Firing Federer slays Santoro
Thursday, 17 Jan 2008 11:22
Roger Federer through to third round of Australian Open
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer cruised into the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over Fabrice Santoro.
The Swiss world number one looked at the peak of his powers as he dismissed a second consecutive opponent with the loss of just three games in three sets, 6-1 6-2 6-0.
In truth, the match was less one-sided than the scoreline suggests but Federer will be an awesome prospect to face on current form.
Third seed Novak Djokovic is still on course to meet Federer in the semi-finals after recording a similarly straightforward second-round victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli 6-1 6-2 6-2.
The young Serbian star outclassed his opponent in every department, as Bolelli looked out of his depth in round two.
Fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain is also into the third round after his second-round opponent, Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, retired with an injury at 2-0 down in sets.
And home favourite Lleyton Hewitt is another big-name player through after outlasting Uzbekistani Denis Istomin in four sets 7-6 6-3 5-7 6-1.