London: Roger Federer barely had his feathers ruffled in a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 win over Marat Safin in the third round of Wimbledon on Friday, dispelling any pre-match notions that it could be a close encounter.
The World No. 1 broke in the fourth game of the first set and a combination of some over-hitting on the groundstrokes by Safin and some tricky changes of speed by Federer allowed the Swiss to steam to a convincing lead.
Former world number one Safin, who famously beat Federer in a five-set epic on the way to winning the 2005 Australian Open, fought back early in the second and even broke serve.
But the top seed seemed unperturbed. He broke back immediately and again in the seventh game, prompting some characteristic racket-throwing from the volatile Russian before Federer nailed the set with an ace.
The third set went with serve and in the tiebreak Safin's forehand volley into the net gave Federer a mini-break and he served out the remainder to take it 7-4.
Federer, aiming for a fifth successive Wimbledon crown, will face 13th seed Tommy Haas of Germany in the fourth round round.
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