Playing like the man who won six matches at Roland Garros before faltering in the final round, Soderling reaffirmed his newfound status as a title contender on the ATP Tour after many years of underachieving at major events. Yet, all the 13th seed received in exchange for his high-level slugging was an improbable straight-set defeat and a ticket out of England.

Federer–never dominant but supremely opportunistic–made the most of a few precious chances by stealing three sets that had all the predictability of a coin flip. On a day when he claimed just 51 percent of all the points he contested, the No. 2 seed from Switzerland claimed a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win in less than two hours to advance to the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

It’s hard to believe that a match defined by such forceful swings of the racket ended so quickly. In boxing, Soderling and Federer would have lasted 15 rounds, going the distance and leaving fans breathless until the final bell. In tennis, however, scoring big is achieved in a different manner; winning the right clusters of points in key moments can take an even-steven affair and turn it into a supremely deceptive straight-setter, and that’s what happened in this fourth-round fistfight.

Through the first eight games of the first set–as would be the case for other stretches of the afternoon–Soderling put Federer on the defensive and kept the Swiss in a fundamentally reactive position. Bludgeoning the ball from the baseline and thumping his first serve consistently, the Swede coasted on his service games while Federer struggled at times. For all of Soderling’s power, however, the man standing across the net–a five-time Wimbledon champion–found the timely serves and mental resources needed to forge a 4-all tie.

After Federer stayed in the fight, the Swede would begin to throw a few errant punches, and that’s when the worm turned on the most famous piece of grass in sports.

Soderling’s one patchy service game in set one was the one game that cost him dearly. The ninth game of the first set witnessed a clear show of nerves from the underdog, who began to spray his forehand long and wide. Soderling did fend off two break points with considerable composure, but the Swede couldn’t stay in a rally on Federer’s third break opportunity. Given a 5-4 lead, Federer promptly uncorked a typical combination of aces and service winners–the Swiss had 23 aces on the day–to tuck away the first set in a manner Pete Sampras would have recognized.

Sampras–tied with Fed for the most Grand Slam singles titles of any male tennis player–would often come to Wimbledon and win sets by protecting his serve and pouncing on one golden break chance late in a set. Federer mimicked that pattern in the first stanza, and while Soderling continued to hit big and fight fearlessly as the match continued, a familiar template was established for the Swiss.

In the second set, Federer actually lost more points than he won (35-34), but again, the 14-time major titlist won the points that really mattered–specifically, the final two. After 12 service games and 10 tiebreak points decided absolutely nothing in set two (6 games all, 5-all in the breaker), Federer hammered an ace for 6-5 and then snatched an unlikely two-set lead when Soderling lost a forehand long. The Swede, playing near–if not at–the height of his own personal powers, dueled a legendary opponent on even terms… and found himself with nothing to show for it heading into set three. Despite his deceptively large scoreboard deficit, the 13th seed would continue to keep pace with Federer, but just the same, the Swiss superstar would own the relevant answer in moments of truth.

After 12 more break-free service games and nine more tiebreak points, Soderling had the third set on his racket at 5-4 with two serves and a mini-break in hand. But just when the Centre Court crowd might have had a right to expect a fourth set, Federer once again pushed the Swede off the ledge. A dazzling cross-court running forehand allowed Federer to level the breaker at 5-all, guaranteeing the Swiss at least one more serve. Knowing he had to win the 5-all point if he wanted to stay on court, a nervous Soderling double-faulted. The lapse was extremely rare, but as this match proved from start to finish, one lapse on one point was all it took to decide three separate sets. Gifted with a match point in a battle that felt like a five-setter, given its statistical evenness, Federer didn’t blow the opportunity. A solid first serve gained the Swiss the leverage he needed to advance to yet another Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Robin Soderling jokingly said after the French Open final that “no one beats Robin Soderling 11 times in a row,” a nod to Federer’s 10-0 career record against the Swede heading into Monday’s match. Evidently, Soderling was wrong, but it’s just as important to note that after an exhibition of mortal combat that took place on the razor’s edge, this swingin’ Swede is coming ever closer to toppling the fabled Federer. That reality is, in one sense, quite encouraging for the man who has transformed his career over the past month, but then again, moral victories don’t count for much between the white lines on gamedays. It’s Roger Federer who’s in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, thanks to the big-point brilliance that has defined the past five years of awesome and otherworldly tennis.