Tennis: Federer in ominous form with straight sets win

Roger Federer has never been one to dwell on losses. When his extraordinary sequence of 23 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam semifinals ended with defeat in the last eight of the recent French Open, his reaction was typical.

"Now I guess I've got the quarter-final streak going," the Swiss said.

That latest run was extended to 25 with a crushing 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory yesterday over Jurgen Melzer. The last time Federer failed to reach the quarter-finals of any Grand Slam event was at the 2004 French Open, when he lost to Gustavo Kuerten, the top seed.

There have been times over the last eight days when Federer has looked anything but the record-breaking greatest player of all time, but nobody knows the art of peaking at the right time better than the Swiss. Having come back from two sets down for the first time here to beat Alejandro Falla in the opening round, Federer went on to beat Ilija Bozoljac in four sets in the second and swept Melzer aside with even more ease than he disposed of Arnaud Clement in straight sets in the third.

If he claims a seventh Wimbledon crown on Monday, which would put him level with the record held by William Renshaw and Pete Sampras, Federer would be only the second player in the Open era (after Pat Rafter at the 1998 US Open) to win a Grand Slam title after going two sets down in his opening match.

The contest with 29-year-old Melzer, the No16-seeded Austrian, was so one-sided that for long periods the Centre Court was as quiet as a meeting of the Fabio Capello appreciation society. Federer, who now plays Tomas Berdych, raced into a 3-0 lead and suffered his only lapse when Melzer converted his first and only break point of the match in the fifth game. The defending champion broke back immediately, however, and completed victory in 84 minutes.

- Independent