Roger Federer - David Horton

World number 1 progressed serenely into the quarterfinals with a 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4 win over number 13 seed Mikhail Youzhny.

The Swiss ace came into the match with a 9-0 head-to-head record against the Russian, and although he made a slow start, dropping his opening service game, he soon brought the score to parity by breaking back in the sixth game.

With games going with serve, it took a tiebreaker to decide the outcome of the opening set. Federer quickly took command in the breaker and won it 7-3 when Youzhny drove his backhand long.

From there it was pretty much plain sailing for the top seed as he broke his opponent once in each set and sealed his victory on his third match point with a service winner.

The stats for both men as far as winners (12-11) and unforced errors (43-42) were almost identical; however, Federer was able to convert 4 out of 8 break point chances (50%) whereas Youzhny did so only 2 out of 8 times (25%). In the final analysis, the Swiss maestro was simply better in the important points and is now on course for a place in the semi-finals given that his next opponent, ninth seeded Tommy Robredo, is another man that he has never lost to in 7 encounters.

"He had a good start; I didn't play so well. But I got in the groove after that and it was a hard-fought match all the way through. I'm happy to be through. Didn't drop a set once again, so it was rock solid.

Despite his dominance over Youzhny, Federer had nothing but praise for his game.

"I think he's a fantastic player with a great touch and feel for the game. We know each other since junior times, so over 10 years basically. I have a great record against him, but still have to be careful every time I play against him because he's such a good player."

Commenting on the fact that Federer had managed to play the big points slightly better, Youzhny said: "The first set was close, but both our serves were not so good; it was bad for Roger and me. I had a break in the first set, and maybe if I had won the set it would be something different. Second set it was one mistake after I had almost won the game, and I didn't have any chances to break him.

"I need to do the same thing I'm doing, but play the important points with a real clear head", he added when asked what he needed to add to his game to beat Federer.

"When I start to win some of my chances, maybe I have a really good chance to beat him."

Andre Jones
Roland Garros
Paris