Filed under: Tennis, French Open
Roger Federer brushed aside the challenge of the Serbian Janko Tipsarevic to win 6-1 6-4 6-3 in the third round of the French Open.The number three seed made an opponent who was a key member of the Serbia team that beat France to lift the Davis Cup and had beaten Andy Murray in Dubai seem like a rank outsider with a typically smooth and efficient display.
Tipsarevic was broken in the fourth game as Federer seized the initiative to take the first set 6-1 in just 19 minutes.
The world number 32 made a better fight of the second set but one error-filled service game allowed Federer to break him again to go 3-2 ahead and the Serb could not take advantage of a break point of his own in the next game.
Federer wrapped up set number two 6-4 and moved swiftly to claim victory in an hour and a half and remind everyone that he must still be regarded as a contender to reclaim a title he won in 2009.
The Swiss will also have been delighted to see that the tussle to see who plays him in the next round turned into an energy-sapping five-setter.
Fellow countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, the number 14 seed, eventually battled through to beat number 17 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-2 6-3.
Novak Djokovic's clash with Juan Martin Del Potro was left unconcluded at one set each, with both men taking theirs 6-3.
The match of the day had been delayed by the length of the Wawrinka-Tsonga clash and was eventually moved from the Court Philippe Chatrier to Court Suzanne Lenglen.
That led to plenty of spectators trying to change venues in time - and making a noisy protest when they were not allowed to.
The pair will resume on Saturday - which will probably delay the Murray match.
Earlier, David Ferrer, the number seven seed, made short work of Sergiy Stakhovsky, wrapping up a 6-1 6-1 6-3 stroll to become the first man to reach the last 16.
The Spaniard, who has yet to drop a set in this tournament, made so few unforced errors that the Ukranian, who had been seeded at 31, was back in the locker room in an hour and 36 minutes.
Ferrer will now play Gael Monfils after the French number nine seed beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-3 6-4 7-5.
In the men's doubles, Jamie Murray and partner Chris Guccione of Australia were beaten 7-6 7-5 by the US Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike.
Another Briton also bowed out as Colin Fleming and his German partner Philipp Marx were beaten 7-6 6-3 by Juan Sebastian Cabal and Eduardo Schwank.
REACTION:
Federer was pleased with his progress so far.
"I was always able to come up with clutch serving when I needed to at the beginning of games and in tight situations. I played the right way but I wish I had got into a few more return games and made him work harder but at the same time it worked well for me not to give him any rhythm.
"The first three matches have gone really well for me and I'm actually quite surprised. I'm feeling good. I have not wasted any extra energy so I am 100 percent for every match I'm going to go into for the remainder of the tournament."
And he was happy enough with the controversial new balls as well.
"The balls are different to what we have played with in the last month and this was the biggest issue. Injuries come into play with the forearm and maybe the shoulders for some. I thought last year we had it all figured out when we played with the same balls from Monaco to the French Open.
"So some players are still getting used to it and some are frustrated that they already lost maybe. When they are new and fresh they take off and then they get quite slow. Today I was able to keep short rallies going and conditions stayed fast."
How the men's seeds fared:
Albert Montanes, Spain defeated Mikhail Youzhny (12) 6-1 7-6 6-1
Fabio Fognini, Italy defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain (30) 4-6 6-6-3 6-3 6-1
Richard Gasquet, France (13) defeated Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil (23) 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-3
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