LONDON — First, Rafael Nadal erased a two-set deficit. Then, he erased four match points. Nadal could not, however, erase the fifth. After digging himself out of difficult situations over and over during the course of a riveting encounter that lasted more than 4½ hours, Nadal suddenly faltered, getting broken in the last game and losing to 16th-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 15-13 in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday.

Muller’s reaction after the win was: “Tired. It was a long match. Rafa stepped it up and it was a big battle. I had four match points. I was looking in the sky. I thought it was going to be over pretty soon. I didn’t think I was playing bad in the third and fourth sets. In the end it was just a matter of a few points here and there. I haven’t really realised what just happened. It’s a great feeling. I’m just glad it’s over and I’m in the quarterfinals.”

The surprising defeat extended Nadal's drought without a quarterfinal berth at the All England Club to six years. He has won two of his 15 Grand Slam championships at Wimbledon, and played in the final three other times, most recently in 2011. But since then, Nadal's exits at the All England Club have come in the first round (2013), second round (2012, 2015) and fourth round (2014, 2017).

All of those losses, except Monday's, came against men ranked 100th or worse. The 34-year-old Muller is not exactly a giant-killer: He had lost 22 consecutive matches against foes ranked in the top five. And he'd only reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal once before, at the 2008 US Open.

But Muller managed to pull this one out, unfazed but allowing opportunities to pass him by. Nadal served from behind throughout the final set and was twice a point from losing in its 10th game. He again was twice a point from losing in the 20th. Only when Muller got yet another chance to end it did he, when Nadal got broken by pushing a forehand long. Muller's next opponent will be 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic.

The Djokovic-Mannarino fourth-rounder was postponed until Tuesday; it had been scheduled to be played on No. 1 Court after Nadal-Muller concluded.

Earlier, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, much to the delight of the Center Court crowd, both reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday. Federer is a seven-time champion at the All England Club and one of the fan favorites. He advanced to the quarterfinals for the 15th time by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

"I didn't expect it go to that easy," said Federer, the Australian Open champion. "It wasn't as easy maybe as it looks like." Murray is also adored at the grass-court major. He is a two-time Wimbledon champion, but maybe more important, he is British and in 2013 became the first homegrown player to win the men's title in 77 years.

On Monday, he beat Benoit Paire 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4. "I've done a good job so far here," said Murray, the defending champion. "Today was by far the best I hit the ball, the cleanest I hit the ball. I was happy about that."

The first man to reach the quarterfinals was Marin Cilic. The seventh-seeded Croat beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Cilic, who won the US Open in 2014, will be playing the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the fourth straight year.

In the women's draw, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams won, and top-ranked Angelique Kerber lost. Federer first reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2001 and then won the first of five straight titles in 2003. He will next face Canadian Milos Raonic, who survived a marathon fourth round workout against rising German star Alexander Zverev on Monday, knocking out some pundits' outside bet for this year's title 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Seeded sixth and runner-up last year to Andy Murray, Raonic kept his cool on the crunch points, taking five of eight opportunities to break while the 20-year-old 10th seed converted just three of 18. The big-serving Canadian sealed the match with his 23rd ace after close to 3-1/2 hours' play.

Murray will play Sam Querrey on Wednesday. The 24th-seeded American defeated Kevin Anderson 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3.

Former finalist Tomas Berdych reached the last eight at Wimbledon after coming through a brutal five set tussle with Austrian Dominic Thiem. Berdych, who lost to Rafa Nadal in the 2010 final, came through 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a two-hour-and-52 minute encounter on Court Three against the world No. 8.

The Czech, who reached the quarterfinals for the fifth time, will next face either three-times champion Novak Djokovic or Adrian Mannarino. Berdych, who had only won one of his previous 10 matches against top 10 opposition, was celebrating after firing down his 15th ace.

Williams, who last won the title at the All England Club in 2008, advanced to the quarterfinals by beating 19-year-old Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-2. She is playing at the grass-court major for the 20th time in her career. Her Wimbledon debut came a few months before Konjuh was born. "Winning never gets old at any stage in your career, ever, ever," Williams said.

Kerber, who reached the Wimbledon final last year but lost to Serena Williams, was beaten by Garbine Muguruza on No. 2 Court, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. With the loss by Kerber, either Simona Halep or Karolina Pliskova will take over as the top-ranked player after the tournament. Halep also advanced Monday, while Pliskova lost in the second round.

Williams will next face French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old Latvian, who won her first tour-level title at Roland Garros last month, beat fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Court 12. "I think I'll see what happens when I get out there," Williams said of Ostapenko. "I mean, I'm sure she hits well off all sides. I have to see what the nuances are once the game starts, because you can't necessarily plan for those."

Ostapenko led Svitolina 5-3 in the second set, but was broken and forced into a tiebreaker. She finally won by converting her eighth match point. Ostapenko had never before been past the third round at a major tournament prior to this year's French Open. She was the first woman to win her debut tour-level title at a Grand Slam tournament since 1979. At Wimbledon, Ostapenko is into the quarterfinals for the first time. However, she won the girls' title at the All England Club in 2014. "I think I play better with every match, also like at the French," Ostapenko said. "So I hope I can keep it up."

Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Magdalena Rybarikova, CoCo Vandeweghe and Johanna Konta also advanced to the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova was the first to finish her match on Monday, beating Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4. The seventh-seeded Russian is a two-time Grand Slam champion who will be playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fourth time. She has never advanced past that stage. In the quarterfinals, Kuznetsova will face Muguruza. Rybarikova, who beat Pliskova in the second round, defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 and advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time. In the quarterfinals, Rybarikova will face Vandeweghe, while Halep will play Konta.

Konta became the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Jo Durie in 1984 when she beat Caroline Garcia of France 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 on Monday. Konta had previously won only one match in five Wimbledon appearances but now suddenly finds herself with a realistic chance of winning it and becoming the first home champion since Virginia Wade 40 years ago.

The seventh seed, who spent her formative years in Australia before moving to play in Spain as a 14-year-old and then becoming British in 2012, delivered an efficient display in an even battle, albeit with a major wobble in the middle, to overcome a tenacious opponent.

Konta was always on top in the first set despite having to take it via a tie break but then lost five games in a row en route to losing the second.

Serve dominated the final set so much that the first break point did not arrive until the 10th game, but when it did, Konta took full advantage as Garcia netted to lose the match.

Monday's match was always destined to be close, pitting 2016 runner-up Kerber against her 2015 equivalent and there was little to choose between the pair in what was a high quality contest on Court Two.

Kerber broke to go 5-4 up in the first set, when at the end of a fierce rally her Spanish opponent went wide and allowed the German to serve out, securing the set with an emphatic smash.

The second set was on-serve until, with Kerber serving at 5-4 down, the tall Muguruza, who had saved three break points in the set, broke to secure it with a fine crosscourt winner. It was just reward for Muguruza's attacking and positive play and was warmly appreciated by temporary coach Conchita Martinez, Wimbledon champion in 1994.

Kerber's left knee, which she appeared to hurt in the first set, was reducing her push-off on serve with the consequent impact on her speed but the third set became a battle of nerves and stamina in the early afternoon heat.

The German broke in the first game and led 2-0 but both were struggling to hold serve and it was soon 3-3 with two breaks each. In an epic 10-minute game, Muguruza held for 4-3 with the crowd appreciating some hugely entertaining rallies between the determined pair. Two games later Kerber dealt with two match-point threats, but Muguruza grabbed the third to book her place in the last eight. — Agencies