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  Sun, May 29, 2011

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Federer advances to French Open quarters
By

Sports Network



Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, May 29, 2011. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

 

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open after winning in straight sets Sunday.

A day after finishing his suspended third-round match with Juan Martin del Potro, Djokovic had little trouble in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory against 13th- seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

The Serb faced just three break points and staved off them all, and won an astounding 90 percent of first-serve points. Gasquet, meanwhile, was broken four times and committed 26 unforced errors.

The second-seeded Djokovic improved to an astounding 41-0 this year and has won 43 consecutive matches dating back to last season. He is one win away from matching John McEnroe's record to start an ATP season, set in 1984.

The two-time Aussie Open champion will next face Italian Fabio Fognini, who earned his first quarterfinal berth at the French Open with a five-set victory against Spain's Albert Montanes. He needed more than four hours to record the 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 win, and the final set alone lasted 95 minutes.

The third-seeded Federer beat Swiss countrymate Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to continue his run through the field at Roland Garros. He has reached the quarterfinals at 28 consecutive majors, setting a record.

He has not dropped a set in his first four matches, and since being taken to a tiebreaker in the third set of his opening win over Feliciano Lopez, Federer has lost only 23 games.

The 2009 French Open winner and 16-time Grand Slam champion, Federer breezed through the first two sets Sunday in under an hour. He pulled out the third set, despite committing 13 unforced errors, to beat the 14th-seeded Wawrinka in the fourth round for the second year in a row.

Federer has won nine of the 10 lifetime meetings, including three this year. He will face either seventh-seeded David Ferrer or ninth-seeded Gael Monfils in the quarterfinals.












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